Food City 500: 5 takeaways from NASCAR at Bristol
Rain delayed the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race but it didn’t stop the action. Here are our takeaways from the Food City 500 at Bristol.
It took place a day later than intended but the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series finally ran at Bristol Motor Speedway, with Jimmie Johnson becoming the 2017 winner of the Food City 500.
After rain forced the postponement of competition from Sunday to Monday, Johnson and the rest of the field delivered an intriguing race at Bristol that involved its fair share of accidents, mistakes and mix-ups. The Food City 500 will probably leave NASCAR fans talking, so we’ve pulled up our five favorite talking points to continue the discussion.
If you missed any of the race on Sunday, you can find the complete results here.
Here’s what we took away from the Food City 500:
1) No, seriously, Jimmie Johnson is fine now
It’s like Jimmie Johnson wanted to be sure everyone got the message that there is nothing wrong with him. Johnson drove the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet into Victory Lane at the Food City 500 for his second consecutive race win. It seems like whatever was bugging him at the start of the season, he’s shaken it off, so we can stop worrying about him (and focus our good mojo on his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.).
2) It doesn’t matter how many laps you lead if you speed
Another week and we’re giving another pit road speeding PSA. Kyle Larson led the most laps of the race with 202 and won Stage 1, but his chance to take the overall race was crushed by a speeding ticket; he finished sixth instead. Martin Truex Jr. led the second most laps at 116 and won Stage 2, and he also got a pit road speeding penalty before coming home eighth. Speeding on track good, speeding on pit lane bad.
3) AVOID THE WALLS
Capslock is absolutely necessary here because the walls were particularly unkind to people during the Bristol race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. hit the wall. David Ragan and Danica Patrick hit each other and the wall. Poor Erik Jones won the Xfinity Series race and then hit the wall. The walls are a part of every Cup Series race, but in the Food City 500 it’s like they were determined to be jerks.
4) Matt Kenseth has been freed
Our shoutout of the week goes to Matt Kenseth, who started the Food City 500 in 22nd place and wound up finishing fourth. That’s a pretty good day at the office.
5) Chris Buescher is a good guy
Chris Buescher has taken some grief since he earned a race win, and therefore spot in the playoff Chase, due to heavy fog last year. But Buescher did a great thing on Food City 500 weekend by pitching in to help campers who were affected by the floods move to safer ground. It seems like whenever there is inclement weather, Chris Buescher will be there. (Sounds like a cool supehero, doesn’t it?) Too bad that karma didn’t pay him back in the race, as he finished dead last.
Next: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings after Bristol
The next Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race is the Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond on Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m. ET. Until then, keep up with the latest NASCAR news by following the NASCAR category at FanSided here.