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NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Report
                                         
Track:  Kentucky Speedway
Race:   VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300   
Date:   September 26, 2015

No. 22 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – Ryan Blaney
Start:  5th
Finish: 1st (Fourth-Career NASCAR XFINITY Series Win)
Status: Running
Laps Completed:  201/201
Laps Led:   81
Owners' Points Position:  1st (+64)
 
Recap:  After a late-race caution bunched the field, Ryan Blaney and the No. 22 Discount Tire team won the VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 in dramatic fashion, getting a push from third-place Regan Smith and jumping out to the lead, earning his fourth-career NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) victory. Blaney started the race from the fifth position. Once the race started, Blaney settled in early, communicating his Mustang was tight taking off. On the long run, Blaney's Discount Tire car came to life and the 21-year-old eventually raced his way to the front, at one point extending his lead by nearly six seconds over second place. Crew chief Greg Erwin called Blaney down pit road on lap 85 for his second stop of the race when a caution flew during the green-flag pit cycle. The team elected not to service the car and Blaney returned to the track, dropping back to the seventh position.  Once pit stops happened and the race restarted, Blaney slipped back to ninth, but worked his way back up to sixth before another caution flag slowed the race.  Not in their fuel window, the team elected to stay out to see what the Mustang could do in clean air. Once the race restarted, Blaney would recapture the top spot and once again pull out to a commanding lead.  On lap 152, Blaney gave up the lead and made his last stop of the race under green flag conditions.  In the final laps, a series of cautions fell and Blaney raced anywhere from first to third before eventually setting up a green-white-checkered finish. On the final restart, with Blaney starting second, the youngster got a good push from the car behind him and was able to clear the leader off of turn two and lead the final laps, collecting his second NXS victory of the season and the Discount Tire team's sixth win of 2015. The No. 22 Discount Tire Ford team also extended their XFINITY Series Owners' point lead to 64 markers over the No. 54 of Joe Gibbs Racing.
 
Quote:  "I am really excited to get this 22 Discount Tire team back into victory lane. They really deserve it and it was a great way to rebound after last week. I have to thank my team for putting together a fast car, the guys on pit road, we had a solid night, and everyone at Penske, Ford, and Discount Tire for this opportunity.  Kentucky is a really good track for Penske, there's just something about these rough racetracks. Brad (Keselowski) won here earlier this year and I was fortunate enough to get my first XFINITY Series win here in 2013 with the 22 team. I am just happy to be able to back up these wins with the team tonight and really excited to see what we can do next weekend at Dover."