In a thrilling finish, Ty Gibbs held off his teammate Christopher Bell to win the Iowa Corn 350. Gibbs felt a lot of pressure down the stretch. The young driver had less than a single second lead over Bell for over 50 laps. He could practically feel Bell breathing on his neck. However, as Gibbs coined in his post-race interview, it was time for him to “lock-in”.
Similar to Gibbs’ strong performance a few weeks ago at North Wilkesboro, he started strong but had issues early on. The 54 team would make a mistake on pit road at the end of stage one, effectively sending Gibbs to the rear of the field. Throughout the course of the day Gibbs would claw his way back to the front, finding his way back to the top five by the end of stage two. In a caution riddled stage two, the racing went flag to flag for the final stage. Christopher Bell took the lead from Ryan Blaney early into the stage. Blaney was at a slight disadvantage as a result from taking two tires in efforts to gain track position. Gibbs who started the final stage in sixth, would follow his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate to third. Gibbs would make the pass for second, on lap 278. From there it was a two man showdown.
As the two teammates raced just seconds apart, both elected to make a pit stop with just 58 laps to go. This ultimately would be the winning move of the race, as Gibbs’ crew chief Tyler Allen elected to only take two tires instead of Bell’s four. Allen must have seen Blaney’s ability to hold the track position on the two tires, because his decision aged like fine wine. Gibbs would jump Bell on the pit stop, and would hold him off for the remainder of the race. Bell’s gap behind Gibbs fluctuated between one second and a rear bumper for the rest of the race, but it wasn’t enough to win. Gibbs gained 14 points by finishing both stages in fourth, and totaled a 69 point day for his team.
Christopher Bell was frustrated with the loss after the race. Not only has Bell yet to win this season, but this is now his seventh second place finish to date in 2026. Bell summed up his performance up with a faint smile saying “this is a bad second place finish”. Bell led 108 of the 350 laps, and had control of the race. Even though the finish isn’t what Bell wanted, he still compiled the second most points of all drivers with 50, and jumped four spots in the points standings, rising from tenth to sixth.
Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney finished third, about seven seconds behind the Joe Gibbs Racing duo. He began the race in control, leading every lap in stage one. Eventually, numerous cautions and differing strategies from other drivers shuffled him back in the pack, and out of the race lead. Blaney’s crew chief Jonathan Hassler would make a two tire call at the end of stage two, which allowed Blaney to get his track position back. However, this call left Blaney at a disadvantage, and allowed the 20 and 54 to pass him for the race win. Blaney ultimately came home with 47 points, and led a race high 129 laps.
Not only does Ty Gibbs earn his second career win in Iowa, but he also catapults himself to a second place points position. Gibbs now sits 103 points behind veteran teammate, and point leader Denny Hamlin. 23XI’s Tyler Reddick was in second place, but a catastrophic mistake took him out of the race early. On Lap 4, Reddick would lose control of his car entering turn one. As a result, Reddick would make hard contact with the outside wall, also collecting fellow Toyota driver Erik Jones. Reddick has now plummeted to fourth in the standings, now 120 points behind.
Next weekend the NASCAR Cup Series will continue its short track run, as they will set sail for Richmond Raceway. Underdog Austin Dillon has surprisingly won the previous two races at the track, and after a tenth place finish today, he will look to make it a three peat. Tune in to USA network next Saturday at 7pm for the Cook Out 400.