NASCAR at Iowa: Ty Gibbs Becomes Multi-Time Cup Winner

NEWTON, Iowa -- Ty Gibbs is now a multi-time winner in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning Sunday's Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway.

Gibbs led the final 20 laps and grabbed his second career win in the Cup Series. He held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell after crew chief Tyler Allen made a two-tire call on lap 290 of 350 that put him out in front of Bell. 

"We made a big step from last year, obviously and I really appreciate it. But I really appreciate all my teammates too. I wouldn't be here without all my teammates as well, week in and week out, just help keep developing the program. And obviously we're all up front for a reason. I really appreciate Denny (Hamlin) and Chase (Briscoe) and Christopher (Bell) for all their help, obviously," said Gibbs, who moved from fourth to second in the points standings with the win.

JGR now has seven wins in 23 races this season, including five in the last 10 races. Bell is the only winless JGR Cup driver but another two-and-a-half tenths could've changed that.

Bell led twice for 108 laps, including 37 laps before pit stops put him behind Gibbs. That, combined with swipe after swipe on Gibbs, was only good enough for Bell's seventh second-place finish of the 2026 season.

"It was more of the same every time I got to him. I found some free speed by downshifting but the tires got so hot and every time I tried advancing my position, the tires would just slide and I never got by him," Bell said.

Only Ryan Blaney led more laps than Bell. Blaney finished third and had the best car of the day. After leading the first 93 laps and winning the first stage, however, four cautions in the second stage led him to losing control of the race -- falling back to 11th at one point.

"I got really loose into [turn] three one lap and I lost eight spots on the restart," Blaney said.

Blaney's crew chief, Jonathan Hassler, had to do something in the final stage. He put two tires on Blaney's No. 12 Ford, giving him the lead for 35 laps before Bell tracked him down and passed him.  

"The 20 and the 54 were definitely better than me second half of the race. But Jonathan did a good job of putting two on it after the Stage 2 caution, kind of got some track position back and then kind of sat in third and kind of ran there," Blaney said.

Blaney maintained third in the standings, now ahead of Tyler Reddick who crashed out on lap 5 after a mistake in turn one.

They're all behind Denny Hamlin who gutted out a fifth-place finish with brakes that were faulty from the start of the race onward. 

"I'd retire at the end of the year if I had to do that every week, that's for sure. Lesson learned from our part, that obviously we got in a box that we weren't allowed to get out of and we just had to grind away the best we could,“ Hamlin said. "Just had to white-knuckle every lap. Obviously not knowing where my car was going to land when I got into the corner, obviously you want to have brakes and that was a crazy race to have to do it the whole time without it, but you've got to do what you've got to do.

"The team did an amazing job. I would take that day 100 out of 100 times.”

Sunday was a good day for several drivers who needed it: Josh Berry (fourth), Ross Chastain (seventh), A.J. Allmendinger (eighth), Austin Dillon (10th), Connor Zilisch (11th). 

TOP-10 FINISHERS (LAP 350); Gibbs, Bell, Blaney, Berry, Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, Chastain, Allmendinger, William Byron, A. Dillon. 

Hamlin leads Gibbs by 103 points, Blaney by 110 points and Reddick by 120 points. 

In the battle for the top-six, most optimal Chase spots, Chase Briscoe jumped to fifth in points with 663 points, followed by Christopher Bell (659), Chase Elliott (657), Carson Hocevar (644), Chris Buescher (637) and Kyle Larson (629) to round out the top-10. 

Larson cratered to 10th after a crash on lap 150 caused him to finish 33rd, 18 laps down. This is his lowest points position after 23 races since 2019. 

Slotting just behind William Byron (600 points) and Daniel Suarez (597) in points, Joey Logano now has 586 points and is 89 points above the cutline after another very good run Sunday. However, it could've been even better for Logano, who finished 14th after a loose wheel sent him from possibly leading to start the final stage to starting it in the back for it.

In the last five races, Logano has gained 105 points on the cutline, averaging a gain of 21 points per race. If Ross Chastain can replicate Sunday's performance, where he gained 35 points on the cutline, he could join Logano in the Chase.

Richmond Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway remain with the bubble as follows:

Bubba Wallace +68, Shane van Gisbergen +47, Austin Cindric +29, Ryan Preece -29, Ross Chastain -47, Brad Keselowski -48 Erik Jones -50. 

Wallace finished 12th after leading 35 laps before getting a speeding penalty. Meanwhile, Cindric and SVG finished 29th and 30th, Preece finished 20th, Keselowski finished 27th and Jones finished 35th after crashing out early on with Reddick. 

NEXT: Richmond Raceway, Aug. 15, USA, Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 (7 p.m. ET).