{"id":8561,"date":"2017-04-24T20:45:55","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T01:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=8561"},"modified":"2017-04-24T20:45:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-25T01:45:55","slug":"jimmie-johnson-stays-hot-with-monday-victory-at-bristol-motor-speedway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/24\/jimmie-johnson-stays-hot-with-monday-victory-at-bristol-motor-speedway\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmie Johnson stays hot with Monday victory at Bristol Motor Speedway"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

NASCAR Wire Service<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2013 A week off and an extra day at Bristol<\/a> did nothing to break Jimmie Johnson\u2019s<\/strong> momentum.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Grabbing the lead from Kevin Harvick on Lap 480 of 500 in Monday\u2019s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnson stayed out front for the final 21 laps and beat Clint Bowyer to the finish line by 1.199 seconds.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The checkered flag was Johnson\u2019s second at the .533-mile short track, his second straight this season and the 82nd of his career in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, leaving him one victory behind Cale Yarborough for sixth on the career wins list \u2013 and two behind Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“That\u2019s just mind-blowing,” said Johnson, who started 11th and led three times for 81 laps but didn\u2019t get to the front for the first time until Lap 394. “I wouldn\u2019t be here without (owner Rick) Hendrick\u2019s support. Thanks to him and to Jeff Gordon for believing in me.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

“For Hendrick Motorsports to make this job kind of a family environment for all of us to thrive in has been a perfect environment for me and (crew chief) Chad Knaus and for the consistent group of guys behind me through all these years has led to the environment to win 82 races, or whatever it is, which is just insane.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“I\u2019m truly humbled. I\u2019m excited to win back-to-back races. I\u2019m excited to win at Bristol. I guess we\u2019ll be at Indy testing for the next two days (at a Goodyear tire test), and we\u2019ll show up at Richmond and try again.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Bowyer passed Harvick, his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, on Lap 485 to post his best finish since running second at Richmond on April 27, 2013.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Harvick held third, followed by Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano. Polesitter Kyle Larson came home sixth after leading the first 202 laps, but the driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet had to recover from a Lap 421 penalty for speeding on pit road.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The second-place run was bittersweet for Bowyer, who is looking for his first win since the fall Charlotte race in 2012. The driver of the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Ford had visions of victory after he passed Harvick, but he couldn\u2019t run down the seven-time champion in the last 15 laps.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s Jimmie Johnson,” Bowyer said. “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\u2026 your mindset quickly changes, and you’re like, \u2018All 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.\u2019 We shouldn’t hang our head about it.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Harvick got the lead by staying out on old tires when the rest of the contenders, except for Denny Hamlin, came to pit road under the final caution on Lap 465.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“I thought our Jimmy John\u2019s Ford was the fastest car,” Harvick said. We just needed track position. I think we showed how fast it was there on no tires and kind of able to hold our own\u2026 A good weekend, and we\u2019ll just keep going.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Notes: Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell out of the race in 38th place when oil on his tires from a broken oil cooler launched his No. 88 Chevrolet into the Turn 1 wall after a restart on Lap 218\u2026 Kyle Busch, one of the pre-race favorites, blew right front tires on two separate occasions. The second instance knocked Busch out of the race on Lap 384, after he had climbed back into the top 10. He finished 35th\u2026 Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Erik Jones ran in the top 10 all afternoon until a cut tire and subsequent contact from AJ Allmendinger\u2019s Chevrolet damaged his No. 77 Toyota. Jones salvaged a 17th-place finish as the second car one lap down.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, poses with the winner\u0092s decal on his car in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 24, 2017 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – Food City 500<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Bristol Motor Speedway<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Bristol, Tennessee<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Monday, April 24, 2017<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    1. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    2. (9) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    3. (10) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

   4. (22) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    5. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    6. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    7. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    8. (3) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    9. (19) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    10. (16) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    11. (12) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    12. (8) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    13. (21) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    14. (13) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    15. (24) Ty Dillon #, Chevrolet, 500.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    16. (26) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 499.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    17. (14) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 499.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    18. (23) Daniel Suarez #, Toyota, 498.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    19. (32) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 498.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    20. (17) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 498.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    21. (31) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 498.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    22. (18) Aric Almirola, Ford, 497.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    23. (33) David Ragan, Ford, 497.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    24. (35) * Corey LaJoie #, Toyota, 497.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    25. (15) Kurt Busch, Ford, 494.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    26. (28) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 494.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    27. (37) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 491.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    28. (34) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 490.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    29. (36) Gray Gaulding #, Toyota, 487.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    30. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 482.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    31. (39) * Derrike Cope, Toyota, 465.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    32. (30) Landon Cassill, Ford, 458.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    33. (6) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 452.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    34. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 433.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    35. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 383.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    36. (29) Danica Patrick, Ford, Accident, 320.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    37. (38) * Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Suspension, 234.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    38. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 218.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    39. (27) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, Accident, 53.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service BRISTOL, Tenn. \u2013 A week off and an extra day at Bristol did nothing to break Jimmie Johnson\u2019s momentum. Grabbing the lead from Kevin Harvick on Lap 480 of 500 in Monday\u2019s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnson stayed out front for the final 21 laps and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[177,63,16],"class_list":["post-8561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-bristol-motor-speedway","tag-jimmie-johnson","tag-nascar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/BMS_MENCS_VL_042417.jpg?fit=3982%2C2890&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-2e5","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8561"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8569,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8561\/revisions\/8569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}