The NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to action at Charlotte Motor Speedway after two weeks off. 45 laps made up stage one and two, while 110 laps made up the final stage.
Justin Allgaier and Austin Dillon were on the front row after qualifying earlier this morning. Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski was sent to the rear after unapproved adjustments.
After three early cautions in stage one, the race finally got a long green flag run after lap 25 restart. Harvick, with a strong car, held on to the lead and won the first stage. Blaney was fourth, Austin Dillon after a start violation was seventh and Keselowski was ninth. Harvick won the race off pit road after pit stops.
Stage two began on lap 52 with Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney on the front row. After the restart, Blaney was able to get the lead from Hamlin. On lap 68, however, Blaney started to report there was a "loose wheel." Although, with those tire reports, Blaney held on and went on to win stage two.
Lap 97 began stage three with Hamlin and Blaney again out front. After the restart, Darrell Wallace Jr jumped to second. With just a few laps of green, a caution came out on lap 107 for Spencer Gallagher, who spun around in turn two. Another restart came with 93 laps to go, this time Wallace Jr took the lead away from Blaney. Howver, Blaney retook the lead on lap 112.
Another caution prompted the field to slow once again on lap 123. This made the drivers come down pit road for adjustments. With a fast pit stop, Blaney was able to win the race off pit road.
With 71 laps to go, Blaney and Harvick were leading the field. Blaney checked out early, but Harvick began reeling him in with 55 laps to go. Denny Hamlin who was up toward the front earlier in the race, had started to report that his car was "blowing up."
A big break came for most of the field, as a caution came out with 42 laps to go for Brennan Poole that hit the wall off turn four. This time Austin Dillon won the race off pit road.
Like it was at the start of the race, there were plenty of cautions toward the end of the race. Though, the race winning restart came with three laps to go. Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick, the two that were up front all race long were one-two. The field was side-by-side all the way until turn three one lap later. This saw Blaney take the lead in turn two and held off Kevin Harvick to win his fourth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
Ryan Blaney Quote
"It's pretty neat to win here... We had a really awesome car all day. We had to start in the back and I thought that was pretty impressive thing to do get up front. After we got the lead, we were able to control the race. I lost the lead there on the last pit stop. We had a good pit stop, I just kind of got boxed in. We didn't get the angle there and that was on me. Luckily, we were able to get back up front and give ourselves a shot. Starting third, we only had a couple of laps to get back up front and try and make it happen. We were really good on restarts all day. So, my hat's off to the Penske group."
There were 13 lead changes among seven leaders.
There were 12 cautions for 52 laps.
Blaney led four times for 107 laps.
This was his fourth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win and his first of the season.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues next week by going to Dover International Speedway for the running of the OneMain Financial 200.
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