Matt Kenseth has come through to score his first win of the season in a rain-marred Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The pole-sitter survived rain delays, a string of cautions and a green-white-chequered finish in a race that lasted over nine hours.
Kenseth led just 47 of the 500 laps, but importantly missed a string of late race crashes to score his first win since September, 2013.
Even as the field came to the scheduled 500 laps the caution was out. Officials then threw the red flag in an effort to finish under green.
Once the track was dry, Kenseth won the final shootout in a race that started 90 minutes late and endured a four-hour delay after the first 22 laps.
Despite being involved in a number of incidents, Jimmie Johnson finished second, with Jeff Gordon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman completing the top five.
Bristol took its toll on many drivers, most of whom got involved in other people’s accidents, including championship leader Kevin Harvick who slammed into David Ragan after he was caught-up in one of Johnson’s incidents.
Also falling foul of another driver’s crash was Joey Logano, who collided with Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski when the latter tagged the wall just 22 laps into the race.
In a race that had so many turns and twists, it also featured a mid-race driver substitution when Denny Hamlin suffered neck spasms in the first stint.
During the first rain stoppage the team decided to put 18-year-old rookie Erik Jones into the car. He completed the race in 26th position, with the points earned going to Hamlin.
VIDEO: Race Highlights
RESULTS: Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up To Cancer
POS.
CAR #
DRIVER
MANUFACTURER
STARTING POS.
LAPS
LAPS LED
FINAL STATUS
POINTS
BONUS POINTS
1
20
Matt Kenseth
Toyota
1
511
47
Running
47
4
2
48
Jimmie Johnson
Chevrolet
28
511
0
Running
42
0
3
24
Jeff Gordon
Chevrolet
23
511
0
Running
41
0
4
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Ford
25
511
0
Running
40
0
5
31
Ryan Newman
Chevrolet
18
511
0
Running
39
0
6
14
Tony Stewart
Chevrolet
21
511
0
Running
38
0
7
42
Kyle Larson
Chevrolet
14
511
90
Running
38
1
8
51
Justin Allgaier
Chevrolet
15
511
0
Running
36
0
9
10
Danica Patrick
Chevrolet
26
511
0
Running
35
0
10
3
Austin Dillon
Chevrolet
12
511
0
Running
34
0
11
27
Paul Menard
Chevrolet
9
511
0
Running
33
0
12
15
Clint Bowyer
Toyota
37
511
0
Running
32
0
13
43
Aric Almirola
Ford
30
511
0
Running
31
0
14
1
Jamie McMurray
Chevrolet
10
510
0
Running
30
0
15
41
Kurt Busch
Chevrolet
7
510
98
Running
30
1
16
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Chevrolet
13
509
0
Running
28
0
17
55
Brett Moffitt
Toyota
24
509
0
Running
27
0
18
38
David Gilliland
Ford
32
508
0
Running
26
0
19
9
Sam Hornish Jr
Ford
39
508
0
Running
25
0
20
7
Alex Bowman
Chevrolet
40
508
0
Running
24
0
21
83
Matt DiBenedetto
Toyota
22
508
0
Running
23
0
22
95
Michael McDowell
Ford
19
507
0
Running
22
0
23
46
Michael Annett
Chevrolet
36
507
0
Running
21
0
24
19
Carl Edwards
Toyota
3
507
86
Running
21
1
25
34
Chris Buescher
Ford
38
505
0
Running
0
0
26
11
Denny Hamlin
Toyota
5
505
0
Running
18
0
27
35
Cole Whitt
Ford
42
504
0
Running
17
0
28
6
Trevor Bayne
Ford
31
504
0
Running
16
0
29
78
Martin Truex Jr
Chevrolet
16
504
0
Running
15
0
30
16
Greg Biffle
Ford
33
504
6
Running
15
1
31
32
Mike Bliss
Ford
41
502
0
Running
0
0
32
23
J.J. Yeley
Toyota
29
496
0
Running
0
0
33
33
Alex Kennedy
Chevrolet
43
490
0
Running
11
0
34
47
AJ Allmendinger
Chevrolet
20
489
0
Accident
10
0
35
2
Brad Keselowski
Ford
2
489
0
Running
9
0
36
13
Casey Mears
Chevrolet
27
487
0
Accident
8
0
37
5
Kasey Kahne
Chevrolet
8
482
0
Accident
7
0
38
4
Kevin Harvick
Chevrolet
4
468
184
Running
8
2
39
98
Josh Wise
Ford
35
466
0
Accident
5
0
40
22
Joey Logano
Ford
6
452
0
Running
4
0
41
18
David Ragan
Toyota
11
435
0
Running
3
0
42
26
Jeb Burton
Toyota
34
416
0
Accident
2
0
43
40
Landon Cassill
Chevrolet
17
288
0
Accident
0
0
STANDINGS
POS
DRIVER
POINTS
BEHIND
STARTS
WINS
TOP 5
TOP 10
DNF
1
Kevin Harvick
314
Leader
8
2
6
7
0
2
Joey Logano
284
-30
8
1
4
7
0
3
Martin Truex Jr
281
-33
8
0
1
7
0
4
Jimmie Johnson
258
-56
8
2
4
5
0
5
Brad Keselowski
255
-59
8
1
3
6
1
6
Dale Earnhardt Jr
241
-73
8
0
4
5
1
7
Kasey Kahne
237
-77
8
0
1
3
1
8
Matt Kenseth
236
-78
8
1
3
4
0
9
Jeff Gordon
227
-87
8
0
1
5
1
10
Aric Almirola
226
-88
8
0
0
0
0
11
Denny Hamlin
223
-91
8
1
3
3
0
12
Jamie McMurray
223
-91
8
0
1
3
1
13
Danica Patrick
211
-103
8
0
0
2
0
14
Paul Menard
210
-104
8
0
1
1
1
15
Carl Edwards
203
-111
8
0
0
1
0
16
Ryan Newman
201
-113
8
0
4
5
0
17
Clint Bowyer
200
-114
8
0
0
1
0
18
David Ragan
197
-117
8
0
1
1
0
19
Casey Mears
186
-128
8
0
0
1
1
20
Greg Biffle
180
-134
8
0
0
1
0
21
Austin Dillon
177
-137
8
0
0
1
1
22
Kurt Busch
174
-140
5
0
2
2
0
23
Kyle Larson
173
-141
7
0
0
3
1
24
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
172
-142
8
0
1
1
1
25
AJ Allmendinger
171
-143
8
0
0
2
2
26
David Gilliland
162
-152
8
0
0
0
0
27
Trevor Bayne
154
-160
8
0
0
0
0
28
Tony Stewart
145
-169
8
0
0
1
2
29
Justin Allgaier
145
-169
8
0
0
1
2
30
Brett Moffitt
136
-178
7
0
0
1
0
31
Sam Hornish Jr
135
-179
8
0
0
0
0
32
Cole Whitt
128
-186
8
0
0
0
1
33
Alex Bowman
91
-223
7
0
0
0
1
34
Michael Annett
90
-224
8
0
0
0
1
35
Michael McDowell
79
-235
5
0
0
0
0
36
Josh Wise
63
-251
7
0
0
0
1
37
Matt DiBenedetto
57
-257
5
0
0
0
0
38
Jeb Burton
45
-269
6
0
0
0
1
39
Alex Kennedy
35
-279
4
0
0
0
0
40
Brian Vickers
32
-282
2
0
0
0
0
41
Bobby Labonte
20
-294
1
0
0
0
0
42
Michael Waltrip
18
-296
1
0
0
0
0
43
Reed Sorenson
12
-302
1
0
0
0
0
44
Mike Wallace
8
-306
1
0
0
0
0
45
Ron Hornaday Jr
2
-312
1
0
0
0
1
46
Brian Scott
0
-314
2
0
0
0
0
47
Regan Smith
0
-314
4
0
0
0
0
48
Matt Crafton
0
-314
1
0
0
0
0
49
Ryan Blaney
0
-314
3
0
0
0
2
50
Johnny Sauter
0
-314
1
0
0
0
0
51
Chris Buescher
0
-314
4
0
0
0
0
52
Landon Cassill
0
-314
8
0
0
0
3
53
J.J. Yeley
0
-314
8
0
0
0
1
54
Brendan Gaughan
0
-314
4
0
0
0
0
55
Ty Dillon
0
-314
1
0
0
0
0
56
Mike Bliss
0
-314
6
0
0
0
0
57
Joe Nemechek
0
-314
1
0
0
0
0
58
Chase Elliott
0
-314
1
0
0
0
0
59
Travis Kvapil
0
-314
0
0
0
0
0
60
Tanner Berryhill
0
-314
0
0
0
0
0
61
Justin Marks
0
-314
0
0
0
0
0
Join the discussion below in the Speedcafe.com comments section
Please note: Speedcafe.com reserves the right to remove any comment that does not follow the comment policy. For support, contact [email protected]
Your Daily Racing Fix
Try our daily email, The best way to get your news first, fast and free!
By submitting above you agree to the Speedcafe.com Privacy Policy.
Join the discussion below in the Speedcafe.com comments section
Please note: Speedcafe.com reserves the right to remove any comment that does not follow the comment policy. For support, contact [email protected]