BRISTOL, Tenn. – A look at all the action and results from Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway:
WINNER: Carl Edwards scored his first win of the season to become the third Joe Gibbs Racing driver with a playoff berth virtually clinched – this just eight races into the 2016 season. Edwards won for the fourth time at Bristol, where he also went to victory lane in 2007, 2008 and 2014. Interestingly enough, Edwards shone on a day where his three teammates – Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin – all struggled with tire problems and other various misfortune.
"There was so many different things happening there -- different things happening at different times," the pole-sitter said from victory lane. "I got to work on my restarts though; man, Kurt (Busch) had those things figured out. This is just great, man, just awesome. Now we're in the Chase, and we can have some fun.”
Hamlin won the Daytona 500; Kyle Busch has won twice - at Martinsville Speedway and at Texas Motor Speedway.
SIX-PACK: Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second after a non-start at the green flag when he had no power. Kurt Busch, rookie Chase Elliott and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five. It was Bayne's best finish since winning the Daytona 500 in 2011. Matt DiBenedetto was teary-eyed on pit road after finishing a career-best sixth.
TIRED OF BAD LUCK: Kenseth, a four-time Bristol winner, was dominating the early stages of the race when he had a flat tire and hit the wall. He fell from first to 28th – the last car on the lead lap – following the incident. Kenseth rallied, only to suffer another flat tire with less than 200 laps to go; this time, he went behind the wall. Kenseth has had horrible luck this year – only one top-10 finish despite fast cars every week – but said, “I'm going to put a smile on my face and get ready for Richmond."
PHOTOS: In the driver's seat with Carl Edwards
NOTHING GOES RIGHT: Kyle Busch, who had won the last two Sprint Cup races, had a disastrous day. First, he was running third when he suddenly had a flat tire and hit the wall on lap 52. A frustrated Busch said the tire simply let go while racing in the lead pack. Later, Busch was punted by Chris Buescher while running 20th. He rallied back after two speeding penalties but then, just past the halfway point, he had another flat tire and slammed the wall again. This time, Busch went to the garage and was done for the day. “We just kept getting tighter in the long run,” Busch said. “I'm not really sure why that was. I felt really good about things today, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.”
BROKEN REAR: Kyle Larson was having a decent day when his rear end suddenly broke on lap 146. He took his car to the garage for repairs, which ended his chances of a breakthrough win. It was another Bristol disappointment for Larson, who was leading much of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race but lost to Erik Jones on a late restart.
BAD TO WORSE: Joey Logano made an unscheduled pit stop around lap 100 and lost two laps in the process. But his day got worse when he had an uncontrolled tire violation during the stop, which required a pass through penalty and left him temporarily in 38th place. He eventually returned to the lead lap after being two laps down.
NO START: On the green flag, Earnhardt Jr.’s car simply didn’t go when he mashed the gas pedal. His car had no power and he had to pit before one lap was even complete, putting him two laps down immediately. That wasn’t a good start to the race after fellow Nationwide spokesman Peyton Manning walked out with him before the race and was watching from atop the No. 88 pit box. But Earnhardt improbably rallied back into the top 10 after taking the wavearound twice.
"We got a lot a luck on those last several restarts and being able to start on the outside," Earnhardt said. "We didn't have a car to be able to run in the top five, but we caught cautions at the right time and were able to get the laps back. The car was about a 15th, 10th place car. Just lucky on those last restarts."
Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck
PHOTOS: 2016 Sprint Cup race winners
Food City 500 results
Sunday's results from the .533-mile oval at Bristol Motor Speedway (starting position in parentheses):
1. (1) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500 laps, 45 points.
2. (20) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, 39.
3. (26) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 500, 39.
4. (19) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500, 37.
5. (10) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 500, 36.
6. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 500, 35.
7. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, 35.
8. (36) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 500, 33.
9. (17) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, 32.
10. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, 32.
11. (18) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500, 30.
12. (23) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 29.
13. (13) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, 28.
14. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 500, 27.
15. (14) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500, 27.
16. (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 500, 25.
17. (11) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500, 24.
18. (12) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500, 23.
19. (9) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500, 22.
20. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, 21.
21. (21) Chris Buescher, Ford, 500, 20.
22. (28) Landon Cassill, Ford, 500, 20.
23. (6) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 499, 18.
24. (16) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 499, 17.
25. (34) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 499, 0.
26. (15) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 498, 15.
27. (33) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 498, 14.
28. (39) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 496, 13.
29. (31) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 495, 12.
30. (27) Brian Scott, Ford, 493, 11.
31. (40) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 492, 10.
32. (37) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 488, 9.
33. (35) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 482, 8.
34. (22) Aric Almirola, Ford, 479, 7.
35. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 462, 6.
36. (2) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 460, 6.
37. (29) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, accident, 451, 4.
38. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident, 258, 3.
39. (24) David Ragan, Toyota, engine, 211, 2.
40. (38) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, suspension, 169, 1.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 81.637 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 15 minutes, 52 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.766 seconds.
Caution Flags: 15 for 102 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C.Edwards 1-36; J.Logano 37-39; C.Edwards 40-42; M.Kenseth 43-53; J.Logano 54; M.Kenseth 55-117; C.Edwards 118; M.Kenseth 119-186; C.Edwards 187-189; P.Menard 190-193; C.Edwards 194-261; L.Cassill 262-281; C.Edwards 282-318; K.Harvick 319-331; C.Edwards 332-355; Ku.Busch 356-396; C.Edwards 397-500.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Edwards, 8 times for 276 laps; M.Kenseth, 3 times for 142 laps; Ku.Busch, 1 time for 41 laps; L.Cassill, 1 time for 20 laps; K.Harvick, 1 time for 13 laps; J.Logano, 2 times for 4 laps; P.Menard, 1 time for 4 laps.
Wins: Ky.Busch, 2; J.Johnson, 2; C.Edwards, 1; D.Hamlin, 1; K.Harvick, 1; B.Keselowski, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 287; 2. C.Edwards, 286; 3. J.Johnson, 271; 4. J.Logano, 266; 5. Ky.Busch, 262; 6. D.Earnhardt Jr., 250; 7. Ku.Busch, 247; 8. B.Keselowski, 224; 9. D.Hamlin, 222; 10. M.Truex Jr., 214; 11. A.Dillon, 213; 12. C.Elliott, 205; 13. J.McMurray, 199; 14. A.Allmendinger, 188; 15. K.Kahne, 185; 16. R.Newman, 182.
