Playing it safe, Blaney and several other lead-lap cars waited to make their final pit stop well within their fuel window while Almirola and Chase Elliott were among that pit earlier hoping for one or more late-race cautions.
Instead, the race ended with an unusual 168-lap green flag run and Blaney – on fresher tires – ran down Almirola with 22 of 500 laps to go, going to his outside and cleared him for the lead off Turn 4.
Blaney then held off Almirola by 0.889 seconds at the checkered flag to secure the critical victory which automatically advances him to the final four of the playoffs and the chance to race for the series title next weekend at Phoenix.
The win is the third this season for the driver of the No. 12 Penske Ford, with two coming in the playoffs, and 10th of his career.
He'll celebrate all the way to the #Championship4! pic.twitter.com/HGvSICwHh3
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 29, 2023
“It’s awesome. I grew up in High Point, not too far from here. Closer to High Point honestly, Martinsville is than Charlotte,” Blaney said. “Really cool. Wanting to win here for a long time. Been super close for many years. Awesome to close it out.
“I mean, felt like we put together really strong playoffs, especially the Round of 8, we had a good run in the whole Round of 8. Just overall really proud of the whole effort.
“RP (team owner Roger Penske) couldn’t be here, unfortunately, but I know he was watching. This is awesome. Can’t wait to get to Phoenix next week.”
Denny Hamlin finished third and missed out on the Championship 4 for the second consecutive season, Chase Briscoe was fourth and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Completing the top-10 are Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland.
Joining Blaney in the Championship 4 at Phoenix are Larson, Bell and William Byron, who finished 13th in Sunday’s race.
Stage 1
Hamlin got a good jump on a restart with 19 of 130 laps remaining and held off Blaney by 0.873 seconds to win claim the Stage 1 win. Martin Truex Jr. was third, Briscoe fourth and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
Stage 2
Blaney ran down Hamlin with 29 laps to go in the stage for the lead and held him off by 0.617 seconds to take the Stage 2 win. Briscoe was third, Logano fourth and Keselowski was fifth.
Ryan Newman spun off Turn 4 after contact from Bell to bring out a caution and send the lead-lap cars down pit road on lap 217. Truex was hit with a speeding penalty and had to restart from the rear of the field when the race resumed with 40 to go.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, several lead-lap cars pit with Ryan Preece first off pit road. Blaney remained on the track and in the lead when the final stage got under way on lap 230.
On lap 273, Logano got into the back of Ty Gibbs and twice knocked him into Hamlin before Gibbs’ No. 54 slid up the track and spun which collected several other cars and brought out the caution.
We have (more) aggression at the front of the field! #Xfinity500 pic.twitter.com/2YVIGApEEV
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 29, 2023
Blaney led Hamlin and Logano on the restart with 216 laps remaining in the race.
Gibbs got spun again – this time by Carson Hocevar – with just under 200 laps to go to bring out another caution. Only a handful of lead-lap car pit and Blaney continued to lead Hamlin on the restart with 190 laps left.
A spin by Michael McDowell sent most of the lead-lap car down pit road to take new tires and fuel to make it to the end of the race. Almirola was first off pit road and Elliott stayed out and took over the lead when the race resumed with 169 to go.
With 89 laps to go, Almirola – still looking for his first win of the 2023 season – ran down Elliott and moved into the lead for the first time in the race.
Possible retirement gift?@Aric_Almirola is out front at the #Xfinity500 past Chase Elliott with under 90 laps to go. pic.twitter.com/3AlG8pyOSG
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) October 29, 2023
After 425 laps, Almirola had moved out to almost a 1-second lead over Elliott – but Elliott likely still had to make one more stop for fuel. Among those cars who were good on fuel, Larson ran fifth, Blaney sixth, Buescher seventh and Hamlin eighth.
With 30 laps to go, Blaney had moved up to second and trailed Almirola by less than 1.5 seconds as Elliott ran third.
With 22 laps remaining, Blaney went to the outside of Almirola and cleared him off Turn 4 to reclaim the lead.
