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NASCAR Bristol: Johnson take second consecutive win ahead of Bowyer

Jimmie Johnson took victory in Monday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol, which was postponed from Sunday by rain

With no qualifying session taking place, pole was given to Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyle Larson ahead of Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr based on championship standings.

Drivers fought to take the sticky, resin-covered inside line and avoid the slick outside line until the final stage, when grip levels increased.

Johnson, Larson and Kevin Harvick battled in close quarters for the last 30 laps after a caution triggered by Kasey Kahne on lap 461.

Eventually, Stewart-Haas Racing's Harvick finished third behind team-mate Clint Bowyer, who was anonymous for most of the race but benefited from numerous late cautions and some rapid pit-stops.

Bowyer tried to challenge Johnson for victory in the closing stages, but finished one second behind.

Logano fell back to fifth at the finish, having been bullied into traffic and onto the outside line by Bowyer and Harvick.

Kenseth played a patient game to finish fourth, having been just outside the top ten in both stages one and two.

Polesitter Larson also succumbed to traffic and ended up sixth, a second behind Logano, which was disappointing given his performance in stages one and two.

Larson won stage one having led all 125 laps, followed by a pacey Truex and his rookie team-mate and Xfinity race winner Erik Jones, whose promising run was set back when he hit the wall on lap 420 and collected AJ Allmendinger.

Furniture Row Racing's Truex won stage two with an excellent lap 229 restart on four new tyres, with Logano and Johnson in tow for second and third respectively.

Larson fell behind on that restart, with tyre wear eventually pushing him back to seventh. Truex lost a shot at victory having sped in the pits late on and finished eighth overall.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr continued his solid record at Bristol in ninth, following on from second in 2016.

RESULTS - 500 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3h04m29.s
2 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1.199s
3 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 2.543s
4 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2.726s
5 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 2.837s
6 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 3.233s
7 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3.925s
8 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 4.264s
9 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 4.984s
10 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5.243s
11 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7.068s
12 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 7.169s
13 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7.174s
14 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7.936s
15 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 11.801s
16 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
17 Erik Jones Furniture Row Racing Toyota 1 Lap
18 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 Laps
19 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford 2 Laps
20 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Laps
21 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Laps
22 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 3 Laps
23 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 3 Laps
24 Corey LaJoie BK Racing Toyota 3 Laps
25 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 6 Laps
26 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 6 Laps
27 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport / TMG Chevrolet 9 Laps
28 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Laps
29 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 13 Laps
30 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 18 Laps
31 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 35 Laps
32 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 42 Laps
33 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 48 Laps
34 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 67 Laps
35 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Accident
36 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Accident
37 Timmy Hill Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Suspension
38 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Accident
39 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Accident


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