Rookie Blaney earns his first career victory

•NATIONWIDE

Rookie Ryan Blaney earned his first career NASCAR victory and another Nationwide Series win for Penske Racing’s No. 22 Ford, holding off Austin Dillon and surviving several late cautions to win Saturday night’s 300-mile race at Kentucky Speedway.

Blaney, who drives for Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski in the Camping World Truck Series, used his second start in the Mustang to claim the car’s 10th victory of 2013 and a season sweep at Kentucky. Keselowski drove the car to victory in June.

Blaney’s win included tense moments over the final 40 laps, from beating Dillon off pit road with a two-tire stop on lap 166 to reclaiming the lead from Dillon after losing it on the restart. More tests followed, including a near-brush with teammate Sam Hornish Jr.’s loose Ford and one final restart.

Matt Crafton was third, Hornish fourth and rookie Alex Bowman fifth in a Toyota.

NASCAR

Nationwide-Kentucky 300

Saturday

At Kentucky Speedway

Sparta, Ky.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (2) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 200 laps, 147.7 rating, 0 points.

2. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, 126.6, 43.

3. (5) Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 200, 105.9, 0.

4. (1) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 200, 124.6, 41.

5. (20) Alex Bowman, Toyota, 200, 93.2, 39.

6. (7) Drew Herring, Toyota, 200, 108.6, 38.

7. (10) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 200, 101.7, 37.

8. (13) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 200, 80.9, 0.

9. (18) Cole Whitt, Toyota, 200, 81.1, 35.

10. (15) Michael Annett, Ford, 200, 87.7, 34.

11. (4) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 200, 107.8, 34.

12. (14) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, 93.1, 32.

13. (21) Dakoda Armstrong, Chevrolet, 200, 72.9, 0.

14. (12) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 200, 98.8, 31.

15. (22) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 200, 75.5, 29.

16. (36) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 200, 62.4, 28.

17. (9) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, 79.9, 27.

18. (6) Joey Coulter, Toyota, 200, 72.2, 0.

19. (28) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, 199, 62.5, 25.

20. (24) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 198, 55, 25.

21. (29) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 198, 55.3, 23.

22. (31) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 198, 49.5, 22.

23. (34) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 197, 49.6, 21.

24. (25) Eric McClure, Toyota, 197, 48.9, 20.

25. (26) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 197, 42.4, 19.

26. (23) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 196, 60.5, 18.

27. (16) Nelson Piquet Jr., Chevrolet, 194, 43.7, 17.

28. (32) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 194, 43.3, 16.

29. (11) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, accident, 187, 79.2, 15.

30. (17) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, accident, 161, 66.2, 14.

31. (35) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, suspension, 113, 36.5, 13.

32. (39) Harrison Rhodes, Ford, engine, 100, 33.1, 12.

33. (19) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, brakes, 98, 68.5, 11.

34. (8) Travis Pastrana, Ford, accident, 59, 68.9, 10.

35. (38) Ryan Ellis, Toyota, vibration, 31, 34.1, 9.

36. (40) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, overheating, 8, 35.8, 8.

37. (30) Carl Long, Dodge, suspension, 8, 34.8, 7.

38. (37) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, transmission, 6, 33.7, 6.

39. (33) Blake Koch, Toyota, rear gear, 4, 32.9, 5.

40. (27) Jeff Green, Toyota, vibration, 3, 31.3, 4.

Top 10 in Points: 1. S.Hornish Jr., 962; 2. A.Dillon, 947; 3. R.Smith, 917; 4. E.Sadler, 908; 5. B.Vickers, 902; 6. J.Allgaier, 887; 7. B.Scott, 883; 8. T.Bayne, 868; 9. K.Larson, 822; 10. P.Kligerman, 783.

• SPRINT CUP

Stripped of his Chase spot, then his sponsorship, Martin Truex Jr. is now in a hasty scramble to find a ride. He has little time to piece together a deal and few options.

“There’s not a whole lot out there,” Truex said Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

But if he can find a funded ride out there, owner Michael Waltrip is willing to let Truex walk.

With NAPA out of the picture, Truex could decide to bolt Michael Waltrip Racing as part of the aftershock of the Richmond scandal that saw him booted out of the Chase. NAPA’s multimillion-dollar sponsorship defection from MWR at the end of the year is just the latest fallout from the team’s attempt to manipulate a race to get Truex into NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

NAPA is Truex’s primary sponsor and in the first year of a three-year extension announced last August. The deal ran through the 2015 season and is believed to be worth at least $15 million a year.

With only nine races left this season, Waltrip asked Truex for more time to strike a deal for 2014 funding.

“If he came to me tomorrow and said, ‘I got a deal to go do something,’ then obviously I would not hold him back,” Waltrip said. “I owe him a lot for his loyalty and his passion for our team. I wouldn’t hold him back from doing something he wanted to do, but I’d like him to hang around so we can attract a sponsor and keep him in our cars.”

NASCAR-Sprint Cup

Sylvania 300 Lineup

After Friday qualifying; race Sunday

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Loudon, N.H.

Lap length: 1.058 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 136.497.

2. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 136.082.

3. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 136.053.

4. (78) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 135.868.

5. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 135.636.

6. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 135.525.

7. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 135.463.

8. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 135.41.

9. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 135.371.

10. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 135.208.

11. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 135.126.

12. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 135.097.

13. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 135.073.

14. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 135.021.

15. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 134.987.

16. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 134.892.

17. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 134.477.

18. (14) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 134.42.

19. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 134.292.

20. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 134.217.

21. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 134.193.

22. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 134.132.

23. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 133.981.

24. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 133.792.

25. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 133.769.

26. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 133.637.

27. (51) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 133.548.

28. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 133.52.

29. (55) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 133.408.

30. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 133.301.

31. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 133.282.

32. (40) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 133.17.

33. (30) Kevin Swindell, Toyota, 132.365.

34. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 132.232.

35. (83) David Reutimann, Toyota, 132.2.

36. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 132.163.

37. (36) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

38. (7) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

39. (33) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

40. (95) Scott Riggs, Ford, Owner Points.

41. (98) Johnny Sauter, Ford, Owner Points.

42. (32) Timmy Hill, Ford, Owner Points.

43. (35) Josh Wise, Ford, Owner Points.