Casey Stoner took fifth victory in 2011 in Laguna Seca, patiently building his pace over the course of the race to handle initial charge of the Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo. Opening stages of the race were not looking promising for Stoner, while Pedrosa and Lorenzo were on the hot pace, looking like possible race winners. However, once Stoner got confidence in his RC211V, he upped the pace and got in front of both Spanish riders, leaving then without any response to his hot laps. Lorenzo had to settle in second place behind his title rival Stoner, while Pedrosa faded away in 3rd place once his physical problems prevented him to keep the pace with both Stoner and Lorenzo.

Ben Spies was another late-charger who managed to make-up some places in race and finish his home GP in 4th place, catching and overtaking Andrea Dovizioso who held that position until few last laps. Dovizioso had to settle in 5th, this time being unable to fight for more. Valentino Rossi was best Ducati in Laguna seca in 6th place, which was the result of good start and race-long battle with team-mate Hayden, who settled in 7th place in his home GP. Colin Edwards finished race in 8th place, with Barbera and Aoyama completing top 10 finishers.