It’s been a long time coming; Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have been hungry for a win at Bristol, and were fed today. In a pre-season summary, one of the goals for team #48 in 2010 was to finally conquer the “world’s fastest half-mile”. In a 10-lap shootout, Johnson pushed his car from 6th to 1st, and held off Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart for the win. He could be heard over the radio yelling, “we finally did it, boys!” What’s more, victory lane became a very unruly place, as Johnson’s first task after getting out of the car involved grabbing the standard brown paper bag from race sponsor, Food City, and started a food fight with his crew, and many innocent victims were caught in the celebratory crossfire. All and all, today was definitely the 4-time defending champion’s day…in spite of an early caution brought out because of rain. Luckily, it was a light enough rain that cars remained on-track, using the heat produced by the engines to assist the jet dryers while they did their work.

Though, the race wasn’t all cheers and smiles; Joey Logano, who won his first career pole came in 27th.

Race results for Food City 500:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Tony Stewart
3. Kurt Busch
4. Greg Biffle
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Carl Edwards
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8. Jamie McMurray
9. Kyle Busch
10. Jeff Burton