Ty Gibbs holds off Christopher Bell to win NASCAR Cup race at Iowa

For the seventh time in this year, Christopher Bell finished second and has yet to reach Victory Lane. This time, he was all over his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs who did not bow to the pressure.

Instead, Gibbs in the #54 earned his second career NASCAR Cup Series win. Behind Gibbs and Bell,  Ryan Blaney finished third, Josh Berry fourth, and Denny Hamlin fifth.

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Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, AJ Allmendinger, William Byron, and Austin Dillon filled out the remainder of the top ten.

Speaking on his 2026 season so far, Gibbs said on the key to his newfound success: “Just people that want to support each other. 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 and Chase and Christopher for all their help, obviously.”

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Stage 1

Blaney led the race from pole position, but it didn’t take long for things to go wrong near the front. On Lap 4, Tyler Reddick lost control and slid up the track, sending himself and Erik Jones into the wall. Their race was over, and Jones’s hopes of making the Chase took a major hit.

As the opening stage progressed, Logano made contact with Larson in the battle for second, nearly wrecking the Hendrick driver.

Deeper in the pack, JGR drivers were still concerned over brake issues that had plagued the organization throughout the weekend. Hocevar also reported an engine issue and fell back through the field.

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Blaney ended up winning Stage 1, followed by  Logano, Larson, Gibbs, A. Dillon, Chastain, Bell, Briscoe, Zilisch, and Smith. 

Elliott, who started in the back after a practice crash, received the free pass.

Stage 2

On pit road, an awful stop for Gibbs dropped him from fourth to outside the top 25 in the running order.

Blaney continued to lead the way, but the next yellow was soon to follow with Van Gisbergen spinning. He lost a lap in the process.

Being right on the edge of the fuel window, nearly every car pitted except for Elliott, who took over the race lead. He held the lead on the restart, with Stenhouse spinning back in the pack. He was on the outside of a four-wide situation and got sent around, and Van Gisbergen got his lap back via the free pass.

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On the restart, Wallace made a three-wide dive on Blaney and Elliott, muscling his way into the race lead soon after after starting 26th.

Bell made door-to-door contact with Larson and nearly spun out in a tense moment inside the top ten. A lot of cars seemed very on edge, battling loose conditions.

Halfway through the stage, Hocevar spun in his ailing No. 77 car. Bell, Hamlin, Briscoe and McDowell all stayed out, while Logano and Chastain led the race off pit road.

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Wallace was among those who pitted, giving up the race lead. Unfortunately, he was caught speeding and sent to the rear of the field. Elliott had an awful stop, falling off the jack and giving up all the track position he gained through their earlier strategy play.

On the restart, Larson got shoved out of the groove by Nemechek, and he then ended up on the outside of a four-wide situation. They ran out of room, sending both Larson and HMS teammate Bowman into the outside wall. Larson was furious with Nemechek, showing him his displeasure under caution.

The JGR continued to lead the way, but as the run went on, Logano and Chastain crept forward, shuffling Briscoe and Hamlin back.

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Bell held the lead, and won Stage 2 ahead of Logano, Chastain, Gibbs, Briscoe, Hamlin, Byron, Blaney, Smith, and Zilisch.

Stage 3

Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

During pit stops, Logano drove off with a loose wheel and had to stop, backing into his stall. Suddenly, he dropped from second to the very back of the field. His teammate Blaney was the first off pit road with a two-tire call, while Elliott went on an alternate strategy and stayed out.

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Blaney held the lead for a bit before Bell worked his way by. This was the start of a very long run, with Blaney kicking off pit stops with 65 laps to go.

Bell waited a bit longer, as did Gibbs, pitting with 59 laps to go. Gibbs made a two-tire call, jumping ahead of both Bell and Blaney.

Chastain took over the lead, running very long. Gibbs and Bell had to unlap themselves, with Bell making a daring three-wide pass on Chastain to get back on the lead lap.

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Chastain finally pit from the lead with 20 laps to go, handing control to Gibbs with Bell in pursuit. 

Bell put a ton of pressure on Gibbs, but he made no mistakes and Bell never could get alongside. Gibbs captured the checkered flag, with JGR drivers 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th.

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