Kasey Kahne, driver of the #5 Great Clips Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 17, 2013
Photo – Geoff Burke/Getty Images

Just one week after Kasey Kahne was unable to pass Matt Kenseth for the win at Las Vegas and after a dominant day, Kahne pulled into victory lane at Bristol. Kahne didn’t have any challengers late in the race and that allowed him to cruise through the final fifty laps and take the win. Hendrick Motorsports has got the Gen 6 car figured out and that has given them a huge leg-up so far this season. Kahne was waiting for his opportunity to pounce after being so good so far this season and Bristol was his opportunity and he nailed it.

Kahne winning had to share the spotlight with a few other events that occurred throughout the day. We saw both of the leaders wreck with just about 100 laps to go as well as former teammates sharing a few words following the race. To say the least, classic Bristol has definitely returned and it is here to stay.

The action picked up right as the green flag fell and before we even got ten laps in, we had carnage. Tony Stewart cut a tire down in the opening laps and the tire couldn’t take it anymore and on lap nine, Stewart went around in turn one when his tire blew. Stewart backed into the outside wall and his chances of winning went out the window very early in the race.

The second caution of the day featured some more carnage when a wreck involving Jeff Burton, Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards occurred on lap 54. Ahead of the cars involved in the wreck, Casey Mears and David Gilliland made contact which stacked the cars up behind them and Edwards didn’t slow up which caused him to run into the back of Burton, sending his #31 Cheerios car straight into the wall. Ambrose tried to get through the wreck but was squeezed in by the wrecking cars. All three cars had significant damage but they all managed to remain in the race.

Under the same caution, Kasey Kahne won the race off pit road to take his first lead of the race. Pole-sitter Kyle Busch had been leading up until that point but a speeding penalty under caution put him back in the pack. Not too long after the restart, Kahne was passed by Denny Hamlin for the lead. Hamlin stayed out front for a good part of the next portion of the race and was the leader under the next caution. The third caution of the day came out on lap 70 for Jamie McMurray who spun out in turn four.

After a decent-sized green-flag run, Hamlin was chased down by Kahne as he regained the lead on lap 147. The yellow-flag flew again on lap 152 for David Gilliland who got into the turn two wall. Hamlin got back to the lead under the caution but not too long into the next green-flag run, Kahne chased Hamlin down for the lead again.

The halfway point of the race came up quickly, as Matt Kenseth led followed by Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. Controversy struck on lap 350 when Denny Hamlin got into the back of Joey Logano causing him to spin around in turn two, as he made slight contact with the wall. Logano was able to continue on in the race but that wasn’t the end to this situation.

Disaster struck for the leaders on lap 390 when the two drivers battling for the lead wrecked in turns three and four. Jeff Gordon had a tire go down and went up the track and got into the wall. Gordon went right across the path of second-place Matt Kenseth and Kenseth piled right into the back of Gordon’s car. The impact slightly lifted Gordon’s car off the track and both drivers had heavy damage. Just like the race at Bristol last August, the leaders were involved in a wreck while they were battling for the lead. Signs of the “Old Bristol” may be returning.

Under that caution, Brad Keselowski stayed out and was the new leader. Keselowski battled with Kahne for the lead for many laps before Kahne was able to get around the champion on lap 448. The final yellow flag of the day came out with 45 laps to go when Jimmie Johnson slapped the turn three wall. Keselowski had trouble on the restart and Kahne was able to jump ahead of the field. Kahne paced the field for the final fifty laps on his way to his first win of the season.

Post-race got heated when Joey Logano wanted to settle some un-finished business with Denny Hamlin. Hamlin had gotten into Logano and turned him around earlier in the race and Logano wanted to let Hamlin know how he felt. Logano bullied his way over to Hamlin and said some words and the former teammates are apparently, no longer fond of each other. Hamlin told FOX that Logano said “I’m coming for you.” Apparently this battle isn’t over just yet.

While the former teammates said some words to each other, Kasey Kahne was celebrating his first Bristol win. Kahne was super stoked about getting to victory lane at Bristol, especially with long-time sponsor Great Clips. After coming so close to victory last week, Kahne was happy to celebrate his win this weekend at Bristol. Kahne remained up-front all day and he made no mistakes which put him in victory lane. Kahne is off to a great start already this season.

Classic Bristol is for-sure back, with today’s race as confirmation. The racing, hot-tempers and piles of torn-up sheet-metal proved that this “New Bristol” is definitely similar to the “Old Bristol” which fans adored. The top-lane is now the preferred line but that, in my opinion, didn’t affect the “Old Bristol” feel of the race. The Night Race at Bristol is just five months away and everyone is already stoked for the race to arrive. The Bristol fans love has returned and a phenomenal Bristol show was put on today.

Results via ESPN.com