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Matt Kenseth wins Food City 500: 5 takeaways from Bristol

By Charles Rahrig V

Apr 19, 2015; Bristol, TN, USA; Fog settles in during the NASCAR Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 19, 2015; Bristol, TN, USA; Fog settles in during the NASCAR Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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It was a day of rain, wrecks and a new entry into the chase for the Sprint Cup Championship as Matt Kenseth picked up his first win of the season.

For a while on Sunday, it seemed like the Food City 500 was never going to start thanks to rain in Tennessee. When the race finally did get underway, it wasn’t much of a contest.

The start of the race looked awfully similar to what has been seen over the last few weeks with Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson all hung around the near the lead.

Then rain brought everything to a halt again and the race was under a red flag for several hours. When it came back, everything changed for some of NASCAR’s best and a new face emerged in the chase.

After weeks of Harvick and Johnson trading victories, Harvick’s day came to an early end because of a wreck on the short track.

Johnson was also involved in a couple of wrecks as well, but somehow the No. 48 survived and outlasted others to finish second.

The big winner of the day was Matt Kenseth, who overcame his losing streak and picked up a win for Joe Gibbs Racing and now his Toyota will be in the chase.

Kenseth almost had a victory earlier in the season, but a broken axle ended his day in California. Kenseth doesn’t have to worry the rest of the way, he now has a chance at the title.

He showed nerves of steel as he survived a rare rain delay right before a green-white-checker finish and several cautions in the final 30 laps.

With a day of rain and wrecks shaking up the dynamic of what was a track stronghold the last few weeks by the No. 4, here are five takeways from Sunday’s race.

1. Kevin Harvick’s run of dominance to start the season comes to an end

One of the toughest things in NASCAR is when a driver ends up in a wreck that isn’t even their fault.

With Jimmie Johnson racing hard toward the front, he got into the back of Jeb Burton and spun out the car, which then ended up taking out David Ragan. Ragan sat in the middle of the track like a sitting duck and thanks to a blind spot, spun and slammed right into the side of Ragan.

Harvick’s string of Top-10 finishes would come to an end as his team frantically tried to get his car back out on the track.

Harvick was able to get back on the track, but by the time he did, he was in the 39th position and was double digit laps off the lead lap.

Harvick had been running great Sunday just as he had all year, unfortunately a wreck in front of him ended his streak of dominance.

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Luckily for Harvick, he has next week in Richmond to rebound and grab another top finish.

2. Matt Kenseth has joined the party

Faced with many obstacles on Sunday, Matt Kenseth overcame the odds and rose above as the pole sitter pulled out an emotional win at Bristol.

Kenseth’s victory earns him a spot in the chase and he will now have a chance to compete for the Sprint Cup Championship.

It wasn’t easy for No. 20, considering the amount of wrecks behind him in the last 30 laps, but he held on and showed tremendous fortitude and a fighting spirit.

Kenseth showed some flashes earlier in the year, but struggled to show any consistency on the track. Sunday, Kevin Harvick’s time was up and Matt Kenseth’s time was now.

Kenseth is going to the chase!

3. Air Titans are awesome

Just when it looked like the race was going to be washed out and postponed to Monday, a brave brotherhood of trucks came to the rescue to dry the track so that the fans could see racing on Sunday.

NASCAR brought out the Air Titans, a group of Nissan Titans with jet dryers on the back to dry off the track.

They’re as awesome as they sound too.

For anyone that watched the rain delay from the beginning, then it was apparent that there was no chance at all of getting back on the track with the amount of water left from the heavy storm cells.

Well the Nissan Titans took up the challenge and were the true heroes on the track Sunday, and because of them every racing fan got to see the demolition derby that unfolded after.

4. Welcome to the show Erik Jones

Denny Hamlin was in the 5th position before the race came to it’s first halt because of rain after 23 laps. After the long delay, it was Erik Jones who was hopping back in the No. 11 instead of Hamlin.

Hamlin, dealing with Neck Spasms, decided not to continue and let the younger Jones take over. Jones is only 18-years old and is one of the best young drivers that NASCAR has to offer. Last week, he made a big impression last week when he won the Xfinity Series race at Texas.

The short track of grit and grind that is Bristol, is no easy place for any driver to hop in and take over at.

Jones was thrown into the fire and would give it his best, but smartly he sacrificed positions to keep the car safe from damage and ran a nice controlled pace. When you’re a young driver filling in, that’s what car owners want to see the most.

Denny Hamlin still is awarded the points since he started the race.

5. NASCAR and FOX pay tribute to Steve Byrnes

As part of FOX’s Stand Up To Cancer, NASCAR and FOX paid tribute to Fox Sports personality Steve Byrnes who is currently battling cancer.

Every car had his initials “SPB” on it and at lap 250. Everyone held signs where they could write in the name of someone battling cancer that they could stand up for.

People held up signs saying that they were standing for Steve and NASCAR’s announcers told Steve that they loved him and they were rooting for him.

Before the race several drivers were interviewed and all sent well wishes to Byrnes and his family.

It was definitely a classy gesture from both NASCAR and FOX. It was a nine-hour marathon of racing in Bristol and it was a stressful and exhausting day for many of the drivers on the tracks.

Wrecks took out race favorites and cautions opened opportunities for new drivers to have a chance at victory.

Next week NASCAR will head to Richmond, where a spot in the chase will be on the line.

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