Ty Gibbs outlasts Christopher Bell, wins Cup Series race in Iowa
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- Ty Gibbs beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell by 0.253 seconds at Iowa Speedway for his second career Cup Series win, taking just two right-side tires on Lap 290 while Bell took four
- Christopher Bell settled for second for the seventh time this season despite leading 108 laps, telling reporters Gibbs "did a great job of managing the race"
- Ty Gibbs vaulted from fourth to second in the Cup standings — 103 points behind JGR teammate Denny Hamlin — after recovering from an early pit jack malfunction that had dropped him to 28th
- Ryan Blaney, the pole-sitter and winner of the 2024 inaugural Iowa race, finished third after leading a race-high 129 laps; Josh Berry took fourth for his best result of the season
- Tyler Reddick finished last in the 36-car field after slamming Erik Jones on Lap 4, extending a summer slump that now includes four finishes of 30th or worse in his past six races
- Denny Hamlin drove the entire race without reliable brakes after Saturday practice issues forced rotor and cooling unit swaps; team owner Joe Gibbs said "I've never seen Denny that exhausted" after the fifth-place recovery
Why it matters: The two-tire gamble delivered Gibbs his second Cup win and pushed him into clear title contention at 103 points behind teammate Hamlin, while Bell's seventh runner-up finish of the season underscores a painfully consistent gap between race pace and checkered flags for the JGR camp.
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