NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Ty Gibbs used late pit strategy and held off teammate Christopher Bell over the final 20 laps to win the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Iowa Speedway.
Gibbs — the 23-year-old grandson of former NFL coaching great and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs — won by 0.253 seconds over his JGR teammate for his second victory of the season and his career.
Gibbs and Bell each pitted with 60 laps remaining in the 350-lap race, but while Bell took
four tires, Gibbs just went with two, and came out ahead. And when leader Ross Chastain pitted on Lap 330, Gibbs took over the top spot and fought off a late charge by Bell.
Gibbs, who had an issue in the pits on his first stop of the day when his jack fell too early during the tire change, fell back to 28th before charging back.
Gibbs picked up his first career win April 12 at Bristol. He came into the race ranked fourth in the season standings, and moved into second — 103 points behind Denny Hamlin.
It was the seventh second-place finish of the season for Bell, who led 108 laps. Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney, who won the inaugural 2024 Cup Series race at the 0.875-mile oval, was third after leading a race-high 129 laps.
Josh Berry finished fourth. It was Berry’s best finish of the season, and only his third top-10 finish.
Hamlin finished fifth after having to start at the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments to his car. Hamlin, who complained of brake problems during practice Saturday, had the brake rotors and cooling unit replaced in his car, but continued to have brake problems during the race.
Chase Briscoe was sixth. Chastain recovered to finish seventh. AJ Allmendinger was eighth, followed by defending race winner William Byron. Austin Dillon was 10th.
The Cup Series moves to Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.
___
AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing
