Ryan Blaney won the Dollar Tree 301 for the second year in a row on Sunday by leading 115 laps and holding off a late charge by runner-up Bubba Wallace.
Shane van Gisbergen dominated early as the race started in damp conditions on wet weather tires, but fell back after things dried and the field came in on lap 40 for a competition caution to switch to dry tires.
Kyle Larson won Stage 1 and Blaney took Stage 2 ahead of Josh Berry, who went on to finish third and extend his top 10 streak to four races.
Blaney sealed the deal by taking just two tires on his final stop, which was a quick 4.316 seconds, while Wallace and others took four. That allowed Wallace to close the gap late in the race as Blaney’s left side tires started falling off, but he ran out of time before he could find a way by.
“What a cool race, fun day, started in the rain and ended up being a beautiful day,” Blaney said.
“It was a long run to the end, the longest run we had. Just tried to manage my stuff. I knew those four tire guys would probably pressure me eventually and Bubba came on pretty hard. Was just trying to manage lapped traffic, while also trying to manage the tires and just try not to make a mistake.”
Read Also: THE NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE IS RETURNING TO NORTH WILKESBORO IN 2027
Denny Hamlin finished seventh, which secured the top spot in The Chase with just one regular season race to go at Daytona. The thirteen drivers now locked in to The Chase are Hamlin, Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Carson Hocevar, William Byron and Daniel Suarez. Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric and Van Gisbergen sit on the bubble while Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski are below the cutline, but still in contention.
