Posted on by Staff Report

After a thrilling showing at Iowa Speedway, the NASCAR Cup Series continues its short-track stretch with a date at Richmond Raceway on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The race will act as the 24th points-paying event of the 2026 season. Austin Dillon is the defending winner at the 0.75-mile facility.

ENTRY LISTS: Cup Series | Craftsman Truck Series

Josh Bilicki will pilot the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford this weekend. Bilicki piloted the No. 66 machine to a 34th-place finish at Watkins Glen International in May in his only other 2026 start.

Thirty-seven cars are entered into this weekend’s contest.

MORE: Weekend schedule | How to watch NASCAR on NBC, USA Network

View the full entry list here:

Posted on by Brandon White

Of all the major events that take place at Berlin Raceway throughout the year, the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin is the one every local competitor looks forward to.

A crown jewel race for Berlin since 2010, the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin regularly draws a talented collection of national Super Late Model competitors to go up against the facility’s local drivers. All of them will be chasing the $40,000 winner’s share at the end of the 250-lap feature.

RELATED: Watch the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin on FloRacing

NASCAR Cup Series stars like Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar and the late Kyle Busch have all emerged victorious in the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin through the years, but the event has also been kind to local drivers. Last year’s race saw Austin Hull take home the checkered flag. He went on to win the track championship in Berlin’s Super Late Model division that same year.

Berlin’s almost circular layout requires immense discipline to conquer, especially with nearly 30 drivers sharing the track at the same time. A victory in the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin will not be an easy feat for the locals or invaders, but doing so will cement a driver’s place in the marquee event’s growing history.

Below is everything to know about Wednesday’s big race at Berlin.

Austin Hull
Austin Hull enters Wednesday’s Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin as the event’s most recent winner. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

What TV Channel is the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin on?

All the on-track action for the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin can be viewed live on FloRacing, the official streaming home for all NASCAR Regional properties.

The event will not be shown on a traditional television network.

Below is the schedule for FloRacing’s coverage.

Date Start time How to watch
Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 5 p.m. ET FloRacing

Race-day schedule

This year’s Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 12. The 250-lap Super Late Model event is the only feature on this year’s schedule.

Below is the complete race-day schedule at Berlin Raceway (all times ET).

Time Event
9:30 a.m. Pit Pass Window Opens
10 a.m. Pit Area Opens
11 a.m. Race Tires Sold and Impounded (one person per team and 5 at a time in order of registration. Time limit enforced)
12 p.m. Super Late Model Drivers/Spotters Meeting
1 p.m. Practice Begins/General Admission Gates Open
1-2:30 p.m. Super Late Model Practice (Two 40-minute sessions with a 10-minute break)
3:30 p.m. Super Late Model Tech (All Super Late Models on the ground ready to roll at 3:30 p.m. sharp.)
5:30 p.m. Super Late Model Qualifying
6:27 p.m. Invocation/National Anthem
6:30 p.m. Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin Last Chance (if necessary) — 40 laps
Immediately following… T-shirt Toss/Driver Introductions
Immediately following… Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin — 250 laps
Berlin Raceway
A healthy mix of Berlin Raceway regulars and Super Late Model stars will chase a victory in Wednesday’s Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin. (Photo: Ted Malinowski/NASCAR)

Entry list

The current entry list for the 2026 Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin currently features 30 cars.

One of the more notable surprise guests for this year’s edition is Garrett Mitchell, better known by his online persona Cleetus McFarland. Wednesday will be McFarland’s first Super Late Model start and will kick off a busy week for him at Berlin Raceway that includes hosting the Michigan 100 and Burnout Rivals Friday and Saturday.

Joining McFarland for the 250-lap feature will be NASCAR Cup Series star Carson Hocevar, who earned his first Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin victory in 2024. With three Money in the Bank 150 victories and a track championship to his name at Berlin, Hocevar will be among the favorites on Wednesday evening as he chases another triumph at his home track.

Ty Majeski, the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, heads to Berlin this week as the most recent Money in the Bank 150 winner. A renowned Super Late Model competitor with victories in the Snowball Derby, Winchester 400 and other marquee events, Majeski looks to add a Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin triumph to his stellar resumé.

Leading the local contingent of Berlin competitors are Terry Senneker and Brian Campbell, the frontrunners in the Super Late Model standings. The two veterans have earned numerous wins at Berlin through the years, but Senneker will look to join Campbell as a Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin winner Wednesday evening.

Austin Hull, the defending Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin victor, is ready to defend his triumph from a year ago. Other competitors heading to Berlin Wednesday are Tristan McKee, Bubba Pollard, Treyten Lapcevich, Kole Raz, Kyle Steckly and Evan Shotko.

The complete entry list for the Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin can be viewed below:

Car No.  Driver
4 Tyler Lupton
5 Tristan McKee
6 Chet Monaweck
7 Joey Doiron
14 Michael Atwell
14 Chase Pinsonneault
15 Gabe Sommers
18 Chase Burda
18 Keith Herp
20 Austin Hull
22 Evan Shotko
22 Kyle Steckly
24 Terry Senneker
24 Dylan Stovall
26 Bubba Pollard
28 Scott Thomas
30 Treyten Lapcevich
32 Chris Shannon
33 Daniel Webster
33 Cleetus McFarland
39 Andrew Morrissey
46 Buddy Head
47 Brian Campbell
48 Seth Moody
53 Boris Jurkovic
57 Justin Thomas
71 Carson Hocevar
76 Kole Raz
88 Andrew Scheid
91 Ty Majeski

Race format

The field for Wednesday’s Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin will be determined by single-car qualifying. Competitors will make two consecutive laps, with the quickest of those serving as the official time.

Competition cautions will occur every 50 laps. This does not apply within 15 laps of the finish.

Tekton 250 Battle at Berlin winners

Year Driver
2010 Kyle Busch
2011 Kyle Busch
2012 Kyle Busch
2013 Johnny VanDoorn
2014 Johnny VanDoorn
2015 Erik Jones
2016 Erik Jones
2017 Brian Campbell
2018 Not held
2019 Boris Jurkovic
2020 Not held
2021 Not held
2022 Evan Shotko
2023 Bubba Pollard
2024 Carson Hocevar
2025 Austin Hull

 

Posted on by Dustin Albino

NEWTON, Iowa – Speed has been an issue for Trackhouse Racing throughout the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season. But Ross Chastain found the pace he had desperately been searching for at Iowa Speedway, capping the weekend with his best showing of the campaign.

“It feels so good,” Chastain said with a sigh of relief. “It was a complete weekend. The very first lap, very small changes all weekend.”

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Iowa

Chastain was confident in the No. 1 Chevrolet during practice and qualifying, hanging on for a ninth-place starting position in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350, his best effort on a non-drafting track oval since early April at Bristol Motor Speedway. At the drop of the green flag, he remained competitive, placing sixth in the opening stage.

Stage 2 was even stronger for Chastain, trailing only Christopher Bell and Joey Logano at the second intermission. He collected 13 stage points on the day, as he had earned only 16 stage points total in the 40 stages that he hadn’t won entering this weekend (Chastain has four stage wins in 2026, tied for the fourth-most in Cup).

During a caution-free final stage, first-year crew chief Brandon McSwain left Chastain on track longer than all of the competition. The No. 1 car dipped to pit road for the final time on Lap 330 after leading 40 laps, his most in a single race since winning at Kansas Speedway in September 2024 (52). Chastain re-entered the track in seventh position with two fresh Goodyear tires and remained there for the final 20 laps.

The seventh-place finish tied Chastain’s best effort of the season at a non-drafting track (Naval Base Coronado). He gained 35 points on The Chase bubble, now 47 points below the cutline with three races remaining before the reset.

With a pair of shorter tracks on the horizon at Richmond Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, that speed could pay dividends over the next two events.

“I just want to enjoy this,” Chastain said. “To run in the top five, take a shot at trapping those guys. I love that McSwain swung for that. Seventh still feels really good. I don’t know about next weekend or anything, just happy for this one.”

Just over 24 hours after calling a Chase bid insurmountable because of a lack of speed, there is renewed life within the No. 1 camp. Chastain has collected two top-five finishes in his last five starts at Richmond and four top-10s in his last five starts at New Hampshire.

“If you do that four weeks in a row, you are fine,” Chastain chuckled. “I said it before the race, I don’t care about points unless the speed comes with it. That’s the speed that we’re looking for. You got to Richmond and do that again – I love it. I love the speed, so that’s what we’re working towards.”

Trackhouse Racing put two cars inside the top 11 positions at Iowa with Connor Zilisch matching his best oval finish.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

NEWTON, Iowa — Entering 2026, Ty Gibbs was on the hot seat.

No, not in the literal sense of whether or not he’d pilot the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota — but a Victory Lane hot seat.

Outside noise surrounding the fourth-year Cup Series driver grew louder, wondering how long the goose egg would last in Gibbs’ Cup Series win column. Soon? Ever?

Gibbs shut that down early in the season with his maiden triumph at Bristol Motor Speedway in April, and he backed it with a statement on Sunday at Iowa Speedway, holding off hard-charging teammate Christopher Bell to earn victory No. 2 of 2026 and vaulting to second in the point standings.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Iowa

Oh, how a calendar year can change perspective: Gibbs was 16th in points and outside the postseason picture after the Midwest short-track tilt in 2025. Now, he’s a legitimate threat for the Cup Series championship and still mathematically eligible to topple teammate Denny Hamlin from the No. 1 seed before The Chase begins.

“Commanders, baby.”

Gibbs touted the code name for the two-tire call (a nod to his grandfather’s NFL coaching days in Washington, D.C.) in his winner’s press conference as the decision from No. 54 crew chief Tyler Allen lofted Gibbs to the gutsy victory on a muggy Sunday outside of Des Moines.

“It was a really great day for us,” Gibbs said. “To be able to finish it off today was awesome. I’ve been in contention to win a lot of these, and it’s been so much fun this year. So just keep working hard.”

Races in contention were few and far between in his Cup Series infancy. Gibbs had just 17 combined top-five runs in his first three full-time seasons. This year, he has already crossed the double-digit mark in 2026 for the same category.

A lot of the success stems from Allen’s growth atop the box, finding his footing to lead a team at the caliber that Joe Gibbs Racing expects weekly.

“Last year was a bit of a struggle, but it was character-building,” Allen said. “I think both Ty and the team have come such a long ways and we’re finally starting to see the results and consistency across all types of race tracks. So it’s been really fun.”

MORE: Cup standings after Iowa

After missing the postseason in 2025, Allen says the No. 54 team reset itself from the ground up and carried over last year’s information to set Gibbs up for success in 2026.

“I think we finally sort of settled in as the 54 team,” Allen said. “We rely on our teammates, all the information shared, but we’re finally building on our notebook from last year and our recent races this year, and making decisions that we think suit Ty. I think we finally got a feel for that. It takes time to get there and to get Ty’s feedback, get the engineers in tune with what Ty needs, and I think we’re really hitting that week in and week out now.”

Ty Gibbs and Tyler Allen celebrate their NASCAR Cup Series win at Iowa.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Joe Gibbs has observed the lows of his grandson’s early Cup career. He put it in perspective, watching his teams and drivers over the years, understanding the difficulty of getting it right on Sundays and reaching the winner’s circle.

“From my standpoint, I think everybody here kind of followed the 54 and what all happened over our three years previous to this. It really shows you how hard our sport is,” Joe Gibbs said. “Man, I was thinking today just to win one of these races. Just so much goes into it, and to think about Denny being there with 64 of them, it’s hard for me to even believe. I think there was a lot that tested almost everybody with the 54. There really was, and I think the guys just kept working and coming through it, and I just really appreciate our people there. I have real confidence now.”

With a whole body of work to show in a 26-race regular season where wins only guarantee the sticker above the driver’s side door, a second win and a P2 placement in the standings showed the swagger and confidence Allen had to make the call to leapfrog a dominant Bell on strategy in the final stage.

Even on a gamble, Allen used data throughout the race to take the calculated risk that ultimately rewarded the team.

“It was top of mind for sure. We were leaning two tires the whole time,” Allen said. “It was a matter of when we were going to take them. We knew the 20 was getting close, and I knew (Bell’s crew chief, Adam Stevens) was leaning four (tires). So at that time, I heard the 20 say ‘pit.’ So we pit, and I took rights, knowing I would jump him and that Ty was going to have a lot of work to do.”

Title contention is just out the front windshield for the 54 team.

The numbers show Gibbs can compete with Hamlin once the Chase points reset kicks in, and there are few questions of whether the No. 54 has speed or not at certain types of tracks.

Of the Chase tracks already run on in 2026, Gibbs owns top 10s in seven of the eight venues the Cup Series will return to in the fall during the 10-race quest for the championship. His only blemish is a crash at Talladega Superspeedway to tack on a 34th-place dud.

But an average finish of 8.6 on upcoming Chase tracks is nothing to overlook. And with the synergy the No. 54 team is showing, a “Ty-tletown” headline is on the table when the checkered flag waves at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November.

“All of the Toyotas right now are really, really good, and we have to capitalize on that,” Allen said. “I’m really glad we could do that this weekend. Just a bunch of hard work. Now that we have the confidence as a team, I tell them every week we do our deal. We do our deal. We don’t need to fix anything that’s not broken right now and Ty’s done a fantastic job sticking with us and going all four (hundred) or 500 miles, whatever he needs to do. Even in adversity, we had that slow pit stop at the beginning of this race, and no one gave up. He’s doing a really good job.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

NEWTON, Iowa — Christopher Bell has seen this song before in 2026: So close, yet so far from victory.

Once again, Bell had a hot rod capable of winning, this time at Iowa Speedway. He led 108 circuits, only to watch another Joe Gibbs Racing teammate celebrate in Victory Lane, leaving him with his seventh runner-up of 2026 and fourth in the last five races. Bell has now tied Harry Gant (1981) for most runner-ups in a season without a win.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Iowa

Why was this one particularly more difficult to accept than most?

“Because we had control of the race and we were leading laps, had the pace to do it, had the track position to do it and we didn’t do it,” Bell said.

As Bell became the dominant driver in the second half of the race, Adam Stevens, crew chief of the No. 20 car, called his driver to pit road for the final time on Lap 291 with Ty Gibbs in pursuit. Stevens opted to go with four fresh Goodyear tires while Tyler Allen, leader of the No. 54 bunch, gambled with a two-tire strategy.

In a caution-filled opening two stages, Stevens could almost guarantee there would be at least one additional caution to bunch the field together. There wasn’t, and while Bell got within striking distance of Gibbs, he finished 0.253 seconds from glory.

“I felt that was the right move,” Stevens told NASCAR.com. “Obviously, none of us knew it was going to stay green the rest of the day. Once [Ryan Blaney] took four (tires), which we expected him to because he did rights at the stage, and seeing how he fell off, I didn’t think that was the winning move.

“I knew that the only car that could pass us with two (tires) was (Gibbs). Everybody else, if they chose to take two, would have still come out behind us, so we tried to open up the biggest gap we could knowing that we would come out in proximity even if he did take two. I thought that would have been enough, and that covered our bases on [Blaney] and set us up better for a downstream caution.”

Allen informed Gibbs when he was hitting pit road that the No. 54 car would be on pit road for a limited time.

“At that point, I thought it was the only thing that was going to get us around [Bell],” Allen said in the winner’s post-race press conference, “and then hopefully we could get enough laps where the tires equalized, and they couldn’t get by us.”

When asked if the No. 20 team should have elected to take two tires, Bell simply said, “Yeah.”

Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell shake hands in Victory Lane at Iowa after Gibbs won a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Sean Gardner | Getty Images

Bell was not surprised that two tires hung on for the victory. He did it earlier in the race, and even stayed out on track while the bulk of the field pitted during a Lap 140 caution. He hung on for the duration of Stage 2 to bank his fourth stage victory of the season.

Stevens had the notion of taking two tires during the final green-flag pit sequence. But ultimately, being the closest car to the lead on four fresh tires was hard to pass up, thinking it would pay off over the final stint.

“Sure, it was a thought, but it wasn’t the decision I made,” Stevens said. “It was probably a 50-50 call, especially not expecting it to go fully green. I can’t say that was the wrong call to do that, but it’s not the one I made, and it didn’t work out for me.”

The tone of Bell’s 2026 campaign could be completely different had he visited Victory Lane on a few of his near misses. Instead, he has finished as the bridesmaid to all three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates this season and will enter next weekend’s race at Richmond Raceway (Sat., 7 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) on a 30-race winless drought.

Bell leaped four positions on The Chase grid at Iowa alone, however, and Stevens believes the fortune will soon flip.

“It sucks not to win,” Stevens said. “It sucks not to win every week, but you’re not going to win them all, and you’re not necessarily going to win them because you have the best car, and you’re not necessarily going to win them because you have the best car and call the best race or vice versa or one out of the two. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter.

“Some things have to go your way, and by and large on the year, they haven’t gone our way. But the year is not over. I’m hoping the math evens out before it is.”

Bell is only four markers behind Chase Briscoe for fifth in the standings. But he’s growing weary of finishing second, though still thinks a 176-lap-led stomping at Phoenix Raceway in March was tougher to digest.

“It’s bad that I can start ranking them,” Bell said.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

NEWTON, Iowa — A two-tire call. An impeccable green-flag run. And Ty Gibbs had his second victory of the season.

Leapfrogging Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell on pit road — thanks to crew chief Tyler Allen’s two-tire call on Lap 290 of 350 — Gibbs kept Bell behind him the rest of the way in front of a packed house at 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Iowa

When Ross Chastain came to pit road to complete the cycle of green-flag stops, Gibbs had the race lead on Lap 331, with Bell close behind him.

Bell tried everything. Arcing high into the corner. Running the bottom. Crowding up to the bumper of Gibbs’ No. 54 Toyota and trying to force a mistake. But with Gibbs repeatedly taking his line, Bell couldn’t find a way past his 23-year-old teammate, who claimed his first career victory at Bristol Motor Speedway in April.

Before he could get to a race-winning position, Gibbs had to rally from a blown pit stop that cost him 25 positions at the first stage break. With a cool head after the miscue, he maneuvered his way back to the front.

“We made a big step from last year, obviously, and I really appreciate it,” said Gibbs, who has finished in the top four at all four short tracks so far this season. “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 for all their help, obviously.”

SHOP: Winner gear

For the seventh time this season, and for the fourth time in the last five races, Bell had to settle for second. That he climbed from 10th to sixth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings with the runner-up result was of little consolation.

“This is what you call a bad second-place finish, for sure,” Bell said. “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 (at Indianapolis Motor Speedway), he just didn’t make a mistake. So P2.”

Pole winner Ryan Blaney came home third after leading the first 93 laps and winning the first stage. Josh Berry finished fourth in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, scoring his first top five of the season.

Overcoming brake problems and a start from the rear of the field, series leader Hamlin ran fifth and extended his advantage in the standings to 103 points over Gibbs, who jumped from fourth to second with the win.

“Just had to white-knuckle every lap,” said Hamlin, who complained of a “long” brake pedal early in the race. “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.”

Chase Briscoe finished sixth, followed by Chastain, AJ Allmendinger, defending race winner William Byron and Austin Dillon. Rookie Connor Zilisch was 11th, matching his best Cup Series result on an oval track (2025 at EchoPark Speedway).

Shane van Gisbergen ran 30th, three laps down after spinning, but remained 15th in the standings with a 47-point margin over the current cutline for the Chase.

The race wasn’t five laps old when a slip by Tyler Reddick ignited a wreck that had profound implications for the series standings.

With both cars running in the top seven, Reddick’s Toyota broke loose in Turn 1 on Lap 4 and collected the Camry of Erik Jones. Both cars slammed the outside wall and sustained damage that knocked them out of the race in 35th (Jones) and 36th place (Reddick).

The accident cost Reddick two positions in the standings and dimmed his hopes of overtaking Hamlin for the regular-season title. He’s now fourth in points, 120 behind Hamlin with three races left before the Chase field is set.

“Just got out of shape in an area — corner entry — where I thought we were pretty secure all weekend,” a chagrined Reddick said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “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’s the type of stuff you don’t do to yourself, and you don’t do to a teammate.”

The early exit was a crushing blow to Jones, who came to Iowa 18th in the standings, 44 points below the Chase cutoff. He leaves the Hawkeye State 20th in points, 50 behind Austin Cindric in 16th, the last Chase-eligible position.

“Yeah, we needed a few perfect weeks, and it needed to start here today, and obviously that didn’t happen,” Jones said. “Just unfortunate with how early it is. 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 from here on out to get to The Chase, so we’ll see.”

Iowa once again proved a Waterloo for Kyle Larson, who started second and finished third in Stage 1, only to get collected with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman in a Lap 149 accident after John Hunter Nemechek forced Larson’s Chevrolet up the track and created an untenable four-wide situation on the frontstretch.

Larson finished 18 laps down in 33rd, two spots below his average finish for the first two Cup Series races at Iowa Speedway.

Blaney led three times for a race-high 129 laps. Gibbs led the final 20 laps of the final stage, which ran completely green.

Stage 2 recap

Christopher Bell jumped to the Stage 2 victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Joey Logano was second, 3.757 seconds behind Bell, with Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe completing the top five. Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Zane Smith and Connor Zilisch made up the rest of the top 10.

MORE: Full Stage 2 results

Bell has led over 70 laps since collecting the lead at Lap 144.

The second stage of Sunday’s race had plenty of full-contact action.

Shane van Gisbergen was the first to go for a ride in the stage when his No. 97 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet spun sideways through Turns 3 and 4 at Lap 91. A two-time winner this season, SVG had fallen outside the top 30 after the stage-opening restart before he broke traction. Van Gisbergen made no contact and was able to continue, fending off Bell at the stage end to remain the final car on the lead lap in 29th.

On the ensuing restart, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. paid the price for entering Turn 3 on the high side of a four-wide situation. With Todd Gilliland to the far left, Austin Hill nicked Michael McDowell, who then slid high into Stenhouse. Stenhouse then backed his No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet into the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4. Stenhouse was able to continue and raced into the top 25 following the incident, concluding the stage 21st.

Carson Hocevar was the next to suffer an issue, snapping loose entering Turn 4 and spinning at Lap 140. Hocevar had already been battling mechanical issues in his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet before his car darted out of control. Entering Sunday’s race fifth in points, Hocevar finished the stage 32nd, one lap down.

Under that caution, Chase Elliott encountered a slow stop that sank him to the rear of the field. His front-tire changer was slow to get the left-front wheel off and didn’t get the new one on before the jackman dropped the jack. That resulted in fender damage to his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet after an earlier strategy gamble to inherit the lead had seemingly paid off.

Bubba Wallace had vaulted to the lead at Lap 108 after working past Elliott for the top spot. But leading the field under the Hocevar caution, Wallace sped on pit road and incurred a penalty, sinking him to the rear of the field for the restart.

That restart lasted just one lap before trouble struck for two Hendrick Motorsports teammates at Lap 149. Defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson was shoved high in Turns 3 and 4 by John Hunter Nemechek and was at the top of a four-wide situation with teammate Alex Bowman to his left alongside Ryan Preece and Riley Herbst. The four cars collided, resulting in heavy damage to Bowman and a broken right-rear toe link on Larson’s car, necessitating multiple laps’ worth of work. Larson was able to continue and returned to action three laps down while Bowman went to the garage for further repairs.

Wallace, who led 35 laps through the opening stages, recovered to finish the stage 16th.

Stage 1 recap

Ryan Blaney led each of the opening 70 laps from pole position to win Stage 1.

Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs and Austin Dillon completed the top five. Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Connor Zilisch and Zane Smith rounded out the top 10.

Bubba Wallace finished the stage in 12th place, surging 14 positions from his 26th-place starting position. Defending Iowa winner William Byron ended the opening stanza in 14th.

The race began with early calamity for Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones. Reddick entered Turn 1 low at Lap 4 in a battle for eighth when his rear end broke loose. Reddick slid up the track and spun into Jones, sending both Toyotas hard into the outside wall. Neither driver was able to continue, leaving Jones credited with a 35th-place finish and Reddick 36th. Jones entered Sunday’s race 18th, 44 points out of the 16th and final provisional spot in The Chase. His deficit will grow with just three races remaining in the regular season after Sunday’s contest.

MORE: Full Stage 1 results | Watch crash unfold

After myriad brake issues on Saturday, series leader Denny Hamlin soared to 18th place by the time the green-checkered flag waved after starting the event from the rear of the field.

Chase Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, started 32nd after a Saturday crash in practice and ended the stage 30th, the first car one lap down. Elliott received the free pass to return to the lead lap to begin Stage 2.

Among those remaining a lap down to begin the second stage was RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece, who ended Stage 1 in 32nd.

Despite finishing the first stage in fourth, Gibbs sank to 28th during pit stops due to an issue while changing the right-rear tire.

NOTE: Post-race technical inspection concluded in the Cup Series garage with no issues, confirming Gibbs as the Iowa winner. 

Contributing: Staff report

Posted on by Staff Report

Tyler Reddick’s tumultuous summer continued just moments after taking the green flag Sunday at Iowa Speedway, crashing at Lap 4 and heading behind the wall with severe front-end damage.

Battling Erik Jones for eighth, Reddick got loose entering Turn 1, washing up the track and nosing into the outside wall. He also collected Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, who suffered right-side and front-end damage on his No. 43 Toyota.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Iowa

Reddick led the NASCAR Cup Series points standings through the first 17 races this season, winning five of the first nine races and pacing Denny Hamlin by as many as 129 markers after the Watkins Glen International contest in May. But entering Iowa, Reddick had finished 25th or worse in five of the last eight races, including crashes at Michigan and North Wilkesboro and mechanical gremlins at Sonoma Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway.

Hamlin’s points lead surged to 84 points after Indianapolis Motor Speedway two weeks ago, and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team now looks to capitalize as his 23XI Racing driver Reddick faces yet another summer setback.

MORE: Watch replays

“Just gut-wrenching on a lot of levels,” Reddick told USA Sports. “I thought we kind of figured out what we needed to do for the race today, and I made a killer mistake.

“I hate it for my team, but Erik Jones and everybody at Legacy, they needed a strong day, and it’s just not ideal. Obviously, if I’m going to take myself out, that’s one thing. But I took out a Toyota teammate that needed to have a good day, so 100% it’s on me. Something I normally don’t do, normally don’t make those kind of mistakes, so very disappointed.

Neither Jones nor Reddick continued and will be credited with finishes of 35th and 36th, respectively. Each was evaluated and released from the infield care center. For Jones, it’s a significant hit to his postseason hopes, entering Iowa 18th in points, 44 markers below the Chase cutline.

“I think Tyler just got loose and crashed,” Jones told reporters. “There’s nothing more to say. I know he didn’t mean to do it. He took himself out, too, but it’s frustrating.

“It’s gonna be a long shot from here. I mean, we’re gonna be deep after today … we needed three really good weeks — and it had to start today.”

Posted on by Dustin Albino

NEWTON, Iowa — With just four races remaining before the 2026 Chase field is set, Ross Chastain knows making the 16-driver contingent will be an uphill battle. He admitted as much Saturday during practice at Iowa Speedway, acknowledging that a lack of speed has made the task increasingly difficult.

“It’s the realization of speed,” Chastain said to a group of reporters on Saturday, after clocking in with the ninth-best time in qualifying. “Points are the points, and that comes with going fast and finishing up front in stages and races. We just haven’t done it. That’s why it feels insurmountable.

“You can go grab 76 points in a single race if you are the best. Definitely it feels insurmountable because of the speed, is what I meant.”

Chastain, who finished runner-up in the 2022 championship battle, has a single top-five finish through the opening 22 races of the 2026 season. It came 20 races ago at EchoPark Speedway in the second week of the season.

The pace deficit predates the 2026 season, however, as Chastain has scored two top-five finishes total since winning last year’s Coca-Cola 600, some 45 races ago. Meanwhile, Chastain’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Shane van Gisbergen is fighting for a Chase berth, sitting 15th on the grid, 57 points above the cutline with a trio of tracks measuring 1-mile or less on the horizon.

Chastain enters the 23rd race of the season 21st in the driver’s standings. The No. 1 team is 82 points below bubble driver Austin Cindric — and 101 markers behind van Gisbergen. Time is running thin to make a Chase push.

Outside of Chastain’s four stage victories in 2026 — tied with Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson for the third-most in the series — the No. 1 team has totaled just 16 stage points in the remaining 40 stages. But the ninth-place starting position for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) is his best qualifying effort at a non-drafting track oval since Bristol Motor Speedway, nearly four months ago.

MORE: Full lineup | Best Iowa photos

“Off throttle more, slowing down for the corner,” Chastain said of why he feels comfortable this weekend. “This aero package, horsepower package feels similar to me, and the speed seems to come with it.”

Yet Chastain was stunned to realize he secured a top-10 starting spot. He was battling a loose condition and ended the session less than one-tenth of a second behind polesitter Ryan Blaney.

“The [23.566-second lap] we ran could have been so much better, and we just missed the balance,” Chastain stated. “I’m pumped.”

Chastain believes his No. 1 Chevrolet feels similar to Nashville Superspeedway, which was trending in the right direction before blowing a brake rotor late in Stage 1. There is optimism within the Trackhouse camp at Iowa, as Connor Zilisch tallied the best oval start of his career thus far (eighth).

Until Chastain is officially eliminated from Chase contention, the gritty journeyman competitor will go down fighting.

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

Track: Iowa Speedway
Location: Newton, Iowa
Track length: 0.875 miles
When: 3:30 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,233,037
Race distance: 350 laps | 306.25 miles
Stages: 70 | 210 | 350
Sunday’s starting lineup | Pit-stall assignments

Chase seeding a big emphasis in final four regular-season races

NEWTON, Iowa — For those that qualify for The Chase in September, any position inside the top 10 will mathematically put a driver in position to compete for the championship from the jump. However, each seed gained comes with a plus-five gain to the points leader in The Chase format and a battle royale is taking shape from positions fifth to tenth.

From Carson Hocevar (fifth) to Christopher Bell (10th), there is just a 29-point gap, meaning the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver could leap all the way to fifth with a strong result Sunday. And Bell very well could as one of the Cup Series’ hottest drivers off of the bye week.

MORE: Weekend schedule | At-track photos

“It’s a huge deal, man,” Bell said of Chase seeding. “Wherever we end up, all of us are in a dogfight right now. Super important to get everything that we can and it’s going to come down to the bitter end for sure. I’m optimistic. We have a great chunk of races coming up between here, the next couple short tracks. Daytona. Who knows? But I’m excited about the change there.”

Another driver carrying a huge chunk of momentum into the final month of the regular season is three-time champ Joey Logano.

The No. 22 Team Penske driver dominated North Wilkesboro for his first win of the season, followed up by a third-place run in the Brickyard 400 to balloon his position from as low as 20th in points to 13th.

Iowa continues as a good string of tracks for Logano, who is currently riding a seven-race, short-track top-10 stretch.

MORE: Goodyear tire notes: Iowa

“I look at these next few races where there’s a lot of opportunities to score a ton of points for us if we can capitalize on the opportunities there,” Logano said. “I mean we’re out the windshield right now. Just got to keep the attitude that way. But yeah, I feel like we can get ourselves into position to set ourselves up to go win The Chase. Like we have a chance to do it and be the comeback story of all-time. But I think we can do it.”

On the downturn, though, is Bubba Wallace, who after placing 11th in practice on single-lap speed and top 10 in consecutive lap average, missed it in his qualifying setup and will roll off the grid 26th on Sunday.

Wallace entered the media center after qualifying dripping in sweat and frustrated as his 60-point cushion to the cutline is far from safe.

“I don’t know. I’m so [expletive] pissed off from qualifying,” Wallace said. “I think we’re okay. I mean, look at what we did last year. I’m guilty of it. You know, ‘oh we’ve got a bad qualifying draw from last weekend or from last race,’ and that’s just a poor excuse. We got to just be better and I needed to give better feedback to get the car better. I thought we were pretty good in practice. Just missed a little bit.”

The Toyota camp as a whole has some questions Sunday as the Nos. 11, 19 and 35 had brake rotor issues during practice. Points leader Denny Hamlin, who is slated to start 29th on Sunday, has little idea how the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota will react into Turn 1 on the opening lap.

“I just have to give it some educated guesses and go off laps that I did get to run and go from there,” Hamlin said. “Truthfully, we’re gonna have to put a thumb in the air and make a few guesses.”

iowa speedway
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

In the details …

What if the 2026 Cup Series stats sheet showed you that a part-time driver would have just as many victories as the entire Hendrick Motorsports camp in August? You’d probably think it’s straight out of a video game, but that’s the reality for Hendrick as the organization has struggled in all major categories compared to where they were last year.

Chase Elliott is the only driver to reach Victory Lane for the team this season (Martinsville, Texas), but has just a single top 10 since, while Alex Bowman, William Byron and Kyle Larson remain winless just a month out from the start of The Chase. Here is how this year’s stats compare to last year’s after 22 races:

Season20252026Difference
Starts84840
Poles50Minus-5
Wins52Minus-3
Top Two's114Minus-7
Top Five's3020Minus-10
Top 10's4932Minus-17
Laps Led2,1761,053Minus-1,123
Stage Wins169Minus-7
DNFs812Plus-4

Speed reads

Race-day essentials:

• Iowa hub: Key information, pit stalls, additional results | Read more
• Sunday Setup: See what crew chiefs have in mind in the Hawkeye State | Read more
• Rules update: Details on new stage-break procedure if a caution comes out late | Read more
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh looks ready for the Iowa cornfields | View gallery
• Hauler Talk: NASCAR wants to tighten caution periods | Listen now
• NASCAR Classics: Dig into the video vault for full-race replays from Iowa | Watch now
• Power Rankings: Will Logano continue fresh momentum after off weekend? | This week’s ranks

Posted on by Cameron Richardson

NEWTON, Iowa — A Saturday O’Reilly Auto Parts Series melee at Iowa Speedway has created a gripping battle at the Chase cutline with just one regular-season race to go at Daytona International Speedway.

A trio of Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are all separated by one point as William Sawalich and Brent Crews hold the final two spots by a fraction over teammate Taylor Gray.

Just lurking behind them is Rajah Caruth, the JR Motorsports driver who skirted through eight final-stage cautions to bring home a career-best runner-up result as JRM teammate Carson Kvapil secured his second consecutive checkered flag at the Midwest short track.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Iowa

Caruth, now just 15 points below the JGR impasse, said his “common sense” prevailed amid the start-stop tempo of the final stage.

“Like those restarts, I just was choosing closest to the front because you never know how it’ll shake out,” Caruth said. “Like you can give up a row to maybe be on the inside and dive-bomb in the corner, but you’ll get loose. I got loose. Other people got loose, so it wasn’t uncommon that that would happen in the race, and that was kind of where I was trying to make the most logical decisions and it worked out for us. I was probably not close enough to get a run at Carson. I’d say that I lost a lot of ground there being top of (Turn) 3 and into Turn 1, and I stayed that distance the whole time.”

Sawalich, Gray and Crews struggled most of the afternoon around Iowa.

They battled on the fringe of the top 10 and the three combined for just eight stage points, with Sawalich being the only one tallying points in both stages.

The No. 18 Toyota driver recovered from a Lap 159 spin, pulling off a third-place result for his third consecutive top-five finish to hold a sliver of an edge above his teammates.

“Those restarts were definitely crazy,” Sawalich said. “The bottom lane prevailed most of the time if you didn’t get yourself in trouble. It was also really easy to pack the air on the guy in front of you and get him in trouble. Poking three-wide was also an option, so you kind of got to do what you got to do, and we had a lot of fortune at the end to get us third.”

Crews had himself a day, getting involved in a handful of incidents — most notably triggering a multicar wreck on the first overtime restart that collected front-runners Justin Allgaier and Ryan Sieg.

MORE: Crash prompts double OT | Allgaier expresses frustration

The No. 19 rookie wheelman ultimately finished 16th, but he already has sights set on the regular-season finale in three weeks.

“Our goal at the end of the day is to just win races,” Crews said. “Ultimately, the air just got too loose under the 39 (Sieg) and had that move work out a ton of times this year, and that’s the first time it’s not. Definitely feel like I kind of learned a valuable lesson there, but continue to move forward. All eyes are on Daytona just to move forward and think how we can have the best day possible there to be able to try to find ourselves in the [Chase].”

Daytona offers a tricky task for the JGR drivers as they’ll likely need to work together for track position, as well as race hard for their own points to lock in a Chase berth.

Meanwhile, Caruth will have the benefit of his JRM teammates and a handful of other Chevrolet drivers already locked into The Chase to get the help he needs to pull off a three vs. one stunner akin to that of Joey Logano’s 2018 championship performance in the “Big Three and me” battle.

“I guess we’ll have a meeting about that or something, but in any racing, the last lap’s the last lap so teammates are kind of out the window,” Sawalich said. “But you know, Brandon’s (Jones) safe in The [Chase], so it’ll be interesting to see what he’s going to do and if he chooses anybody. We don’t really work together too well on speedways anyways so I think we’re just gonna have to do our own thing.”

Said Caruth: “I feel like I’m at my best when I’m aggressive — aggressive like using common sense, not being an idiot. But I feel like I’ve done a good job of that at the speedways this year, and I’m excited to go race (three) weeks from now. There were things I probably needed to do better as well (Saturday), but didn’t make any mistakes and just overall executed to the best that I felt like I could and it worked out.”