News and notes for the full 43-car field at the Tennessee short track
RELATED: Full race results | Series standings | Chase Grid
1. Matt Kenseth, No. 20 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. The polesitter led the final 34 laps (and 47 for the race) as he snapped 51-race winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series. After the checkered flag, crew chief Jason Ratcliff told Kenseth over the radio, "I'm speechless. You fought your guts out."
| See how Kenseth won
2. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. He led no laps, but somehow the six-time champion, who hasn't won at Bristol since 2010, nearly stole one. And that came after he had some contact with Jeb Burton on Lap 311 that set off a wreck and saw Johnson vent about lapped traffic.
| Johnson weighs in on runner-up result
3. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon had a pit stop for a loose wheel at Lap 209 that dropped him back from seventh to 29th. That was the only real hiccup on the night as he scored his fifth straight top-10 and his best finish of his final full-time season to date. Gordon was worried that he may not have enough gas for the green-white-checkered finish, but the 24 team only lost one spot on the final restart. | Gordon discusses finish
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. What is it about Bristol and Stenhouse? For the third straight time in the foothills of Tennessee, Stenhouse scored a finish inside the top six. The driver seems to have a comfort level at Bristol, and perhaps it can carry over for him at another short track in Richmond this weekend.
5. Ryan Newman, No. 31 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. With caution laps continuing to lead into a green-white-checkered finish, it looked like Newman was best positioned on fuel to take advantage of any overtime racing. But the veteran driver struggled on the restart and had to settle for a top-five finish.
6. Tony Stewart, No. 14 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. When plenty of others were finding trouble, Stewart avoided it en route to his best finish in 2015. That result bumped him up four spots on the standings to 28th.
7. Kyle Larson, No. 42 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The No. 42 team used some strategy to get to the front and led 90 laps; the most Larson has ever led in a race. Heck, he only led 53 laps in 36 races last year. His time in Victory Lane is coming soon.
8. Justin Allgaier, No. 51 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Allgaier scored the best finish of his Sprint Cup career at Bristol, not to mention his first top-10 in the sport's premier series. The finish was also team owner Harry Scott Jr.'s best in the Sprint Cup Series.
9. Danica Patrick, No. 10 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Patrick quietly battled her way to a top-10 finish, her first at Bristol. She also set a record for most top-10 finishes by a female driver as she now has six, breaking the tie with Janet Guthrie. She told her team over the radio after the race, "Great job. What a great finish after a rough weekend." | For more in-car audio, sign up for RaceView and/or Scanner today
10. Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Dillon ran out of fuel during the caution laps before the final restart, but still scored his first top-10 of the season.
11. Paul Menard, No. 27 Chevrolet, Richard Childress Racing. Menard came into Bristol with top-10s in five of his past six starts at the Tennessee short track. The leader of the "Neon Knights" nearly made it six in seven starts as he finished just outside the top 10.
12. Clint Bowyer, No. 15 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. Bowyer had one of his best runs of the season at Bristol and was running in the top 10 before a Lap 473 wreck. He scored a lead-lap finish, and his 76 green-flag passes were the most in the race.
13. Aric Almirola, No. 43 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola continues to churn out top-15 finishes -- this was his fifth of the season.
14. Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. McMurray spent much of the race in the top 10, but his involvement in a wreck that was set off by his blown tire hurt his chances at a fourth top-10 finish in five races. | See the wreck McMurray was involved in
15. Kurt Busch, No. 41 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. With crew chief Tony Gibson battling a kidney stone, fill-in pit bosses Greg Zipadelli and John Klausmeier guided Busch to a strong effort at Bristol that was undermined by damage in a late wreck with Carl Edwards. Busch led 98 laps on the day but scored his third straight finish outside the top 10. | Busch discusses decision to pit late
16. Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Tire issues set Junior back early and he couldn't make up the laps, but there is something to be said for grinding out a respectable finish on a day when plenty of others had issues.
17. Brett Moffitt, No. 55 Toyota, Michael Waltrip Racing. The Iowa native was the highest finishing rookie of the race. The result was much improved from his 42nd-place showing there last summer.
18. David Gilliland, No. 38 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Gilliland carried the flag for Front Row at a track where he has an average finish of 26.5. In fact, the result was just his second top-20 finish all season and first since Daytona.
19. Sam Hornish Jr., No. 9 Ford, Richard Petty Motorsports. Hornish stayed out of trouble to earn his best finish since a 12th-place result at Daytona. It was also his best finish in eight career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol.
20. Alex Bowman, No. 7 Chevrolet, Tommy Baldwin Racing. Bowman's 20th-place finish was the best of his early stint with Tommy Baldwin Racing and also the second-best finish of the soon-to-be 22-year-old's Sprint Cup career.
21. Matt DiBenedetto, No. 83 Toyota, BK Racing. In his fifth Cup start, DiBenedetto scored his best finish in the premier series and was the best of the three cars that BK Racing had at Bristol.
22. Michael McDowell, No. 95 Ford, Leavine Family Racing. McDowell scored his best finish of the season at Bristol. The finish was also his second-best at Bristol in 10 starts there.
23. Michael Annett, No. 46 Chevrolet, HScott Motorsports. Annett recorded his best finish since the season-opener at Daytona despite starting 36th in the field.
24. Carl Edwards, No. 19 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Edwards led 86 laps but got loose and into the wall on Lap 494 before Kurt Busch rammed into him. Every time this team has a promising run, something seems to happen. Over the radio Edwards told the team, "First time I got loose like that. Definitely my fault. It kind of surprised me." | See what happened to Edwards late
25. Chris Buescher, No. 34 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Buescher's result was his third top-25 finish for Front Row in four starts. Not bad for the XFINITY Series regular's initial Cup starts.
26. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Neck spasms forced Hamlin from the car after the initial red flag of nearly four hours. Youngster Erik Jones filled in and got quite the education in his maiden voyage in a Cup car.
| Jones fills in for Hamlin
27. Cole Whitt, No. 35 Ford, Front Row Motorsports. Whitt's result at Bristol was the best of his career at the 0.533-mile Tennessee short track.
28. Trevor Bayne, No. 6 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. After two straight top-20 finishes, Bayne slipped back but maintained his streak of improving from his starting position with his end result for the eighth straight race.
29. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Chevrolet, Furniture Row Racing. Truex's streak of top-10s to open the season came to an end due to a vibration from a loose front right tire that left him several laps down.
30. Greg Biffle, No. 16 Ford, Roush Fenway Racing. Biffle led six laps in the race, his first laps out front since Daytona, thanks to an early strategy play. However, Biffle never recovered from getting trapped several laps down after a caution came out when he came to pit road.
31. Mike Bliss, No. 32 Ford, Go FAS Racing. Bliss' quiet run matched his best finish of the season (Atlanta).
32. J.J. Yeley, No. 23 Toyota, BK Racing. The veteran driver's second-best starting spot of the season (29th) resulted in his third-best finish of 2015.
33. Alex Kennedy, No. 33 Chevrolet, Circle Sport. The 33rd-place result matched Kennedy's best Sprint Cup finish of the season; the other came at Martinsville last month.
34. AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Chevrolet, JTG Daugherty Racing. A late wreck sent Allmendinger to his third finish of 34th-or-worse in the past four races. It's a stretch that has seen him go from fifth to 25th in the points standings. | See the late wreck
35. Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford, Team Penske. Keselowski's day was derailed early by a wreck with his Penske teammate Logano. The 2012 champion told his team over the radio, "I don't know what happened, it just took off on me." | For more in-car audio, sign up for RaceView and/or Scanner today
36. Casey Mears, No. 13 Chevrolet, Germain Racing. Mears' worst finish of the season was a product of a late wreck with Kasey Kahne and AJ Allmendinger.
37. Kasey Kahne, No. 5 Chevrolet, Hendrick Motorsports. Kahne showed speed in practice all weekend and ran in the top 10 for most of the first half of the race before a Lap 483 wreck with AJ Allmendinger ended his day.
| See the late wreck
38. Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick led a race-high 184 laps but couldn't avoid hitting David Ragan's car in a Lap 311 incident as he told his team over the radio, "I'm sorry guys. I just couldn't stop." The result ended Harvick's stretch of 10 straight top-10 finishes dating back to last fall's Chase race at Texas. | See what happened to derail Harvick's day
39. Josh Wise, No. 98 Ford, Phil Parsons Racing. Wise was involved in a Lap 473 wreck after hitting into Jamie McMurray. The resulting wreck knocked Wise from the race.
40. Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford, Team Penske. Logano's streak of seven top-10 finishes to open the season came to a crashing halt when he was involved in a Lap 19 accident with teammate Brad Keselowski that left his car with significant damage. Logano's streak of 24 lead-lap finishes also came to a close as the 22 team had to go behind the wall for extensive repairs.
| See the early wreck between Penske teammates
41. David Ragan, No. 18 Toyota, Joe Gibbs Racing. Ragan suffered heavy damage from a Lap 311 incident that also involved Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Jeb Burton. This was his worst finish for Joe Gibbs Racing since his began filling in for Kyle Busch. | See Ragan get caught up in wreck
42. Jeb Burton, No. 26 Toyota, BK Racing. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate was involved in the Lap 311 incident after some contact from Jimmie Johnson. The damage led to him having his worst finish in six Sprint Cup starts.
43. Landon Cassill, No. 40 Chevrolet, Hillman Smith Motorsports. Cassill fell off the pace early when the race resumed from the red flag period and was on the receiving end of some contact from then-leader Kyle Larson on Lap 367. | Cassill makes hard contact with the wall
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