Ryan Blaney wins 3-wide battle on final lap of OT in Atlanta - ESPN

HAMPTON, Ga. — A late brush with the wall wasn't enough to send Ryan Blaney to pit row.

The decision paid off with a dominant victory.

Blaney emerged from a three-wide battle on the final lap of overtime in the weather-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta early Monday.

Blaney won every stage of the race and led 171 laps after starting on the pole, but the Team Penske Ford driver had to fight off challenges from Bubba Wallace and Christopher Hill, who finished second, on the final lap. Carson Hocevar and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top four.

Wallace was penalized for passing below the double yellow lines and finished 29th instead of second.

There was a delay of 3 hours, 9 minutes because of rain and lightning. The raced ended at 1:45 a.m. at EchoPark Speedway.

Blaney won the first two stages but brushed the wall with 29 laps remaining, causing possible damage on his right side, after he was cut off by Wallace. Blaney remained on the track despite telling his crew he felt a «terrible» vibration.

«I tried to make a move and just got loose and hit the fence,» Blaney said. «You know I think it's just concrete in the wheels and paint and stuff like that but luckily it still drove really decent.… It wasn't too bad. Luckily it wasn't enough damage we couldn't keep running.»

Blaney's crew chief Jonathan Hassler said his team was able to view photos of the right side of the car and determine the best chance to win was to remain on the track.

«There were 30 cars on the lead lap at that point and not a lot of laps left,' Hassler said. „Our best chance to win was to stay out there.“

Multiple drivers, including Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Riley Herbst, were involved in a wreck with five laps remaining to set up the overtime.

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