Ty Gibbs bounced back from a disastrous pit stop at the start of Stage 2 to win the Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway on Sunday night, securing the second NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.

Gibbs took a gamble during the final round of green-flag pit stops, opting for two tyres. That decision allowed him to get ahead of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell on pit road and emerge as the effective race leader while running fifth on track.

With 19 laps remaining, Gibbs officially moved into the lead, with Bell behind him on fresher right-side tyres. Although 19 laps was enough time for Bell to close in on Gibbs, he never got a proper opportunity to complete a clean pass in traffic over the closing laps. As a result, Bell registered his 17th runner-up finish of the year.

Bell has now gone 11 months without a win, with his most recent victory having come at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has previously described some of his second-place finishes as acceptable and others as frustrating. This one clearly belonged in the latter category, as Bell believed he had the quickest car after taking the lead from Ryan Blaney in the final stage.

Two weeks ago at Indianapolis, Bell had described his second-place finish behind Corey Heim as a good result, feeling that he had performed better than expected.

“This is what you call a bad second-place finish for sure,” Bell said. “But I don’t know. 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 flipping and sliding around, and similar to last week or two weeks ago with Corey Heim, he just didn’t make the mistakes. So P2.”

In both instances, Bell finished behind drivers who claimed the second Cup Series wins of their careers in the same season as their maiden victories.

Blaney looked like the driver to beat at Iowa as he attempted to become the first repeat winner at the circuit and defend his 2024 victory in the track’s inaugural race after starting from pole position.

In the end, Blaney had to settle for third, finishing ahead of Wood Brothers Racing driver Josh Berry. They were the only two Ford drivers to place inside the top 10.

Blaney won Stage 1 and was back in front in the final stage when Bell mounted his challenge. Over the course of a lap, Bell sold a move to the inside, and once Blaney left the high line to defend, Bell swept around the outside to grab the lead.

Bell stayed out front until the final sequence of pit stops, where both he and his teammate extended their runs. The decisive moment came down to the contrast between taking two tyres and taking four.

With this victory, combined with Tyler Reddick’s crash earlier in Stage 1, Ty Gibbs jumps from fourth to second in the championship standings with only three races left before the start of The Chase. Bell also climbed four places, moving from 10th to sixth in the standings thanks to his second-place finish and his Stage 2 win.

Reddick drops two places to fourth in the championship, but one driver endured an even tougher day, as Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar slipped three positions from fifth to eighth after ending the race in 31st place.