Johnson Takes Second Career Bristol Checkered Flag

(BRISTOL, TN – APR 24, 2017 – RIS) Jimmie Johnson won his second career Bristol race in the rain-delayed Food City 500, running the high line for much of the race, following the lead of Kyle Larson. "Yeah, it was kind of interesting because when the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) was there, it just created an environment to run the top and I wasn't as good on the top. The No. 42, not being up there and that first couple of cars; the bottom was really where it was at for the short run. This Lowe's Chevrolet was flying!"

Johnson added that:"I'm so happy to give everybody at A.O. Smith a good ride on the quarter panel this weekend. We wouldn't be here without a ton of support from Valvoline, Gatorade, the fans, Lowe's, and Chevrolet. This track has been difficult over the years and we really hit on something Saturday afternoon in that last practice session around the bottom and honestly, it's what I've been looking for here for 16 years and we finally figured it out. So, I'm very very happy."

Speaking in Victoy Lane, he commented on his seven championships and how today's win moved him into a victory tie with Cale Yarborough and only two behind Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison: "That's just mind-blowing. I wouldn't be here without Mr. Hendrick's support. Thanks to him and to Jeff Gordon for believing in me. 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. I'm truly humbled. I'm excited to win back-to-back races. I'm excited to win at Bristol. I guess we'll be at Indy testing for the next two days and we'll show up at Richmond and try again."

Bristol's storm-delayed race got underway as rescheduled on Monday afternoon, and went 54 laps before a caution when Kurt Busch, Reed Sorensen and Chris Buescher brought out the caution which became a red flag for cleanup of oil and other fluids from Buescher's (backup) car. Buescher had started at the back of the field after a crash in practice put the No. 37 primary car on the hauler.

"I guess I didn't realize there was a wreck before that," said Buescher. "I know everybody was slowing up and the caution was out. I tried to get on the brakes and it just wheel-hopped. It's just a pretty big shame for our Bush's Baked Beans Chevrolet.

"We started at the back and we were making really good head way with our Bush's Baked Beans Chevy. And was really happy with the balance of it and it was looking to be a good start to a race. I am honestly not really sure what happened. Came off (Turn) four there and fighting for the lucky dog and trying to get in that spot. Everybody starts checking up and I locked the brakes up and just couldn't get slowed down in time. I think I ended up tearing the radiator out of the car and pretty much it just ends our day now." 

After 202 laps and a dozen or so battling, Larson finally got passed for the lead by Martin Truex and then by Joey Logano, dropping back to third place. The second caution of the race flew almost immediately, as Kyle Busch slapped the wall, apparently victim to a cut right front tire. On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr's car slid up the track and hit the wall, leaving a trail of fluids behind it. He later commented that the car had left a puddle of oil in the pits after their pit stop, contributing to speculation that something had broken under the hood. The failure and crash damage sent the No. 88 car to the garage and out of the race. "We came out of the pits and there's some oil in the pit stall I noticed when I was getting lined-up for double file, [the car] is smoking. I don't know why. But it's got oil all over the engine compartment. So, in the corner, it just went straight in the wall. I don't know what's broke, but I think that's the end of the day.

"I just thought maybe we had a tire rub for some reason, but I couldn't remember what might have caused that. And went into Turn 1 on the restart and the car went straight into the wall with oil all over the tires. Came into the garage there and they are working on where the hole in the system is. Just something is messed up, but that is going to be the finish for us. It's unfortunate. We weren't running that great, but we were working on our car and trying to figure out how to get it to run better. And get something out of today, but we are going to have another bad finish. We have had a lot of them this year. It's going to be tough."

"I hate to really make any comment one way or the other because our car wasn't driving well enough to give the track a good recommendation. I like the fact… one of the things I noticed in the race is that the leader doesn't seem to be trapped by the lap cars and he has an option to get around these guys and they were lapping up to where I was around 20th in these little green-flag runs we are having. As a guy that is running toward the front you've got to like that. The way it was before, you were kind of stuck behind guys up on the high line and if… even a guy that is three tenths slower than you he could hold you up if he wanted to, but now you've got options. You can run the top in (Turns) 3 and 4 would get going and would become a good line and the bottom of (Turn) 1 and 2 was always good throughout the whole run. As a driver, you like to have those options. I like it."

Truex 'won' his fifth stage of the 2017 season at the midpoint of the 500 lap race, leading to another round of pit stops. Denny Hamlin elected to take only two tires, sending him out at the front of the field, followed by Logano and Truex. Landon Cassill's crew left him on the track to gain a few leader points but Truex motored around him on the outside, followed by Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.

Another blown right front tire on Kyle Busch's car sent the No. 18 Toyota behind the wall for the day on lap 383, with Busch commenting: "I didn't need anything, I was the fastest one out there those last two runs picking cars off and driving from the back to the front after we lost our track position the first time. We had our issues and we were trying to march our way back up towards the front and get there and thought we were doing a good job of that and trying to be conservative with the tires because obviously they can't make it through a full distance for us for some reason. I don't know, I don't know if it's fundamentally wrong what we're doing, but it seems like all the rest of our five JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars are fine."

Joey Logano held the lead on the restart but Jimmie Johnson powered his way around the inside and into the lead with 107 laps left out of the 500 scheduled.

Logano moved into contention for the lead, challenging Johnson on the inside and Larson used the outside line to move around Logano and into second place. The top four racers, Johnson, Larson, Logano and Truex were essentially nose to tail when Saturday's Xfinity Series winner Erik Jones, suffered a cut right front and slammed into the wall with AJ Allmendinger unable to avoid knocking the left rear sheetmetal off of Jones' car.

Hamlin held the lead on the restart but Larson, after a speeding penalty on pit road exit, restarted in 20th. There was talk that the penalty may have been due to a wedge-shaped timing segment and the time he took across the narrow segment was too quick, compared to a wider line through the segment. Larson moved up through the pack, gaining positions, but basically held the same spacing on the track between the leader and his car.

Truex kept challenging Johnson for the lead, working the low line, but could not maintain enough momentum to complete a pass before Johnson's high line let him sweep back into the lead.

Caution nine for the day flew when Kasey Kahne slowed in the top groove and Paul Menard couldn't avoid hitting him and spinning. This time, exiting the pits, Martin Truex got penalized for speeding.

Kevin Harvick stayed on the track instead of pitting, gaining the lead watching his mirrors as Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Larson battled before Johnson got clear in second and then passed Harvick for the lead. Clint Bowyer got around Harvick for second with 16 laps left but Johnson had moved out to a one second lead.

Johnson held onto the lead, followed by Bowyer and Harvick with Larson moving through the field to sixth at the finish.

Unofficial Race Results for the 57Th Annual Food City 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Status
1) 11, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 500, 5, 3, 54, 3, 81, 5, Running
2) 9, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Haas Automation Demo Days Ford, 500, , , 35, , , , Running
3) 10, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 500, , 4, 41, 1, 14, , Running
4) 22, Matt Kenseth, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 500, , , 33, , , , Running
5) 5, Joey Logano, No. 22 Autotrader Ford, 500, 4, 2, 48, 5, 72, , Running
6) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 500, 1, 7, 45, 1, 202, 1, Running
7) 2, Chase Elliott, No. 24 Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevrolet, 500, 6, , 35, , , , Running
8) 3, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota, 500, 2, 1, 48, 3, 116, 1, Running
9) 19, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 SunnyD Ford, 500, , 10, 29, , , , Running
10) 16, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 500, 8, 8, 33, 1, 10, , Running
11) 12, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Ford, 500, , 9, 28, , , , Running
12) 8, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/NWTF Chevrolet, 500, 7, 5, 35, , , , Running
13) 21, Austin Dillon, No. 3 New Era Cap Chevrolet, 500, , , 24, , , , Running
14) 13, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Grainger Chevrolet, 500, , , 23, , , , Running
15) 24, Ty Dillon #, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 500, , , 22, , , , Running
16) 26, Paul Menard, No. 27 Libman/Menards Chevrolet, 499, , , 21, , , , Running
17) 14, Erik Jones #, No. 77 Sport Clips Toyota, 499, 3, 6, 33, , , , Running
18) 23, Daniel Suarez #, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 498, , , 19, , , , Running
19) 32, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Cosmo Motors Ford, 498, , , 18, , , , Running
20) 17, Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Great Clips Chevrolet, 498, , , 17, , , , Running
21) 31, Cole Whitt, No. 72 RTIC Coolers Chevrolet, 498, , , 16, , , , Running
22) 18, Aric Almirola, No. 43 Smithfield Ford, 497, , , 15, , , , Running
23) 33, David Ragan, No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford, 497, , , 14, , , , Running
24) 35, * Corey LaJoie #, No. 83 JAS Expedited Trucking Toyota, 497, , , 13, , , , Running
25) 15, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, 494, , , 12, , , , Running
26) 28, Michael McDowell, No. 95 WRL General Contractors Chevrolet, 494, , , 11, , , , Running
27) 37, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 33 Little Joes/Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet, 491, , , 10, , , , Running
28) 34, Reed Sorenson, No. 15 LowT Center Chevrolet, 490, , , 9, , , , Running
29) 36, Gray Gaulding #, No. 23 SunFrog.com Toyota, 487, , , 8, , , , Running
30) 25, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 482, 9, , 9, , , , Running
31) 39, * Derrike Cope, No. 55 Toyota, 465, , , 6, , , , Running
32) 30, Landon Cassill, No. 34 CSX Play It Safe Ford, 458, , , 5, 1, 5, , Running
33) 6, Ryan Blaney, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 452, , , 4, , , , Running
34) 4, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 433, , , 3, , , , Running
35) 7, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota, 383, 10, , 3, , , , Accident
36) 29, Danica Patrick, No. 10 Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford, 320, , , 1, , , , Accident
37) 38, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 51 SleepFresh Mattress Chevrolet, 234, , , 0, , , , Suspension
38) 20, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 218, , , 1, , , , Accident
39) 27, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 53, , , 1, , , , Accident

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team

Time of Race: 03 Hrs, 04 Mins, 29 Secs.; Average Speed: 86.674 MPH; Margin of Victory: 1.199 Seconds
Race Comments: Jimmie Johnson won the Food City 500, his 82nd Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. Prior to the green flag to start the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 37 (backup).

Caution Flags: 9 for 76 laps: Laps: 56-71 (No. 15, 37, 41 incident Turn 1 [Red Flag: Lap 67, 5:10] [13]); 127-137 (Stage 1 conclusion [13]); 211-217 (No. 18 incident Turn 2 [13]); 219-228 (No. 88 incident Turn 1 [43]); 252-260 (Stage 2 conclusion [72]); 325-329 (No. 10, 38 incident backstretch [3]); 385-390 (No. 18 incident Turn 4 [27]); 422-427 (No. 77 incident Turn 3 [13]); 463-468 (No. 5, 27 incident Turn 4 [77]).

Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers: K. Larson 1-202; M. Truex Jr. 203-211; J. Logano 212; M. Truex Jr. 213-254; J. Logano 255; L. Cassill 256-260; M. Truex Jr. 261-325; J. Logano 326-393; J. Johnson 394-421; J. Logano 422; D. Hamlin 423-432; J. Johnson 433-464; J. Logano 465; K. Harvick 466-479; J. Johnson 480-500.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kyle Larson, #42
Ingersoll Rand Power Move: Clint Bowyer, #14 4 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #48
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Clint Bowyer, #14
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Kyle Larson, #42
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Ty Dillon, #13

TEAM CHEVY POST RACE NOTES AND QUOTES

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE'S CHEVROLET SS – RACE WINNER: IT TOOK SEVEN YEARS FOR YOU TO GET A SECOND WIN AT BRISTOL. YOU WERE THE GUY ON THAT FINAL RUN THAT FOUND THE BOTTOM FIRST AND BEST "Yeah, it was kind of interesting because when the No. 42 (Kyle Larson) was there, it just created an environment to run the top and I wasn't as good on the top. The No. 42, not being up there and that first couple of cars; the bottom was really where it was at for the short run. This Lowe's Chevrolet was flying!

"I'm so happy to give everybody at A.O. Smith a good ride on the quarter panel this weekend. We wouldn't be here without a ton of support from Valvoline, Gatorade, the fans, Lowe's, and Chevrolet. This track has been difficult over the years and we really hit on something Saturday afternoon in that last practice session around the bottom and honestly, it's what I've been looking for here for 16 years and we finally figured it out. So, I'm very, very happy."

WHEN YOU SCORED YOUR 7TH CHAMPIONSHIP AND TIED RICHARD PETTY AND DALE EARNHARDT, YOU WERE VERY HUMBLE ABOUT BEING INCLUDED INTO THEIR CLASS. NOW YOU ARE ONE WIN AWAY FROM HALL OF FAMER, CALE YARBOROUGH; AND TWO AWAY FROM DARRELL WALTRIP AND BOBBY ALLISON. "That's just mind-blowing. I wouldn't be here without Mr. Hendrick's support. Thanks to him and to Jeff Gordon for believing in me. 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. I'm truly humbled. I'm excited to win back-to-back races. I'm excited to win at Bristol. I guess we'll be at Indy testing for the next two days and we'll show up at Richmond and try again."

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE CAREER WIN NUMBER TWO AT BRISTOL? "This track has been really difficult for me over the years.  To be able to find what we did Saturday afternoon it's honestly what I've been looking for, for 16 years up here. Really 18 years when I look at my two years in Xfinity, but huge credit to Mr. Hendrick and the environment and the place he lets us work.  Huge thanks to Lowe's and A.O. Smith for being on the quarter panel this weekend.  My guys nailed their pit stops all day long.  Great team effort, just a ton of fun out there racing.  This track has always been very racy, but now that we can hunt the bottom and we can run two and three wide and put on a heck of a show for the fans."

WHAT DOES THIS WIN SAY TO EVERYBODY? "When you are in the garage area you know, what is going on.  I feel like and plus I've always been very honest with everyone, we have been close, we have just been making too many mistakes.  Today was another flawless day of execution and a great race car and we got it done."

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 CREDIT ONE BANK CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 6TH: YOU LED 203 LAPS TODAY. YOU HAD A SPEEDING PENALTY AND HAD TO GO TO THE BACK, BUT YOU ENDED UP SIXTH. WHAT'S YOUR TAKEAWAY FROM TODAY? "I don't know if we had the car to beat. I thought early on in the race before all the rubber got laid down we were really good. In the middle part of the race, I didn't think we were very good. And then there at the end, I got the top going really good. So, and then I got that speeding penalty and set us back. We had to gamble there for that last stop and take two lefts and we hadn't don't that all day. The balance honestly wasn't that bad with our Credit One Bank Chevy, on two tires. Four tires just had a little more grip around the bottom for a little bit longer than we did. And I had to get to the top early and was just following Kevin (Harvick) hoping that he'd make a mistake because I knew I couldn't go down to the bottom and get by him. So, I had to kind of ride. But, it was another good run for us; another top 10. I would have liked to have a top 5 but it was a good points day for us and we'll go on to Richmond next and try to do better than we've done there in the past and extend our point lead there."

WERE YOU HAVING FUN? "Yeah, it was a lot of fun.  Bristol is such an exciting race track. It was really good today.  It changed a lot.  Each run, I thought, was a little bit different line wise. I thought it was good.  I hope the fans enjoyed it.  I know we were two, three wide for the lead there a couple of times it seemed like.  I don't know what more fans and other drivers could ask for than that.  I just hope they don't touch anymore.  I think they have got something good with the VHT on the bottom.  I just hope they don't do anything more to mess the top up any."

AS LONG AS THEY PUT THAT AMOUNT OF VHT ON THE BOTTOM IT AND GIVES YOU A CHANCE FOR YOU TO WORK IN THE TOP TO BE ABOUT EQUAL YOU LIKE THAT? "Yeah, I thought today they added about three foot of VHT, which is about half as less as they did earlier this week.  I thought that was a good width.  It allows you to get your left sides in it, but if you miss it you lose lap time, which I think is fun for us.  It makes the racing a little bit more competitive and I think it just makes the racing exciting."

ON HIS CONFIDENCE RIGHT NOW: "It's a lot of fun to be contending each and every week. I thought we were sitting really good there after that last pit stop, but it seemed like four tires were just better.  That was the first time we had put two tires on all day.  It drove fine, it just had less speed it seemed like than four tires.  It seemed like those guys, Jimmie (Johnson) and Clint (Bowyer) could work the bottom, where I couldn't.  I had to go to the top and commit up there early.  I think we finished sixth, which I was hoping to finish top five, but I got a little too high off of (Turn) 4 and got messed up in traffic and Matt (Kenseth) and Joey (Logano) got by."

ON THE RACE TRACK: "The racing was really good, I thought.  We were two, three wide at times. I thought the track changed a lot.  The line did throughout the race.  I thought it was exciting from my seat.  I don't know what the fans at home thought.  Honestly, I don't think it gets much better than that.  We keep trying to make it one lane around the bottom each and every time we come back, but I think this is the most exciting place we have on the circuit by far and I just hope we don't mess it up."

HOW DISAPPOINTED ARE YOU? "I'm a little disappointed, but not bad.  I'm more disappointed in myself from getting that speeding penalty with 80 (laps) or so to go.  I was just pushing it down pit road and pushed it a little too far.  I had a shot there still at the end, but four tires were better than ours."

TY DILLON, NO. 13 GEICO CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 15TH "It was definitely a battle for our No. 13 GEICO Chevy team today. We got damage to the right rear at the end of the first stage that really hurt our speed through the rest of the day. So, our race really became about getting track position any way that we could. My spotter did great getting me through traffic, and Crew Chief Bootie Barker and my guys on pit road did everything that could to keep us where we needed to be. We had to fight for all that we could, and I gave it everything that I had. It was a good day to come out of Bristol with a 15th-place finish."

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 MOUNTAIN DEW/LITTLE CAESARS CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 9TH

ON HIS RACE AT BRISTOL: "It was alright we just kind of got behind through those mid stages and fought back a little bit, just not enough."

THOUGHTS ON TRACK SURFACE: "We had options for sure.  The top was the place to be after a while, but it was good."

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE CHEVROLET – Incident on Lap 218: THEY ARE TRYING TO ADDRESS WHAT DAMAGE WAS DONE BEFORE THE INCIDENT AND WHAT DAMAGE WAS DONE AFTER YOU HIT THE WALL, BUT DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA AT ALL THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM? "We came out of the pits and there's some oil in the pit stall I noticed when I was getting lined-up for double file, is smoking. I don't know why. But it's got oil all over the engine compartment. So, in the corner, it just went straight in the wall. I don't know what's broke, but I think that's the end of the day."

ACCORDING TO NASCAR RULES, YOU HAVE TO DO TO THE MEDICAL CENTER. DO YOU FEEL OKAY? "I feel good. We'll get in here and find out."

WHAT HAPPENED? "I don't know we broke something in the oil system under caution. The guys said there was some oil in the pit stall after our pit stop.  I noticed when I was getting lined up double file for the restart the car was smoking.  I just thought maybe we had a tire rub for some reason, but I couldn't remember what might have caused that. And went into Turn 1 on the restart and the car went straight into the wall with oil all over the tires.  Came into the garage there and they are working on where the hole in the system is.  Just something is messed up, but that is going to be the finish for us.  It's unfortunate.  We weren't running that great, but we were working on our car and trying to figure out how to get it to run better.  And get something out of today, but we are going to have another bad finish.  We have had a lot of them this year.  It's going to be tough."

ON THE TRACK SURFACE: "I hate to really make any comment one way or the other because our car wasn't driving well enough to give the track a good recommendation.  I like the fact… one of the things I noticed in the race is that the leader doesn't seem to be trapped by the lap cars and he has an option to get around these guys and they were lapping up to where I was around 20th in these little green-flag runs we are having.  As a guy that is running toward the front you've got to like that.  The way it was before, you were kind of stuck behind guys up on the high line and if… even a guy that is three tenths slower than you he could hold you up if he wanted to, but now you've got options. You can run the top in (Turns) 3 and 4 would get going and would become a good line and the bottom of (Turn) 1 and 2 was always good throughout the whole run.  As a driver, you like to have those options.  I like it."

WERE YOU A LITTLE SURPRISED YOU WEREN'T BETTER THAN YOU WERE? "Yeah I was because we practiced well.  But we ran into some issues at the end of the last practice with the car and they were still there today.  I don't know what in our set-up is creating that.  It's not like I'm feeling something that I wasn't familiar with.  We did have some good practices and felt pretty confident, but apparently, whatever we got into the car late in the last practice we didn't tune it back out.  We were really tight in the center and tight in the throttle and guys beating me really bad back to the gas.  That ain't no way to run anywhere really."

ARE YOU OKAY AFTER HITTING THE WALL? "Yeah, it wasn't that bad.  I feel pretty good. Obviously, it wasn't a real hard lick.  I got the car slowed down a little bit and it really didn't damage the car too badly.  Had we not had something terminal with the oil system we would have slapped tires on it and kept going."

CHRIS BUESCHER, NO. 37 BUSH'S BAKED BEANS CHEVROLET SS – Involved in a multi-car accident on lap 56: YOU STARTED FROM THE REAR IN A BACK-UP CAR, BUT NOW YOUR DAY IS DONE. WHAT DID YOU SEE FROM WITHIN THE CAR? "I guess I didn't realize there was a wreck before that. I know everybody was slowing up and the caution was out. I tried to get on the brakes and it just wheel-hopped. It's just a pretty big shame for our Bush's Baked Beans Chevrolet. Like you said, we started last in our back-up and were rolling through there pretty good. We were fighting to be in the spot for the Lucky Dog there, and we were right there at it. And Ty (Dillon) was right there. We had found something after (Kyle) Larson passed me on the high side and kind of found something doing the same thing. And we were just starting to pick up a little bit of momentum there. I hate it. I hate it for this team and how hard they've worked this whole weekend and on a Monday for our race to be cut that short. I feel like a large part of that's on me. We've got to do better than that on my side. And we'll go to Richmond and see if we can have a good day."

WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE? "We started at the back and we were making really good head way with our Bush's Baked Beans Chevy.  And was really happy with the balance of it and it was looking to be a good start to a race.  I am honestly not really sure what happened.  Came off (Turn) four there and fighting for the lucky dog and trying to get in that spot.  Everybody starts checking up and I locked the brakes up and just couldn't get slowed down in time.  I think I ended up tearing the radiator out of the car and pretty much it just ends our day now."

I KNOW YOU WERE NOT OUT THERE LONG BUT IS THE BOTTOM STILL THE PREFERRED GROOVE? "Yeah, definitely right now.  The top was just starting to come in to an extent to be able to be something useable for passing.  We were able to get by a couple there at the end doing just that.  Just a shame we don't get to use it more now."

TOYOTA QUOTES

MATT KENSETH, No 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 4th - Are you pleased with your finish today? "Well we haven't had a top-five in a long, long time. We got better there at the end and got a little bit of track position finally. It was an uphill battle all day without qualifying and then I sped on pit road and got us to the back. At the end we had a car that was good – most of the day it wasn't very good, but the last two runs we were fairly competitive."

How was the car in the closing laps? "We were pretty good the last couple runs, but the rest of the race we weren't very good really. I thought we were going to run top-15 until the top came in. When the top came in I think that played into our setup a little bit better and I was able to run better laps."

What were your thoughts on the track surface? "I liked it better when the top came in, I liked having an option. Whenever you ask drivers after the race, however they ran is how they're going to rate the track. When I was stuck on the bottom we didn't run very good, but when the top came in then we could do a lot. Once that rubbered in, we got back to our old setup and driving style and we were able to make a little ground."

Will this finish give you some momentum heading into Richmond? "I hope so, to say it's been a terrible year so far would be a great understatement. I hope so, we weren't really up front very much today and we didn't get any bonus point, but we were able to get a top-five at the end of the day so I guess we'll try to build on that."

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - Finishing Position:  8th What happened with the late-race speeding penalty? "We were going for it you know. Wish we could have had a shot there just to see if we could have won. This Furniture Row/Denver Mattress Toyota with everyone that helps us make it right – Toyota, TRD 5-hour, Wix, Bass Pro and just everybody. This is the best run we've had here in a long time. It's bittersweet, I wish we could have seen if we could have beat the 48 (Jimmie Johnson). We were close there before that last caution, but it is what it is and you try to get what you can get and sometimes you cross the line and today we crossed the line. All in all, it was an awesome day and a lot of fun. Had the VHT not worn out quite as bad then we would have really killed them. The top lane came in and some guys could run that better than I could, but overall it was a good day and a lot of fun all day."

How big of a difference did you see from the top groove to the bottom groove? "It wasn't a huge difference, but I felt like I was the best car on the bottom all day – enough to where those guys that got the top working kind of evened out to us and maybe got a little better even on the long run. Early in the race on the long run we killed them on the bottom and then slowed down a little bit and the top got faster and I couldn't run the top quite as good as a few of them. That last run there I got three and four where I could stay with the 48 and I could actually catch him a little in one and two on the bottom. All in all, it was a fun race track. You could move around and it was a blast. I think next time they're going to want to make the bottom stick around a little longer and I think that's good news for us because our car was really good down there."

Did you believe you were speeding on that last pit stop? "I thought I was exactly where I was the time before so the time before must have been close. Typically we don't get many speeding penalties for this team, but today we were just pushing the issue trying to get a win and sometimes they'll get you."

 What happened when you received the speeding penalty? "I went too fast. I thought I did real, real similar to the times before, but when you're pushing the limits to three or four tenths of a mile per hour and you only have lights and no rev limiter or mile per hour gauge, sometimes you just get a little jump there in the gas pedal and all it takes is two or three tenths of a mile per hour. I would like to see just how far over we were and I'm sure it's going to hurt my feelings a lot."

How strong was your car today? "It was really good. I don't know if we could have beat the 48 (Jimmie Johnson). Certainly right before that last caution, I felt like we were just starting to get maybe a touch better than he was and we were right there holding him on us. I wish we could have raced him to the end, but those are the breaks and that's how racing goes. We haven't had a whole lot of speeding penalties in the last year so just bad timing to get one today. All in all, a great day and to come here to Bristol and run that good is big for us. I've had strong cars here the last few times and nothing to show for it. At least today we had a decent finish, not as good as we should have, but we ran strong here."

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 10th How was your car today? "We were average, we were about a fifth to 10th place car most of the day. Just kind of where we ended up. We just haven't had the speed to run with those guys so we have to keep gambling with our strategy to try to make something happen and steal a win because we just don't have a car fast enough to do it right now."

ERIK JONES, No. 77 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing Finishing Position: 17th - What happened that caused the damage to your car? "The 23 (Gray Gaulding), we were side-by-side passing him and I don't know if he got loose, but he got down into us about halfway down the backstretch and must have cut a tire – cut the right front. Pretty unfortunate, I thought we had a really good car and a car that if we could have got some track position and maybe got up front, I think we could have led some laps and had a shot at the win. I thought we were just as good as the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) for the majority of the day. We'll keep working on it and we have a good package to come back in the fall."

CHRIS GAYLE, crew chief, No. 77 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing How pleased were you with the race before the damage from the cut tire? "I thought it was going to be a really great day for us. We were strong in all three practice sessions this weekend and Erik' (Jones) done a great job. I felt like there right before we got into the accident and cut the tire that we were actually going to have a shot to compete for the win here. I was looking forward to getting that next set of tires off and getting ready for the last 100 laps. Just unfortunate that a little contact there cuts a tire and turns what could have been a really great day for us into just an okay points day for us."

What damage did the car suffer? "Definitely the upper control arm is bent and a couple other things. We just had to limp it in and get the best finish we could."

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - Finishing Position: 35th What did you need in the last run to continue making your way to the front of the field? "I didn't need anything, I was the fastest one out there those last two runs picking cars off and driving from the back to the front after we lost our track position the first time. We had our issues and we were trying to march our way back up towards the front and get there and thought we were doing a good job of that and trying to be conservative with the tires because obviously they can't make it through a full distance for us for some reason. I don't know, I don't know if it's fundamentally wrong what we're doing, but it seems like all the rest of our five JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) cars are fine."

FORD QUOTES:

DANICA PATRICK – No. 10 Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford Fusion – "I haven't seen what happened yet. I started off the race and wasn't really that great and then we had a stop and it was on fire for a little while. I mean, I was doing the old Bristol bump-and-run all the way up to the lucky dog spot, and then I got a little bit tight and some cars caught me, so we started running the high line. Like we all know, it comes in and it was all right, and then all of a sudden it just snapped loose in one and two and hit the wall and got a lot of right-rear damage and lost a lot of sideforce. It was just super-loose after that. It was kind of miserable for the next part until it ended there about 300 in or something like that. What happened with that, I'm not sure. I know that all of a sudden I heard, 'three-wide' and I don't know. There was a wreck and I was the lucky winner."

HOW WERE TRACK CONDITIONS? "I feel like compared to the last time it's similar. There are two lanes. There's the bottom and the top, so I feel like it's similar. I think it makes for good racing."

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING RIGHT NOW? "I'm just frustrated it was so miserable after I right-reared it. I thought to myself, 'I'm catching cars and passing them.' I was starting to pass lead-lap cars and thought that we were on track to climb our way back up there. With the yellows and the competition cautions and stuff it was maybe going to work out, so I'm mostly just thinking it was kind of just miserable for half the time out there after I right-reared it. But it's not from a lack of effort and it wasn't that I wasn't trying after that all happened, it was just kind of one thing after another, including pitting for a second time before the green came back out. I'm a half-a-lap down and the car is super-loose still, and just kind of a dumb decision with 18 laps to go to come and put tape on it like we did. I know there was a hole in the grille from all the stuff that happened, but it was one thing after another. I had about 30 laps of hope today."

KEVIN HARVICK – No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford Fusion – YOU GAMBLED AT THE END AND IT ALMOST PAID OFF FOR YOU: "I thought our Jimmy Johns Ford was the fastest car, 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. You just never know where you're going to come out on those restarts. I felt like we had a couple cautions and we were in control of the race with the 11 on two tires and we might have had a chance. A good weekend and we'll just keep going."

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE TRACK CONDITIONS? "I think the track evolved really good. It started off a little shaky the first 125 laps or so, but once it got running, I thought it was really racy."

CLINT BOWYER – No. 14 Haas Automation Demo Days Ford Fusion – LOOK HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME THAT YOU'RE FRUSTRATED WITH A RUNNER-UP FINISH: "Yeah, you have to put it into perspective. We've come a long way with this team. These guys have worked so hard; it's a fun group, everybody at Haas. My teammates are awesome. It's so much fun to work with this group each and every week. Hell yeah you want to be up there and win it. But the day we had, I got caught speeding on pit road and had to bounce back. The guys kept working on the car. I appreciate the opportunity that Gene Haas and Tony Stewart gave me. Mobil 1, Haas Automation and everyone that's a part of it."

JOEY LOGANO – No. 22 Autotrader Ford Fusion – A ROLLERCOASTER AND THE FRONT OF THE PACK FOR YOU TODAY. ONE OF THE FRUSTRATIONS FOR YOU WAS THAT THE CAR JUST WOULDN'T FIRE FOR YOU ON THE RESTARTS. WAS THAT WHAT DID YOU IN TODAY? "Yeah, we weren't a restarter today. Kind of non-typical for the 22. It's usually a short-run speed car. I started out hitting the splitter, up the race track, I was all over the place. I couldn't even retain the lead when we had it. That probably cost us the race when we lost the lead to the 48. Good long run car, just didn't have enough long runs. We have another top five, I think that's four straight. We got some good stage points which we haven't done all year. I just want to win when we come to this race track."

RYAN BLANEY – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – THAT MUST HAVE FELT LIKE THE LONGEST FIRST 100 LAPS WHEN THE POWER-STEERING WENT. "Yeah, I didn't think that was ever gonna end. We had to come in and fix it, which stinks because when we went back out we were actually really fast, but you're not racing for anything, which is unfortunate. It's something to look forward to in the fall race because I felt like that was one of the best cars I've had at Bristol. It stinks that it happened. I know it happened to us and the 2, the same problem, so we'll have to figure out what happened and what was different on the 22 to make sure it doesn't happen again."

RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – No. 17 Sunny D Ford Fusion – "I just couldn't keep our track position the way we needed to with some mishaps on pit road, but the car wasn't bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. For as bad as we were Saturday, I was really happy with our Sunny D Ford. We got the top working and we actually got the bottom working some, but we just couldn't keep our track position the way we needed to, and then I got behind some cars that were slower a lot of the restarts and I'd lose some positions. But as long as I had clear track in front of me I could really go and felt like I could pass whoever I wanted to."

HINDSIGHT BEING WHAT IT IS, YOU ALMOST WENT TO A BACKUP CAR ON FRIDAY. ARE YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T? "Yeah, I'm glad we did. That was definitely a decision that I thought was best for us was to keep that car and fix it even if we didn't get any practice. I'm really happy with the team effort."

ARE YOU SURPRISED AT HOW THE CAR REBOUNDED AFTER SATURDAY? YOU WERE STRUGGLING AT FIRST. "We were just really loose and I told them I was probably gonna crash it at some point, but we finally got it worked out and ended up with a good finish today."

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Fusion – "We were able to stay in the top 15 all day long or top 13 and got up to eighth or so at one point. I wanted it to stay green that last 30 laps because we were coming. I think we had a really good long-run car at that point. We had driving up to 10th or so, and I could see seventh there in front of me, so I wanted it to stay green so I could catch him. I'm really happy with our cars and the way we ran here. We ran good here last year, so we were kind of hoping for more gains when we finished fifth in this race. I think we were hoping for another top-5 because we'd been good here, but we're able to run right around the top-10 every single week right now and that's a huge improvement. We just have to keep making ground. I was on the edge of being too tight most of the day or too loose off and we were fighting that battle, but, overall, it was a good day for our team."

HOW WERE TRACK CONDITIONS? "It was changing all day. When the bottom was fast, that's when our car was the best. I felt like my car was really dialed in on the bottom. When it moved up, I got tight and we had to free the car back up to get it going. I just didn't seem to have the speed up there that I had on the bottom, but you had to run there. At the end, I finally got it figured out some and that's when the long-run speed was coming to us on that next-to-last run, but the very last run we made some changed and just got it too tight to fire off and I lost a few spots. Overall, though, it was a really solid day."

DAVID RAGAN – No. 38 Jacob Companies Ford Fusion – THOUGHTS ON THE RACE TODAY: "We had a great Jacob Companies Ford today. We were able to pass some cars and stay on the lead lap for a lot of the race. We just got caught up in a little skirmish with our teammate and Danica. I think that Landon (Cassill) had a suspension part break. I was trying to get out of his way and Danica squeezed us a little bit, just one of those racing things. Three wide at Bristol is hard to get through."

LANDON CASSILL – No. 34 – CSX Play It Safe Ford Fusion – A GOOD RUN ENDED BY A BROKEN WHEEL HUB? "Yeah, we had a loose wheel that led to broken wheel studs. A real bummer. I thought that we had a real good car."

CLINT BOWYER – No. 14 Haas Automation Demo Days Ford Fusion -- "Yeah, what a day. Starting off, I was way too loose and fell way back, just missed it. You know, heck, last car on the lead lap. Mike made some great adjustments all day long. The pit crew was on their game all day long and gained spots almost every time, and then I lost them all back on pit road speeding. Went to the back again, and then drove back up through them and got ourselves some position there. Mike made a good call of putting me in a position of one of the first cars on four tires there. I think the 48 was the other one, and he won the race, so the right strategy was there. The team effort was there. You know, that's what a weekend is all about. It's just been this long since I've won a race, and here is pretty special. It would have been pretty cool to be over there in Victory Lane."

WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET WITH JIMMIE IN FRONT OF YOU AT THE END? "Sucks."

DOES IT RATCHET UP? GET MORE INTENSE FOR YOU? ""It does, and then you're watching your lap times and you're adjusting everything you can possibly adjust, you know, from a track bar adjustment to adjusting your line on the race track, just trying every little thing you can possibly do. You know, it was like if I could gain on him one lap and then he'd gain on me the next, and then it just kind of fell by the wayside, kind of realized that, you know, it was a second‑place day."

HOW MUCH FUN ARE YOU HAVING AND DID YOU KNOW YOUR CAR WOULD BE THIS GOOD TODAY? "Well, we had good speed, you know, in practice most of the weekend, and to be honest with you, when we took off, I was really struggling for grip. Way loose on that first run and lost all my track position. I mean, heck, I almost went a lap down there. You know, and just kept working on it. That's the cool thing about being with a team like this, with an organization like this, having teammates like I do; I mean, it's just you can continue to work on it and get it better and better and better, and just like Kyle, I made a mistake on pit road and got caught speeding, and we were able to capitalize on that even and get ourselves in position to have a shot at winning the race. And that's all a credit to this race team and the organization that I signed on for a long time ago.
"So yeah, it's a lot of fun. You start getting that close to wins, know what I mean, you can't let too many of those go by the wayside. You've got to use those opportunities and capitalize on those opportunities, but definitely a confidence and momentum-builder for sure."

WERE YOU WISHING ILL WILL ON JIMMIE WHILE TRYING TO GAIN ON HIM? "Well, you never really wish ill will. You just hope something. It was one of those deals where I gained on him a little bit in the first few laps that I got in second, and I was really hard on my stuff, and then you start doing stupid stuff, trying to free it up, putting more rear brake in it and stuff that you know is probably not going to work, but you're just desperate and trying anything you can possibly do, started getting loose in, and I just kind of had to protect the ride. It is frustrating, you could see him out there, but dammit, you'd think he'd get tired of winning all these races."

IS THIS ALMOST BITTERSWEET IN A WAY BECAUSE YOU'RE SO CLOSE TO WINNING? "It's called racing. Been that way my whole life, since I was about five years old. You know, I mean, you struggle and struggle and struggle for a year and a half here, and hell, next thing you know you're being greedy about second; you know what I mean? That's just the way racers are wired and the way it's always been. Having a ton of fun and working hard and seeing the results is gratifying for this race team. I mean, we need sponsorship on the side of this car rather than the boss, and good runs like this and positive momentum and mojo is a good way to do that."

CLINT BOWYER CONTINUED -- WERE YOU HOPING FOR JIMMIE TO JUST MAKE A MISTAKE AT THE END? "Not even. You know better than that. It's Jimmie Johnson. You're just ‑‑ you're starting to ‑‑ you try everything you possibly can, like I said, and I was starting to do some pretty desperate things with brakes and my line and stuff like that, and then you just realize ‑‑ your mindset quickly changes, and you're like, all 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. We shouldn't hang our head about it."

I KNOW JOHNSON HAS GOOD CARS AND EVERYTHING. "Turns out he's pretty good too. Yeah, I don't know that I would take anything away from Jimmie."

DOES HE MAKE FEWER MISTAKES WHEN HE'S IN THAT POSITION THAN OTHER GUYS? "I just ‑‑ he's just faster. Turns out he's pretty good. No, I don't think it's a matter of making mistakes. I mean, he's just ‑‑ he's a seven‑time champion. I mean, that's all you can say about it. It's good to know that you're trying to outrun and frustrated with having the best that's probably ever been beat you. I guess there is something to say about that. He's still a butthole." (Laughter.)

HOW DID THE SURFACE FEEL TO YOU TODAY? "I don't think you really ‑‑ I mean, I know that everybody wants to see that Bristol of old and ring around the bottom and us beating and banging and moving cars. I'm telling you, the workload, the effort that you put into driving that car, you can't drive them any harder than that. Literally it's a qualifying lap almost every single time. I think they've done a great job of creating that environment. You know, Kyle and I were just talking ‑‑ it really is an ever‑changing race track, a lot like a dirt track, and even within runs, not so much just within the day, within a run. You'll start on the bottom, get up there and find something on the outside, and hell, by the end of the run you might be right back on the bottom and finding better grip and better speed down there. It's a ton of fun to be able to race like that, and it's extremely challenging, and I hope that we can sell that and do a good job of selling that because if we can't, I don't know how else to do it, because I'm telling you, I've been doing this a long time, and that's about as hard as I've ever drove in my life. I mean, it's a qualifying lap every lap."