Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol Driver Grades: How Every Driver Scored at Iowa Speedway

August 09, 2026

Every driver from the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway, graded on what the scoring loops actually recorded: where they started, where they finished, how many laps they led, and whether they were still running at the end. Ty Gibbs grades out best with a A+.

How the grades are calculated

The grade is a formula, not an opinion. Each driver starts from their finishing position, gains credit for passing cars and for leading laps, and loses credit for not finishing:

Finish: the single biggest factor, scaled from the win down through the field.
Positions gained: starting position minus finishing position, capped so a deep starting spot cannot buy a top grade on its own.
Laps led: share of the race led, worth up to a full letter grade.
Did not finish: a fixed penalty if they were not running at the checkered flag.

Driver grades

Grade	Driver	Car	Start	Finish	Laps led	Points
A+	Ty Gibbs	54	6	1	20	69
A+	Christopher Bell	20	22	2	108	50
A+	Josh Berry	21	13	4		33
A+	Denny Hamlin	11	29	5		37
A+	Chase Briscoe	19	20	6		40
A+	Ryan Blaney	12	1	3	129	47
A+	AJ Allmendinger	16	25	8		29
A	William Byron	24	19	9		32
A	Ross Chastain	1	9	7	40	43
A-	Bubba Wallace	23	26	12	35	25
A-	Chris Buescher	17	27	13		24
B+	Chase Elliott	9	32	15	18	22
B+	Austin Dillon	3	7	10		33
B+	Connor Zilisch	88	8	11		29
B	Ryan Preece	60	35	20		17
B-	Zane Smith	38	14	16		24
B-	Noah Gragson	4	15	17		20
B-	Joey Logano	22	3	14		41
B-	John H. Nemechek	42	21	19		18
B-	Riley Herbst	35	28	21		16
C+	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	47	16	18		19
C+	Daniel Suárez	7	33	23		14
C+	Ty Dillon	10	31	24		13
C	Todd Gilliland	34	17	22		15
C	Cole Custer	41	36	28		9
C-	Austin Hill	33	24	26		0
D	Michael McDowell	71	11	25		12
D	Cody Ware	51	34	32		5
D	Brad Keselowski	6	4	27		10
D	Shane Van Gisbergen	97	23	30		7
D	Austin Cindric	2	12	29		8
D	Carson Hocevar	77	18	31		6
F	Kyle Larson	5	2	33		12
F	Alex Bowman (Accident)	48	30	34		3
F	Erik Jones (Accident)	43	10	35		2
F	Tyler Reddick (Accident)	45	5	36		1