NASCAR CUP SERIES
IOWA SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
AUGUST 3, 2025
Byron Drives Chevrolet to First NASCAR Cup Series Win at Iowa Speedway
- A strategy-filled final stage setup for a wild 140-lap race to the checkered flag at Iowa Speedway – ending with William Byron and the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team earning their second trip to victory lane this season. The victory – Chevrolet’s first in NASCAR’s top division at Iowa Speedway – makes the Bowtie brand the first manufacturer to hit a double-digit win count this season with Byron driving Chevrolet to its 10th triumph in 23 points-paying races.
- Taking the green flag from a front-row starting position, William Byron quickly took his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the top of the leaderboard on the opening lap of the Iowa Corn 350 Presented by Ethanol. Leading the charge around the Iowa short-track, Byron approached lap traffic just prior to the halfway mark of Stage One – producing an intense battle with Brad Keselowski for the stage win. Fighting tight conditions on the long run in his Chevrolet-powered machine, Byron held onto the lead for all but the final three laps of the stage – ultimately collecting third-place points to lead six Team Chevy drivers to top-10 finishes in the opening stage.
- Taking the second position in the race off pit road during the stage break, Byron rejoined the front-row for the start of the 140-lap Stage Two. Remaining a steady fixture in the top-five were the pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Williams Byron and Kyle Larson, until the green-flag pit cycle began at the midway point of Stage Two. Amidst the green-flag pit cycle, the first natural caution of the day flew – shaking up the running order of much of the lead pack. Among those who had yet to hit pit road included Kyle Busch, putting the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team in position to earn the shot at a strong points finish in Stage Two. With the ultimate rebound from Saturday’s practice incident, the two-time champion went on to maneuver through a series of cautions to lead the Bowtie brigade to the end of Stage Two from the sixth position.
- Battling for his first career regular season championship in NASCAR’s top division, Byron found himself fourth on the leaderboard for the top stage point-getters with a combined eight points tallied in the first two stages. With his win, the 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native will enter the final three-race stretch of the regular season back atop the drivers points standings with an 18-point lead over Chase Elliott.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10 RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
1st – William Byron
7th – Alex Bowman
8th – Carson Hocevar
10th – Austin Dillon
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 23 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Wins: 10
Poles: 10
Top-Fives: 46
Top 10s: 99
Stage Wins: 20
UP NEXT: The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Watkins Glen International with the ‘Go Bowling at the Glen’ on Sunday, August 10, at 2 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Post-Race Driver Quotes:
Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Finished: 11th
“That was a long day in our Busch Light Farming Chevy. The race went green for so long and then we had bunch of cautions strung together. That really played a role in all the different strategies. Phil and the guys continued to work on the car all day and we got it better and just kept clicking off spots to finish 11th. We’ll take it and move on to Watkins Glen next weekend.”
Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 10th
“Top-10 for our Get Bioethanol Chevrolet. That feels like a win with the way things have been going. We had a really fast car today. Cautions did not go our way. I feel like we have a top-five car for sure if things had played out a bit differently. It was a blast out there and felt good to race up front with those guys and be in contention.”
Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 20th
“We started the weekend in a deficit after going to a backup car on Saturday, and spent most of the day Sunday just battling for track position in our Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet. Crew chief Randall Burnett made some race strategy calls that got us into the top 10 and earned us some stage points, but we lost that track position in Stage 3 and struggled to return to the front. Our Chevy couldn’t turn in traffic, even with the freshest tires and dirty air didn’t help. We busted our behinds out there today but didn’t have enough.”
William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 1st
Walk us through the last 20 laps of the race and the relief when you crossed that finish line.
“Yeah, it was just a big relief. I feel like we have been on the bad side of some fuel races, and everybody has been working super hard and that was every ounce it took there at the end. Man, just so damn proud of this team. I feel like we have been through so much this year, and everybody has been working super hard and it showed there at the end.”
How important was it to get back to the winning side and get things pointed in the right direction as we get closer to the playoffs?
“Yeah, it’s been tough results-wise, but man we have had speed. It’s just been a couple of things here and there that just didn’t go our way and today we got the cautions that we needed. I think the real play was when we took four tires there on the last pit stop, which felt like an eternity ago. We just were on the good side of tire life as well; able to have some good restarts and just get our way forward.”
What does it mean to be on the positive side of the playoffs as we head toward Daytona?
“Yeah, it’s good, but wins trump everything in this sport. I have heard other drivers talk about that. Man, you work so damn hard to win and get that feeling. To do that today was awesome. Just going to enjoy this one and keep it rolling.”
Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 7th
What more did you need for the win?
“I got the right-rear tire really hot on that last restart and hurt myself there. I got a bad restart. We came down in second gear and William really slowed the pace down, but I knew he was in second too so I thought it would be OK. The No. 19 (Chase Briscoe) just hammered him and got him going. I got pinned on the bottom; slid the right-rear a couple of times and got it hot. That was on me. I just need to do a better job there. But overall, just proud of this No. 48 Ally Chevrolet team. Once this tire seems to get hot, it seems like it just tanks and you can’t really get it back. I just tried to take care of it from then on. Honestly, I needed to just not speed on pit road early in the race. That hurt us, but it was a good day overcoming that.”
Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Finished: 8th
How would you summarize the day for your team?
“It was just another work of art from Jeff Dickerson, wanting us to fight through adversity and be able to come out with a good result. That’s what he’s preached and that’s what we’ve been focusing on. We were turned around at one point and just struggling go anywhere. We were just able to reset and regroup. Luke (Lambert, crew chief) did a really good job for this No. 77 Miner Docks Doors and More Chevrolet team to at least put something on the board and be able to go into next weekend with a little momentum with two top-10s in a row.”
Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
Finished: 31st
Van Gisbergen on the first incident when he got into the fence:
“We just ran long and I was getting looser and looser. I just made an error and it finally bit me. We were just damaged, but the No. 88 Red Bull Chevrolet team did a great job repairing it. They got us back on the lead lap, but it was ultimately too damaged to get a good result.
What have you been able to do to improve on your restarts?
“I felt like on most restarts, that’s where we were making our gains. We had good speed and were getting right in the mix. That’s been a weakness of mine, and I feel like we’re getting better and better every week. We just need to get building on that. It’s not a great result, but there’s a lot of positives that have come out of today.”
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