Ty Gibbs won the Iowa Corn 350 NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway – Joe Gibbs Racing Photo
Joe Gibbs Racing delivers four of the top six finishers in Toyota’s first Iowa victory
NEWTON, Iowa (August 9, 2026) – After a slow pit stop early in the
race, Ty Gibbs was not going to be stopped at Iowa Speedway. He drove
through the field, and after crew chief Tyler Allen called a two-tire
stop on the final pit cycle, Gibbs came out with the lead and held off
his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammate Christopher Bell to score his second
career victory. Bell finished second, for the seventh time this season,
while JGR has added a fifth (Denny Hamlin) and sixth place finish (Chase
Briscoe).
This is Toyota’s first Cup Series victory at Iowa, and Toyota now is
the only OEM with victories on every current track on the Cup Series
schedule.
Team Toyota now holds five of the top-six positions in the point
standings with Hamlin leading Gibbs by 103 points. Tyler Reddick sits
fourth, while Chase Briscoe moved inside the top-five in points for the
first time this season. Christopher Bell continues his strong
performance in sixth overall.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Iowa Speedway
Race 23 of 36 – 306.25 miles, 350 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, TY GIBBS
2nd, CHRISTOPHER BELL
_3rd, Ryan Blaney*_
_4th, Josh Berry*_
5th, DENNY HAMLIN
6th, CHASE BRISCOE
12th, BUBBA WALLACE
19th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
21st, RILEY HERBST
35th, ERIK JONES
36th, TYLER REDDICK
_*non-Toyota driver _
TOYOTA QUOTES
TY GIBBS, No. 54 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
_How did you keep your composure with Christopher Bell gaining on you
every lap it seemed like?_
“Yeah, I just had to keep my head down, gel up and stay with it. I
appreciate my team, (spotter) Tony Hirschman, all glory to Jesus
Christ.”
_I want to ask you about (crew chief) Tyler Allen’s two-tire call, and
you and I have had so many conversations this year about how this team
has gelled. What’s really spurred that on in 2026?_
“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 (Hamlin) and Chase (Briscoe) and Christopher (Bell) for
all their help, obviously.”
CHRISTOPHER BELL, No. 20 DEWALT Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 2nd
_You settle for second, your seventh runner-up finish of the season.
How does this one sit with you?_
“This is what you call a bad second-place finish for sure. I don’t
know what else to say. Ty did a really good job. He did a great job
managing the race. I could tell that he was slipping and sliding around.
Similar to last week or two weeks ago with Corey Heim, he just didn’t
make a mistake. So P2.”
DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 Progressive Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
_How did you finish fifth?_
“Just had to white-knuckle every lap. Obviously not knowing where my
car was going to land when I got into the corner, obviously you want to
have brakes, and that was a crazy race to have to do it the whole time
without it, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. The team did an
amazing job. I would take that day 100 out of 100 times.”
_How much harder was it to drive the race car that way?_
“Yeah, I’d retire at the end of the year if I had to do that every
week, that’s for sure. Lesson learned from our part, that obviously we
got in a box that we weren’t allowed to get out of and we just had to
grind away the best we could. I’m really proud of the team for the
effort they put in today.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 6th
_Brakes caused a little trouble but overall, not a big deal. Any
surprises for you during this race?_
“The brakes were still a little odd. That whole first stage I had no
issues and I thought we were going to be really good, and then the
second stage started rising. I thought we definitely could have been
better if it wasn’t for that. I thought our Bass Pro Shops Toyota was
really good. We struggled a little bit on the short run, but our long
run speed was phenomenal. Overall great day obviously for JGR (Joe Gibbs
Racing), great points day for us. To be 37th in points now to be fifth
with a couple to go here before the end of the regular season is a big
thing for us. Got to just try to keep it going.”
_Does today’s performance give you a little bit of optimism over the
next two weeks?_
“I hope so. Truthfully the next two weeks are probably my two worst
racetracks, or my least favorite, at least. So just got to try to go
there and maximize our day. Our car should be really, really fast. Yeah,
just have to execute, and we’ve been doing a really good job of that
over the course of the last seven or eight weeks. Looking forward to the
next couple and seeing if we can keep it rolling.”
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 35th
_What did you see out there and how does this affect your Chase
outlook?_
“Yeah, we needed a few perfect week, and it needed to start here
today for our Dollar Tree Toyota team, and obviously that didn’t
happen. Just unfortunate with how early it is – lap three – I’m
just trying to settle in and get going. You don’t expect it either in
the top-10, top-five, you don’t think you are going to get caught up
in something crazy like that. It’s a bummer. It’s a huge mountain
now for here on out to get to the Chase, so we will see.”
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 SupplyHouse Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 36th
_Can you tell us what happened?_
“Yeah, there wasn’t much. It was quick or I probably could have
saved it. Just got out of shape in an area – corner entry – where I
thought we were pretty secure all weekend. I feel awful for our
SupplyHouse Toyota team. For us to take ourselves out is one thing, but
to take out a fellow Toyota teammate when they are racing for the Chase
– pretty much ended their day as well. It is the type of stuff you
don’t do to yourself, and you don’t do to a teammate.”
# # #