The 21-year-old driver survived two late green-white-checkered restarts and a tire problem the final couple of laps to win the U.S. Cellular 250 Xfinity Series race at the short track on Saturday night.
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Blaney turned the short track into his private playground, leading early and often. But the result was still very much in doubt on two green-white-checkered restarts. Blaney led the field to the green flag on the first and barely held off a strong challenge from Brendan Gaughan, before Gaughan got loose and backed off throttle.
But trouble erupted back in the field, forcing another green-white-checkered restart. This time, Blaney had his hands full holding off hard-charging Regan Smith. Oh, he also had a tire rub that filled his car with smoke.
“It was bad in the car,” Blaney said post-race on NBCSN. “I was worried. It didn’t handle as well the last two laps and it made me really nervous.”
It’s the third career Xfinity Series victory for the 21-year-old Blaney.
Smith finished second behind Blaney, followed by Brian Scott, Ty Dillon and Gaughan.
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The Xfinity Series standings saw a bizarre turn of events in the final few laps. Chase Elliott, who came into the race second in points, appeared to be in trouble after contact with Brandon Jones with 21 laps remaining. But his team quickly made repairs and got him back onto the track. Then, on the first green-white-checkered restart, series points leader Chris Buescher cut down a tire. He finished 13th, and saw his points lead shrink from 25 to 20 over Elliott. Dillon is third, 21 points back.
The event marked the final event for veteran driver Kenny Wallace, who announced earlier this month he would retire after 26 years in the sport. It came in a fitting setting. His older brother, Rusty, owns Iowa Speedway. And Wallace competed Saturday night against his nephew, Matt, who made his second career Xfinity Series start. The elder Wallace finished 15th.
The 51-year-old Wallace, the all-time leader with 547 Xfinity Series starts, finished his career with nine victories. He also made 344 starts in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series between 1990 and 2008. Known for his affability and sense of humor, Wallace will continue his work as a TV analyst in the sport.
Xfinity at Iowa results
- Blaney 2. Smith 3. Scott 4. Dillon 5. Gaughan 6. Daniel Suarez 7. Erik Jones 8. Elliott Sadler 9. Elliott 10. Ross Chastain 11. Darrell Wallace Jr. 12. Ryan Sieg 13. Buescher 14. Brennan Poole 15. Kenny Wallace 16. Dakoda Armstrong 17. Dylan Lupton 18. J.J. Yeley 19. Ryan Reed 20. Brandon Jones 21. Jeremy Clements 22. David Starr 23. Cale Conley 24. Blake Koch 25. Matt Wallace 26. Eric McClure 27. Johanna Long 28. Anthony Kumpen 29. Mike Harmon 30. Ben Rhodes 31. Matt Frahm 32. Michael Self 33. Jimmy Weller 34. Joey Gase 35. Harrison Rhodes 36. John Jackson 37. Morgan Shepherd 38. Zachary Bruenger 39. Josh Reaume 40. Jeff Green
