Ty Gibbs holds on to win NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) 鈥� Ty Gibbs didn鈥檛 question his crew chief鈥檚 final pit call.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 do anything about it, so you just run with it,鈥� Gibbs said.

Gibbs used late pit strategy and held off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell over the final 20 laps to win the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at Iowa Speedway.

Gibbs 鈥� the 23-year-old grandson of former NFL coaching great and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs 鈥� won by 0.253 seconds over Bell 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 right-side tires, 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.

Tyler Allen, Gibbs鈥� crew chief, thought taking two tires was the only chance to get ahead of Bell in that final pit cycle.

鈥淲e knew after practice the left sides weren鈥檛 wearing much and they tended to refire OK,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淪o in terms of coming into the race, it was definitely a viable option.鈥�

Gibbs liked the aggressive call.

鈥淚 think in the position with our points situation, for sure,鈥� he said.

Gibbs, who picked up his first career win April 12 at Bristol, came into the race ranked fourth in the season standings, and moved into second 鈥� 103 points behind JGR teammate Denny Hamlin.

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.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e kind of hosed after that deal,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淪o you鈥檝e got to stay locked in and keep working.鈥�

It was the seventh second-place finish of the season for Bell, who led 108 laps.

鈥淭y did a really good job,鈥� Bell said. 鈥淗e did a great job of managing the race.鈥�

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鈥檚 best finish of the season, and only his third top-10 finish. Hamlin finished fifth.

Chase Briscoe was sixth. Chastain recovered to finish seventh. AJ Allmendinger was eighth, followed by defending race winner William Byron. Austin Dillon was 10th.

Reddick鈥檚 struggles

Tyler Reddick鈥檚 summer struggles continued when he crashed into Erik Jones four laps into the race.

The rear end of Reddick鈥檚 car slid entering Turn 1, and Reddick ran into Jones before hitting the wall. Reddick finished last in the 36-car field.

鈥淎 100% that was on me,鈥� Reddick said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I don鈥檛 normally do, make those kinds of mistakes. Just gut-wrenching on a lot of levels. I thought we kind of figured out what we needed to do for the race today, and made a killer mistake earlier.鈥�

Reddick won the first three races of the season, and four of the first six, and has five wins overall. But he has had four finishes of 30th place or worse in the last six races.

No brakes, all gas for Hamlin

Hamlin had brake issues during practice Saturday, which led to the team changing brake rotors and a cooling unit. Hamlin had to go to the rear of the field, but surged back to finish fifth despite having more brake issues during the race.

鈥淚 just had white knuckles every lap, not knowing where my car was going to land when I got in the corner,鈥� Hamlin said. 鈥淭hat was a crazy race to have to do it the whole time without (brakes), but you鈥檝e got to do what you鈥檝e got to do, and the team did an amazing job. I would take that day a hundred out of a hundred times.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e never seen Denny that exhausted,鈥� Joe Gibbs said. 鈥淚 think he drove his heart out.鈥�

Up next

The Cup Series moves to Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.

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