Blaney effort makes Boyd Gaming 300 memorable

LAS VEGAS – As Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 XFINITY Series race unfolded under warm, sunny skies at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, those who saw it in person or on television may have wondered if Austin Dillon was channeling his inner Kyle Busch.

Dillon was ridiculously good Saturday afternoon, having led 183 laps in the No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet on the way to the victory, but he had to expend some serious palm sweat around the steering wheel down the stretch. After getting four fresh tires for his No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Fusion, Ryan Blaney was a man on a mission to steal the show.

It didn’t happen thanks to the help of two solid blocks thrown up by Dillon over the last two laps. No one wrecked, which added not only to the driver stress level, but for the fans who watched it unfold as well.

Hard-fought, clean, and certainly surprising, which made for an entertaining race.

Even as Dillon kept leading the race, Blaney got the clearance to make the charge he needed once he passed third-place finisher Regan Smith at lap 193. From that point, the lead was falling off in chunks, which led to the most logical reaction.

“(Crew chief) Nick (Harrison) said it was ‘oh, bleep,’” Dillon said of Blaney’s sudden appearance in the rear-view mirror. “The heart tightens up because it was such a dominant day, you don’t want to give something up at the end. In my mind, I wasn’t going to let it happen. We were going to win this race.

“It was mind over matter. I’ve lost races like that, too, and didn’t want to have that feeling again.”

Blaney was competing in his first XFINITY race of the season after earning 10 top-5 finishes in 14 races in 2014. He came out unscathed after a tap sent Erik Jones into the wall in Turn 4 at lap 173.

“That contact sucked,” Blaney said. “I got really loose in 3 and 4, and unfortunately hit (Jones) a bit. I hated to see him wreck.

“I didn’t think we were going to have a shot at (the win). We didn’t get through traffic great. We spent more time passing the 54 (Denny Hamlin) and 7 (Smith) than I wanted to. I got a good run off 4 coming to the white (flag), and (Dillon) did what he needed to do to stop me. I slipped and couldn’t get to the outside.”

So that begged the question. With the memory of the wreck of Jones still fresh, Blaney wasn’t about to do the same to Dillon in search of the win.

“I didn’t want anyone saying more bad things about me after I wrecked Eric,” Blaney said. “I wasn’t going to move Austin, that’s for sure. He stopped my run. I didn’t expect him to pull over.”

With four fresh tires on his No. 22, Blaney knew it was his only realistic shot at catching Dillon.

“We didn’t put gas in it, so that tightened it up,” Blaney said. “We put a (spring) rubber in the left rear and that brought it to life. We were able to drive it hard, and it was the only shot Before we got to pit road, we weren’t going to be able to pass Austin because he was that good all day. The restart would have had to go our way.”

And that’s why paying attention to everything about a NASCAR race is always worth the time. You just never know the crazy things that will unfold in the beginning, middle or end.

Follow Tom Zulewski on Twitter, @Tomzsports.