Jimmie Johnson Earns 2nd Win of Season at NASCAR at Bristol 2017

Jimmie Johnson claimed his second victory in a row, taking the checkered flag at the Food City 500 Monday at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. 

According to ESPN Stats & Info, this is the 16th year in a row in which Johnson has won multiple races. Only Richard Petty (18 years) has recorded a longer streak.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman congratulated the reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion on his win:

"

Heck yeah @JimmieJohnson you are the man 落

— Alex Bowman (@AlexBRacing) April 24, 2017"

Johnson finished a little under two seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer. Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five:

Pos.	Driver	Laps Led
1	Jimmie Johnson	81
2	Clint Bowyer	0
3	Kevin Harvick	14
4	Matt Kenseth	0
5	Joey Logano	72
6	Kyle Larson	202
7	Chase Elliott	0
8	Martin Truex Jr.	116
9	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	0
10	Denny Hamlin	10

Johnson climbed to second in the Chase for the Monster Energy Cup standings on the strength of Monday's race:

Pos.	Driver	Points	Wins
1	Brad Keselowski	277	2
2	Jimmie Johnson	230	2
3	Kyle Larson	346	1
4	Martin Truex Jr.	304	1
5	Ryan Newman	186	1
6	Kurt Busch	163	1
7	Chase Elliott	328	0
8	Joey Logano	275	0
9	Clint Bowyer	239	0
10	Jamie McMurray	233	0
11	Kevin Harvick	232	0
12	Ryan Blaney	228	0
13	Kyle Busch	213	0
14	Trevor Bayne	190	0
15	Erik Jones	179	0
16	Denny Hamlin	178	0

Fox Sports: NASCAR shared a replay of the final lap. Johnson cruised to the finish line:

Johnson and his crew celebrated appropriately:

Timing is everything, and Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson picked the worst time to make mistakes on pit road.

Larson was the Stage 1 winner and led the most laps (202) of any driver Monday. Truex won Stage 2 and led the second-most laps (116). Each driver was penalized for speeding on pit road. Larson still challenged for the lead, while Truex's misstep came with 32 laps to go, severely hampering his chances of winning.

Neither driver fully recovered. Larson placed sixth and Truex placed eighth.

Inclement weather wreaked havoc on NASCAR's schedule for the Food City 500. Rain washed out qualifying on Friday, gifting Larson the pole since he had the most points entering the weekend. Race officials then moved the start of the race from Sunday to Monday after steady rain showers hit Bristol throughout Sunday morning.

The weather finally cooperated Monday, with the Food City 500 running without any major issues. Fox Sports' Jamie Little explained how race officials used a unique substance to ensure optimal track conditions (via NASCAR's official Twitter account):

Even with the extra measures to make things easier for drivers, the race saw nine cautions. Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski were among the notable stars who headed for the garage. They finished 35th and 34th, respectively.

ESPN's Ryan McGee and NASCAR on NBC reacted to their poor finishes:

Drivers will be working with a shorter week as they prepare for the Toyota Owners 400 Sunday at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Qualifying is set to begin Friday afternoon, leaving drivers with little time to recover from Monday's race and make the trip to eastern Virginia.

By his incredibly high standards, Johnson had a somewhat sluggish start to the 2017 season. In his first six races, he had one top-10 finish and led 28 collective laps.

There's no doubt the 41-year-old is back to his best now, and he'll relish the opportunity to race at Richmond, where he has four top-10 finishes in his last five trips.