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Johnson Earns Second Straight Victory Of 2017 At Bristol

Jimmie Johnson won the rain delayed Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway today, taking his second straight victory of the 2017 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series season.

Johnson, who led just 81 laps, drove a smooth and consistent race, prevailing over several big names that fell off pace due to infractions, contact or car problems. Pole-sitter Kyle Larson led opening 202 laps of the 500-lap race and was on his way to a top-five finish before he incurred a speeding penalty on pit road and turned up sixth. Martin Truex Jr., who led 116 laps, had his chances thwarted after receiving a speeding penalty with 34 laps to go. Five-time Bristol winner Kyle Busch retired with damage, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired with a broken oil cooler.

“Yeah, just a really solid performance all day long, great pit stops,” John said said post-race. “It was just very solid.  Same thing at Texas.”

“We’re getting closer there, but the race itself, execution has been flawless, great race cars.  I feel like we did a nice job on Saturday.  I feel like (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) did a really nice job on Saturday of listening through my frustration and how to get the car a little bit closer, and his open-minded approach I really think found something that we’ve been looking for for a while here and made a huge difference today.  Just a lot of fun.”

Clint Bowyer finished second after failing to reel in Johnson in the closing stage of the race, while Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five. Apart from Johnson, Kyle Laron and Chase Elliott were the only Chevrolet drivers in the top ten with sixth and seventh place finished, respectively.

NASCAR heads to Richmond next weekend for the Toyota Owners 400. Click here for full results from Bristol and here for a full weekend schedule for Richmond.

Sam loves to write and has a passion for auto racing, karting and performance driving of all types.

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