Blaney dominates in U.S. Cellular 250 win at Iowa Speedway

Ryan Blaney was not going to be denied a NASCAR Xfinity Series victory for the second week in a row. Blaney, driving the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang, dominated the 2015 U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway Saturday night.

Blaney led 252 laps — yes, 252, which was a track record — of the 260 laps it took to complete the race in Newton. There were a few challenges along the way, but each time Blaney pulled away.

A week ago at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Blaney appeared to be on the verge of winning at the Brickyard when Kyle Busch won on a last-lap pass. Blaney did not give ground Saturday at Iowa, and on the rare occasion he did, Blaney charged right back to the front of the pack.

At the start of the race, Blaney pushed past pole-winner Daniel Suarez and stayed out front. When there was a question if he had enough fuel to finish the race under green, a caution came out on Lap 203, giving Blaney an opportunity for a fuel-and-tire pit stop.

Blaney had to withstand four restarts in the final 25 laps to ward off challenges by 2014 Xfinity Series champion Chase Elliott, current points leader Chris Buescher, who had won at Iowa in May, Brendan Gaughan and Darrell Wallace Jr.

“That was tough. I won a Truck race a few years back all on restarts and I didn’t know if it was going to play out good,” Blaney said. “I can’t thank everybody on this Discount Tire Ford Mustang. They put together a flawless car.”

It was the third straight August Xfinity Series win at Iowa Speedway for the No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Brad Keselowski raced to Casey’s General Stores Victory Lane in 2013 and 2014.

The other story of the 2015 U.S. Cellular 250 Saturday was the final NASCAR start for veteran driver Kenny Wallace. Wallace, 51, has an Xfinity Series record 547 starts in his 905 total race starts in NASCAR competition.

Kenny Wallace ran as high as 10th in the race until two mishaps knocked him out of the top 10. He finished 15th at Iowa Speedway’s 2015 season finale on a track designed by his older brother Rusty Wallace.

“Obviously, I’m not going to be upset over a hard-earned, 15th-place finish,” said Wallace. “You know, it was just a deal where it looked like we were going to close in on a good finish, but as normal short track racing, the horns came out at the very end.”

Blaney finally won on the second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. Regan Smith finished second followed by Brian Scott, Ty Dillon and Gaughan. Suarez and Erik Jones battled through to end up at sixth and seventh, respectively.

Buescher still leads the tight points race after settling for 13th Saturday. Elliott gained five points by running ninth. Buescher has 682 points with Elliott at 662 and Dillon one point back of him.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Watkins Glen next Saturday.

More on the U.S. Cellular 250 in Monday’s Newton Daily News.