BRISTOL, Tenn. -- There were wrecks. There were tire issues. There were hours upon hours of rain delays. And ultimately there were two top-three finishes for Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon at Bristol Motor Speedway.
"Heck, that's Bristol, isn't it?" Gordon smiled.
Both drivers referred to the race as a bit "wacky," and Johnson said "it was a wild night," but in the end both were happy with their results.
"I'm very pleased the way we finished," Gordon said. "It certainly wasn't easy, and was filled full of ups and downs and emotions. You know, the whole weekend really was. We were very disappointed in the way we qualified. I didn't get the best out of the car. We were just lacking some speed, as well. But in the race, I thought we were really, really good."
Both Hendrick Motorsports teammates started the race outside of the top 20, but the two quickly found one another on the track and began weaving their way through traffic.
"The first half of the race or first third of the race I was behind the 24 and we just worked our way up through the field and things went pretty smoothly," Johnson said.
By the time 100 laps had elapsed, both were already in the top 10.
But both drivers experienced their own issues. Gordon had to make an unscheduled trip to pit road due to a loose tire, falling two laps off of the pace. Johnson, meanwhile, was involved in two separate incidents and ultimately fell a lap down.
But they both rebounded and took advantage of being the lucky dog along the way.
"We were in a good position to get a really nice, solid finish, and then all the chaos broke out with restarts and rain and crashes and everything else," Gordon said. "Found ourselves somehow in second."
In the end, Gordon lined up second and Johnson fourth for a green-white-checkered finish.
"That last restart was just trying to get momentum and not spin the tires too much," Gordon said. "I knew Jimmie on the outside was going to be really, really hard to hold off, and I thought a third would be a great finish. So I'm very happy with the third."
It marked Gordon’s fifth consecutive top-10 finish and first top-five result of the season. It was Johnson’s fourth top-five finish in a 2015 campaign that already features two wins.
“My team never gave up," Johnson said. "We rallied back and got us second. We maybe had a shot at the win, but just thrilled to get such a great finish here at really one of the tougher tracks for me as a driver."
"Wild night, but glad to get it in."