Two was the magic number for Ty Gibbs at Iowa Speedway.
Gibbs’ No. 54 team decided on two tires on the final pit stop, and the 23-year-old driver had enough to hold off teammate Christopher Bell and take his second NASCAR Cup Series race, winning the Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday in Newton, Iowa.
Bell took four tires on his final stop with 60 laps left, but Gibbs’ two-tire stop handed him the lead that he maintained in the battle of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, and he won by 0.253 seconds.
It was Gibbs’ second career win in 146 races, while Bell’s winless streak extended to 30 races with his seventh runner-up showing this season.
Gibbs also moved up to second in points, 103 behind Denny Hamlin.
“I had to keep my head down and stay in it,” said the Charlotte native, who slipped back to 28th after one pit stop. “We’re just people who want to support each other. … I couldn’t be here without my teammates as well.
“We had to lock in and hammer down (after the pit road mistake).”
Bell said his runner-up finish was a lot like how it played out in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis two weeks ago and finished the same way — second place.
“This is what you call a bad second-place finish, for sure,” said Bell, whose last win was nearly a year ago in the Bristol Night Race. “Ty did a great job. … Similar to Corey Heim (in the Brickyard 400 win). Just didn’t make any mistakes.
“P2.”
Polesitter Ryan Blaney finished third. Josh Berry and Hamlin finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Toyota won for the 14th time in 23 Cup races in a standout 2026.
Tyler Reddick started the day second in points, but his race ended in last place less than four miles in with a crash in Turn 1.
Just after three laps had been completed at the 0.875-mile oval venue, Reddick saw his downward spiral in the standings continue as he lost control of his No. 45 Toyota entering Turn 1 and hit the wall along with Erik Jones’ No. 43.
In the remainder of the 70-lap Stage 1, Blaney showed the way by pacing the 36-car field in every circuit, and the segment proved to be a banner one for Team Penske’s best Fords.
Blaney earned valuable points by being the first to the checkers, while teammate Joey Logano was runner-up. Kyle Larson, Gibbs and Austin Dillon completed the top five, but the Toyotas of Bubba Wallace and Hamlin improved significantly up the leaderboard following poor qualifying runs.
Wallace started 26th in the 350-lapper but went to the front on Lap 108, roaring past Chase Elliott’s Chevrolet that started at the field’s rear after a Saturday crash. However, Wallace was penalized for entering pit road and sent to the back after the fifth caution.
JGR’s Bell, Chase Briscoe and Hamlin stayed out during that caution, and Bell maximized his points by winning Stage 2 with a surging Logano in second. Ross Chastain, Gibbs and Briscoe followed behind.
Logano had a problem during his pits, sending him just outside the top 25 on the restart, and his teammate Blaney pulled away from Bell, Elliott and Chastain as the final run began to unfold.
–Field Level Media
