The 2017 Food City 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was scheduled for April 23, 2017, but was postponed until April 24, 2017 due to rain at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Contested over 500 laps on the concrete short track, it was the eighth race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 72 Cole Whitt Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice Erik Jones was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 15.009 seconds and a speed of .

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 15.009 127.843 2 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 15.098 127.090 3 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 15.110 126.989Official first practice results

Second practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 14.890 seconds and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime118Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota14.890128.865277Erik Jones (R)Furniture Row RacingToyota14.915128.649311Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota14.970128.176Official second practice results

Final practice Kyle Busch was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 14.925 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime118Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota14.925128.563219Daniel Suárez (R)Joe Gibbs RacingToyota14.960128.26235Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet14.961128.253Official final practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying for Friday was cancelled due to rain and Kyle Larson, the point leader, was awarded the pole as a result.

Starting Lineup Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 4 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 5 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 6 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 7 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 8 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 9 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 10 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 12 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 13 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 14 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 15 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 16 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 17 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 18 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 19 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 20 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 22 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 23 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 24 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 25 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 26 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 29 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 30 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 31 72 Cole Whitt Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet 32 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 34 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 35 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 36 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 37 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 38 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 39 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports ToyotaOfficial starting lineup

Race First stage The race was scheduled to be held on Sunday, April 23, but rain delayed it to Monday, April 24.

Kyle Larson led the field to the green flag at 1:11 p.m. The first caution flew on lap 54 when Kurt Busch bounced off Trevor Bayne exiting Turn 4, slid down the front stretch and hit the inside wall. Chris Buescher slammed into the back of Reed Sorenson while slowing down to avoid Busch. Buescher went on to finish last. This brought out the red flag for five minutes and 10 seconds to facilitate cleanup in Turns 1 and 2.

The race restarted on lap 71. It remained green the remainder of the stage, that was won by Larson, and went back under caution on lap 125 for the end of the stage.

Second stage The race restarted on lap 137. Martin Truex Jr. passed Larson in Turn 2 to take the lead on lap 202. The third caution flew on lap 210 when Kyle Busch suffered a right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 2.

The race restarted on lap 217 and the fourth caution flew the same lap when Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered a right-front tire failure and slammed the wall in Turn 1. “We broke something in the oil system and oil got onto the tires,” Earnhardt told USA TODAY Sports. “We got into the wall.” He added that his crew "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."

The race restarted on lap 228. Truex won the second stage and the fifth caution flew for the conclusion of the stage. Landon Cassill opted not to pit and assumed the lead.

Final stage

The race restarted on lap 260 and Truex passed Cassill with ease exiting Turn 2 to retake the lead. David Ragan attempted to pass through the middle of teammate Cassill on top and Danica Patrick on the bottom exiting Turn 2 on lap 323, but Patrick hit him and sent them both spinning into the backstretch wall, bringing out the sixth caution.

The race restarted on lap 329 and Joey Logano, restarting on the outside line, took the lead from Truex on the restart. The seventh caution flew with 116 laps to go when Busch suffered another right-front tire blowout and slammed the wall in Turn 3.

The race restarted with 110 to go. Jimmie Johnson made contact with Logano as he took the lead with 106 to go. The eighth caution flew with 80 to go when Erik Jones made contact with Gray Gaulding, cut his right-front tire and slammed the wall in Turn 3. A. J. Allmendinger clipped Jones's left-rear corner while trying to avoid him. Denny Hamlin assumed the lead by taking just 2 left side tires only. Larson restarted from the tail-end of the field for speeding on pit road.

The race restarted with 73 to go. Johnson took back the lead with 67 to go. The ninth caution flew with 37 to go when Kasey Kahne hit the wall in Turn 3 and was rear-ended by Paul Menard. Kevin Harvick took the lead by not pitting along with Hamlin who also did not pit. Truex exited pit road first and would've restarted third, but restarted from the tail-end of the field after he was busted for speeding on pit road.

The race restarted with 32 to go. Harvick held off challenges for his lead at first, but his old tires were no match for Johnson's four fresh tires and lost the lead to Johnson with 21 to go. Johnson drove on to score the victory.

Post-race

Driver comments “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,” Johnson said in victory lane. “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! 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.”

Clint Bowyer, who finished second, said of the final pit stop that he believed "the 48 (of Johnson) was the other one (to take four tires) 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."

Race results

Stage results

Stage 1 Laps: 125

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 102 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 93 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 84 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 75 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 66 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 210 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 125

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 102 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 93 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 75 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 66 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 57 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 48 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 39 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 210 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1Official stage two results

Final stage results

Stage 3 Laps: 250