“If you build it, they will come.”
Sure, it may be a cliché to use a quote from Field of Dreams to describe a racing facility located in Iowa, but who doesn’t think of Kevin Costner when the word Iowa is thrown around?
Plus, there isn’t a more accurate parallel to be made when talking about Iowa Speedway’s inception, near closure and eventual revival.
With design input from NASCAR Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace, Iowa Speedway opened in 2006 and quickly became a staple of both the NASCAR Xfinity and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, as well as the ARCA Menards Series and NTT IndyCar Series.
Several all-time greats from both open wheel and stock car racing made an impact at the bullring in Newton, Iowa, over the years. Names range from Dario Franchitti and Josef Newgarden to Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney as just a few of its notable winners over the years.
The exciting racing there has had fans and drivers alike clamoring for the NASCAR Cup Series to race there for decades — and though rumors persisted, it never happened.
That is, until now.
The announcement of the 2024 Cup schedule brought with it a few major surprises, perhaps none more surprising than the inclusion of Iowa hosting a date on June 16.
While it isn’t surprising to some, the story of the track getting NASCAR back after five years is nothing short of incredible.
After the checkered flag fell on Chase Briscoe‘s Xfinity win there in 2019, few could see what would come next. The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the globe, forcing a shutdown of most things that would be regarded as fun, including racing.
The state of Iowa was hit particularly hard. For that reason, NASCAR wasn’t able to return to the track in 2020. IndyCar and ARCA did, but with social distancing and other protocols in place. The next season, though, only ARCA returned.
With the track on the ropes and fear of it closing its doors in the air, the place needed a bit of a miracle.
That’s where Roger Penske and Hyvee came in.
In August 2021, Penske and Hyvee partnered to bring IndyCar back to the heartland in 2022, which proved to be a smashing success for the track. The weekend produced impressive crowds and revenue in both 2022 and 2023.
NASCAR, which took ownership of the track in 2013, leased the track to IndyCar for both weekends, and the success caught the attention of the right people.
Together, NASCAR’s Ben Kennedy and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds…
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