William Byron wins NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
NEWTON, Ia.—An extraordinary spat of cautions in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol allowed William Byron to save an extraordinary amount of fuel, and that proved the difference in Byron’s second victory of the season and first since the DAYTONA 500.
Squeezing 144 laps out of his fuel cell at an Iowa Speedway track where the fuel window is roughly 100 laps, Byron crossed the finish line ahead of a trio of pursuers—pole winner Chase Briscoe, first and second stage winner Brad Keselowski and defending race winner Ryan Blaney—all on different strategies.
Byron’s margin of victory over second-place Briscoe was 1.192 seconds, with Keselowski in third and Blaney in fourth both within a car-length of the runner-up at the finish line.
Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet ran out of fuel during his celebratory burnouts on the frontstretch, forcing him to cut the smoke show short.
“Man, how about that for some fuel mileage?” Byron asked rhetorically after climbing from his car. “We’ve had our fair share of things not go our way with fuel mileage, and just super thankful for (crew chief) Rudy (Fugle), all these guys, all the engineers, all the engineers back at the shop.
“Just this whole race team, we’ve been through a lot this year. It’s been a lot of growing pains. It’s been tough on us. But it feels really good today to get a win.”
After running in the top five for most of last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Byron ran out of fuel in overtime while running third. With Fugle coaxing him repeatedly to save fuel at Iowa, Byron conserved just enough.
And at last, the result of the race matched the speed he has shown consistently this season.
“Honestly, I felt like we had a good car and just kind of raced it and just tried to be there at the end, and we were,” said Byron, who led the first 67 laps and the last 74. “And luckily, the fuel was enough there at the end.
“I think I ran out right there (during the burnout). That’s why I stopped.”
With his first victory at the 0.875-mile short track and the 15th of his career, Byron regained the series lead by 18 points over teammate Chase Elliott, who finished 14th after pitting for fuel on Lap 283 of 350.
What enabled Byron to stretch his fuel to 144 laps was a series of seven quick cautions within 65 laps of the start of the final stage. All told, 12 cautions slowed the race for 72 laps.
Briscoe got close to Byron during the final 64-lap green-flag run but couldn’t challenge for the lead.
“There at the end, I was running William down,” Briscoe said. “I thought I was really in the catbird seat there, and I just got there and kind of stalled out.
“I kind of experienced that when I was leading earlier. I caught the back of the field, and same thing; as soon as I got there, I just kind of died.”
Needing a victory to qualify for the Cup Series Playoffs, Keselowski won the first two stages, but his fuel advantage on the final run was negated by the abundan]
cautions.
“Just the way the yellows fell,” Keselowski said. “We had so many yellows there in Stage 3 that it got the 24 (Byron) and the 19 (Briscoe) to where they could make it on fuel pitting way outside the window, and we just couldn’t get back by them.
“Got back by a lot of guys; restarted I think 24th there after we pitted and got all the way up to third, but that was as far as I could get.”
Ryan Preece ran fifth and trimmed the lead of Roush Fenway Keselowski teammate Chris Buescher from 42 to 23 points in the battle for what could be the final berth in Playoffs.
Brickyard 400 winner Bubba Wallace rallied from two laps down and overcame damage to his No. 23 Toyota to finish sixth. Alex Bowman was seventh, solidifying his hold on a potential Playoff spot by maintaining a 63-point edge over Preece.
Carson Hocevar came home eighth, followed by Joey Logano and Austin Dillon.
Byron led 141 laps to 81 for Briscoe and 68 for Keselowski.
The quest for the final Playoff spots continues in next Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen on the road course at Watkins Glen International (2 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
NASCAR Cup Series Race Number 23
Race Results for the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol - Sunday, August 3, 2025
Iowa Speedway - Newton, IA - 0.875 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 350 Laps - 306.25 Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 8/3/2025 @ 07:06 PM Eastern
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 24 William Byron Raptor Chevrolet 350 3 48 Running 2 141 5
2 1 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 350 5 41 Running 1 81
3 5 6 Brad Keselowski Solomon Plumbing Ford 350 1 1 55 Running 3 68 2
4 6 12 Ryan Blaney Wabash Ford 350 4 2 49 Running 2 29
5 33 60 Ryan Preece Mohawk Northeast Inc. Ford 350 9 34 Running
6 15 23 * Bubba Wallace Alltroo Toyota 350 31 Running
7 16 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 350 7 34 Running
8 7 77 Carson Hocevar Miner Docks Doors and More Chevrolet 350 7 33 Running
9 14 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 350 28 Running
10 18 3 Austin Dillon Get Bioethanol Chevrolet 350 10 28 Running
11 28 1 Ross Chastain Busch Light Farming Chevrolet 350 26 Running
12 4 2 Austin Cindric Menards/Ideal Door Ford 350 2 3 42 Running 1 20
13 12 21 Josh Berry Menards/Masterforce Tools Ford 350 6 29 Running
14 8 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 350 8 26 Running 1 11
15 29 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 350 22 Running
16 25 43 Erik Jones Tri State Vacuum & Rental, LLC Toyota 350 8 24 Running
17 17 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 350 20 Running
18 9 16 AJ Allmendinger Celsius Chevrolet 350 9 21 Running
19 22 45 * Tyler Reddick McDonald's Toyota 350 18 Running
20 37 8 Kyle Busch Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet 350 5 23 Running
21 20 54 Ty Gibbs Monster Energy Toyota 350 4 23 Running
22 27 17 Chris Buescher Body Guard Ford 350 15 Running
23 10 7 Justin Haley Gainbridge Chevrolet 350 10 15 Running
24 11 11 Denny Hamlin Bob's Discount Furniture Toyota 350 13 Running
25 26 99 Daniel Suarez Choice Privileges Chevrolet 350 12 Running
26 19 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 350 11 Running
27 13 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 350 10 Running
28 3 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 350 6 14 Running
29 31 4 * Noah Gragson Rasmussen Air & Gas Energy Ford 350 8 Running
30 24 35 * Riley Herbst # Monster Energy Zero Sugar Toyota 350 7 Running
31 21 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Red Bull Chevrolet 349 6 Running
32 35 51 Cody Ware Costa Oil Ford 349 5 Running
33 30 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. NOS Energy Chevrolet 347 4 Running
34 34 34 * Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 347 3 Running
35 32 10 Ty Dillon Sea Best Chevrolet 346 2 Running
36 23 38 * Zane Smith Mystik Lubricants Ford 344 1 Running
37 36 66 * Joey Gase(i) King of the Hill on Hulu Ford 340 0 Running
Fastest Lap Bonus: #6 lap 197 / 23.748
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 17 Mins, 47 Secs. Average Speed: 92.905 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.192 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 6, 2, 24, 12, 19, 5, 77, 9, 16, 7
Stage 2 Top 10: 6, 12, 2, 54, 8, 21, 48, 43, 60, 3
Race Comments: William Byron has won the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway, his 15th victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: Nos. 4 (Unapproved adjustments), No. 8 (Backup Car).
Failed to Qualify: None.
Caution Flags: 12 for 72 laps; Laps: 72-79 (Stage 1 Conclusion [8]); 171-176 (#88 Incident Turn 2 [24]); 181-185 (#51 Spin Frontstretch [1]); 204-208 (#10, 34 Incident Turn 2 [38]); 212-219 (Stage 2 Conclusion [34]); 222-227 (#11 Spins Turn 4 [88]); 230-235 (#77, 38 Incident Turn 2 [35]); 244-249 (#43, 19 Incident Frontstretch [51]); 254-260 (#19, 20, 45 Incident Turn 2 [4]); 264-268 (#88, 8 Incident Frontstretch [4]); 272-276 (#10 Spin Frontstretch [23]); 282-286 (Debris Turn 3 [23]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers; C. Briscoe 0; W. Byron 1-67; B. Keselowski 68-73; C. Briscoe 74-154; B. Keselowski 155-172; R. Blaney 173-187; B. Keselowski 188-231; R. Blaney 232-245; A. Cindric 246-265; C. Elliott 266-276; W. Byron 277-350.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: August 10, 2025 - Watkins Glen International
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
CURRENT REGULAR SEASON NASCAR CUP SERIES STANDINGS
Points Report
Iowa Speedway
Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol
UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sunday, 8/3/2025 @ 07:38 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. William Byron 24 23 -1 770 0 0 2 7 17
2. Chase Elliott 9 23 1 752 -18 18 1 1 6
3. Kyle Larson 5 23 0 725 -45 27 3 8 23
4. Denny Hamlin 11 22 0 719 -51 6 4 4 24
5. Christopher Bell 20 23 0 684 -86 35 3 2 17
6. * Tyler Reddick 45 23 0 673 -97 11 0 1 1
7. Ryan Blaney 12 23 0 665 -105 8 1 5 10
8. Chase Briscoe 19 23 0 640 -130 25 1 2 7
9. Alex Bowman 48 23 0 614 -156 26 0 0 0
10. * Bubba Wallace 23 23 -1 581 -189 33 1 2 7
11. Chris Buescher 17 23 1 574 -196 7 0 1 -4
12. Joey Logano 22 23 0 560 -210 14 1 2 7
13. Ryan Preece 60 23 -1 551 -219 9 0 2 2
14. Ross Chastain 1 23 1 544 -226 7 1 1 6
15. Kyle Busch 8 23 0 501 -269 43 0 0 0
16. Ty Gibbs 54 23 0 487 -283 14 0 0 0
17. Austin Cindric 2 23 0 481 -289 6 1 3 8
18. AJ Allmendinger 16 23 0 456 -314 25 0 0 0
19. Brad Keselowski 6 23 -5 453 -317 3 0 2 2
20. John Hunter Nemechek 42 23 0 447 -323 6 0 0 0
21. Josh Berry 21 23 0 443 -327 4 1 1 6
NASCAR CUP SERIES PLAYOFF PICTURE
POS NO. DRIVER MFR +/-
1 11 Denny Hamlin 4 WINS 24
2 5 Kyle Larson 3 WINS 23
3 20 Christopher Bell 3 WINS 17
4 88 Shane Van Gisbergen 3 WINS
5 24 William Byron 2 WINS 17
6 9 Chase Elliott 1 WIN 6
7 12 Ryan Blaney 1 WIN 10
8 19 Chase Briscoe 1 WIN 7
9 23 Bubba Wallace 1 WIN 7
10 22 Joey Logano 1 WIN 7
11 1 Ross Chastain 1 WIN 6
12 2 Austin Cindric 1 WIN 8
13 21 Josh Berry 1 WIN 6
14 45 Tyler Reddick +122
15 48 Alex Bowman +63
16 17 Chris Buescher +23
On The Bubble
17 60 Ryan Preece -23
18 8 Kyle Busch -73
19 54 Ty Gibbs -87
20 16 AJ Allmendinger -118
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