Ryan Blaney ready to go that extra mile -- uh, umm, make that extra inches -- after close Atlanta finish

The defending NASCAR Cup champ heads to Las Vegas this weekend looking for his first win of the season

Close, but no cigar.

How close was the 0.003-second finish between the No. 99 Chevrolet of Daniel Suarez and the No. 12 Ford of Ryan Blaney this past Sunday?

Probably the length of a cigar -- or maybe just the butt, it was THAT close of a finish.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion came up short by just a few inches in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Blaney finished second in a close three-car finish with winner Daniel Suarez and third-place finisher Kyle Busch that was the third-closest finish in Cup Series history.

Blaney, who is a strong contender to reach victory lane this Sunday in Las Vegas, led 31 laps in the wild race at Atlanta, that featured a track record 48 lead changes between 14 different drivers. Blaney had the lead as the cars raced into the backstretch on the final lap, but Busch and Suarez made their moves, creating an epic three-car race to the finish that made the race an instant classic.

“I’m sure it was close,” Blaney said. “I’ve won some by a few inches and lost some by a few inches. It was a fun night, fun racing. I didn’t think they’d get that big of a run on me. I thought I did a good job of getting close off of (turn) two to where I kind of had some of their energy.

"I guess they just got hooked up super good and got a massive run, and I can’t block both lanes. It was fun racing, but just a couple inches short. I’m happy for Daniel, though. That was fun racing him and Kyle. That was fun.”

But was there anything Blaney could have done differently to win the race?

“No, not at the finish line,” Blaney said. “I thought I laid back enough in (Turns) 1 and 2 to kind of not let both lanes get that big of a run. I did that the three laps before the end and I was able to kind of manage it fairly well, but they just got both lanes shoving super hard. I just chose the bottom and the safest place to be.

Blaney left Atlanta fifth in the Cup Series standings. He now heads to Las Vegas, where he has a career-best finish of third.

“What a cool finish,” Blaney said of the Atlanta race.

Can lightning strike twice at Las Vegas, which is a virtual clone of Atlanta Motor Speedway at 1.5 miles in length? For all we know, Sunday in Sin City could be the start of Blaney's true defense of last year's championship, as well as the first step towards eventually making it two Cup crowns in a row.

Blaney's teammate, Joey Logano, secured his 30th-career pole award Saturday for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 for the second consecutive year. It also marks Logano's third-career pole at Las Vegas, tying him with Kasey Kahne for the most all-time at the 1.5-mile oval.

Meanwhile, Blaney's other teammate, Austin Cindric, will start from the third position, while Blaney will start the 400-mile event from the 15th position in the No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.