Matt Kenseth breaks through at rain-delayed Food City 500

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Matt Kenseth snapped a 51-race winless streak Sunday night by winning the rain-delayed Food City 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Jeff Gordon was third.

Kenseth last took the checkered flag in September 2013 in New Hampshire, when he earned his second consecutive victory and third in five races.

Kenseth inherited the lead when previous leader Kurt Busch headed down pit road during a caution with 28 laps remaining in the 500-lap scheduled distance. He then battled his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, up front until Edwards hit the wall with six laps to go.

Kenseth and Edwards were mainstays up front throughout the second half of the race after Edwards took the lead from Kevin Harvick on lap 256.

The race was extended by the late-race incident involving Edwards. Also caught up in the wreck were Busch, Paul Menard and Justin Allgaier.

Prior to the JGR duo of Edwards and Kenseth running up front, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Busch dominated the front of the running order. Harvick led a race-high 184 laps, while Busch led 98.

Busch was involved on an incident on lap 279 but recovered to get back into the top five before his wreck in the final 10 laps of regulation. Harvick was caught up in a wreck on lap 309 and took his car to the garage.

Kyle Larson also led significant laps in the second half of the race after staying out during a debris caution on lap 343. He continued on up front until giving up the top spot to pit on lap 436.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth, Ryan Newman fifth, Tony Stewart sixth, Larson seventh, Allgaier eighth, Danica Patrick ninth, and Austin Dillon 10th.

The Food City 500 was red-flagged for a second time due to rain on lap 273.

Edwards was the race leader, with Harvick and Kurt Busch in second and third. Engines, though, were refired a few minutes later at approximately 8:20 p.m. EDT.

The yellow flag was displayed for rain nine laps earlier, and cars headed down pit road for pit stops just a few laps before the red flag was displayed.

After the start of the race was delayed an hour and 18 minutes because of rain, Harvick took the lead from pole sitter Matt Kenseth on lap six. He was still up front when rain returned and interrupted the race after 22 completed laps.

During the first red-flag rain delay, Denny Hamlin relinquished his seat to Erik Jones because of back and neck spasms.

“I pulled something on lap 12. I don’t know what it is,” Hamlin said. “It would be doing my team a complete injustice (to continue in the car).”

Busch’s crew chief, Tony Gibson, also pulled out of competition before the race restarted after the 22nd lap. Gibson stepped away from the pit box and reported to the track infield care center. He was diagnosed with kidney stones.

The Team Penske cars of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski were in the track’s garage area when the race resumed on lap 23 after they wrecked on lap 19.

“It’s been raining since we started the race,” Keselowski said. “It was just a really light sprinkle, and the track was just barely dry. I don’t know. The rain was coming in and out, and the car just took off on me. I would like to blame the rain, but I honestly don’t know.”

Both drivers eventually returned to the race.