Jimmie Johnson Won the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

25 Apr 2017

Jimmie Johnson, K&N, NASCAR, Food City 500

Jimmie Johnson celebrating his win at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

Jimmie Johnson won his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, and his second in a row at the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, on Monday. After a rain delay on Sunday, the Food City 500 was rescheduled to Monday and did not break the momentum of Johnson from his win two weeks earlier at the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.

“Yeah, just a really solid performance all day long, great pit stops,” Johnson said. “Same thing at Texas. I think that was the piece we were lacking to start the season. Don't know why, don't know what it was, but our cars have been very capable of running up front, and it's been nice these last two weeks to execute from the start of the race qualifying. Was saved by the rain this week and the week before. I spun out after I took the flag”.

This was Johnson’s 82nd career win, which puts him within one for sixth place on the all time career wins list. The win was also the second career win for Johnson at Bristol Motor Speedway. Johnson did not lead until the 394th lap of the race, and eventually led three times for a total of 81 laps.

“I know we won here one other time, but I think from a consistency standpoint and competitive standpoint, this is the best we've ever been, and I've been looking and trying to figure this place out, and I've come here with the identical race car that Jeff Gordon wins with, and I run 15th,” Johnson said. “That's where a lot of that emotion came from is more in the personal category today and getting that win”.

Clint Bowyer came in second place, finishing just 1.199 seconds behind Johnson. This was Bowyer’s best finish since finishing in second place in 2013. Bowyer is still looking for his first win since 2012 at Charlotte. This was Bowyer's fourth top 10 finish this season and his 11th at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Drivers led by Martin Truex Jr stopped for a pit stop

"You try everything you possibly can, and I was starting to do some pretty desperate things with brakes and my line and stuff like that, and then you just realize...your mindset quickly changes, and you're like, ‘All right, let's put it in perspective here, we've come a long ways, it was a long day, and second place is probably a good run for us, and we should be happy with that.’ We shouldn't hang our head about it."

Kevin Harvick came in third place, who was passed by Bowyer, his teammate, on lap 485.

“We just needed track position,” Harvick said. “I think we showed how fast it was there on no tires and kind of able to hold our own. A good weekend, and we’ll just keep going."

Kyle Larson, who finished in sixth, leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Standings with 360 points and 7 playoff points. Chase Elliott is in second place with 333 points. Martin Truex Jr is in third place with 323 points and 10 playoff points. Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, and Martin Truex Jr are tied for the lead the in the current playoff standings with 10 points.

The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

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