Ultimately, it was Denny Hamlin leading 146 laps and holding off an angry Austin Dillon in the last 20 laps to capture the checkered flag.

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Making his 150th Xfinty Series start, Hamlin wasn’t shying away from contact throughout the whole race, even forcing his teammate Busch to slam of the brakes just 23 laps into the race. 

But things got interesting between Hamlin and Dillon on Lap 179 as Hamlin got into the left fender of the No. 33 car, causing Dillon to get loose and lose the lead. 

After the race, Dillon was frustrated with the incident, but was told on the radio to “get him when it counts,” in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race. 

“Figured he was going to race, but he never even wanted to," Dillon told NBC Sports after the race. “Wrecked his teammate and proceeded to wreck me.

“That wasn’t good racing. He didn’t want anybody racing him side-by-side for more than a lap.”

Could Hamlin be in for payback in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race?

“I’m not going to talk about it,” Dillon said. “He won’t be ready.”

Hamlin responded with criticism of his own, saying that Dillon jumped the final restart with 26 laps to go. 

“Eventually I was going to get back around him,” Hamlin said. “I was a fender ahead and got in there and just washed up into him. That’s just two guys doing some short-track racing.”

With just over 50 laps remaining, third-place finisher Keselowski, who led 17 laps on the day, decided to give up track position in exchange for four new tires. Hamlin and Dillon, among others stayed out in a risky decision, but it proved to be the right one as Keselowski was unable to get back to the front. 

Running fifth at the time, Brian Scott brought out the caution flag with 35 laps to go as the engine in his No. 2 Chevrolet expired. It was Scott’s fourth DNF this season. 

“Just another disappointing team for this No. 2 team. Not the day we wanted to have,” Scott told NBC Sports. “But it has been the story of our season. I thought we had a second-place car, just disappointing.” 

Chris Buescher maintained his Xfinity Series points lead, but defending champion Chase Elliott cut the deficit to 31 points with his ninth-place finish. 

Results for Xfinity Series Lakes Region 200

Hamlin Austin Dillon Keselowski Busch Daniel Suarez Ty Dillon Regan Smith Darrelll Wallace Jr. Elliott Brennan Poole Brendan Gaughan Ben Rhodes Ryan Reed Chris Buescher JJ Yeley Dakoda Armstrong Elliott Sadler Eric McClure Jeremy Clements Blake Koch Cale Conley David Starr Landon Cassill Dylan Lupton BJ McLeod Peyton Sellers Derek White Joey Gase Brian Scott Todd Peck Mike Harmon Derrike Cope Matt Wallace Ryan Sieg Matt Frahm Morgan Shepherd Ross Chastain Josh Reaume Harrison Rhodes Jeff Green