Going to a new track is always big. A track that fans have been clamoring for in the Cup series for years has been Iowa. Finally, after running the Truck Series in Iowa since 2009 and the Xfinity Series since 2011, Iowa Speedway has a cup series race happening this weekend. An inaugural event is always big in NASCAR every driver is going to take the extra risk in an attempt to win the race to become the first ever.
Iowa Speedway’s History
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Iowa Speedway had one of the roughest starts you could think of. In 2000 developer Jerry Carroll proposed to Jasper County board plans to build a $76 million one mile track track in Newton, Iowa. Carroll later abandoned the plan to work at Kentucky Speedway. The project was later taken on by California businessman Jerry Lowire.
Vision Iowa Program, a state economic growth program rejected the $20 million asked by Lowrie and later abandoned the project as well. Larry Clement a race team owner then took over the project. Clement claimed he committed $7-$10 million, but Vision Iowa refused to give the money claiming there wasn’t sufficient proof demanding the identities of the investors be released. In the fall of 2002, the funding was officially rejected.
Finally, on April 16th, 2003 Newton City Council approved a $30 million proposal to build a 7/8 mile 25,000-seat, multiuse racing facility led by U.S MotorSport Entertainment Corporation and CEO, Paul Schlaak. They broke ground on June 21, 2005, and the first event was held on September 15, 2006. Indycar debuted in 2007 at Iowa Speedway the truck series in 2009, the Xfinity series in 2011, and now finally the Cup series in 2024.
Track Layout
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The Track is 7/8 mile with 10 degrees of banking on the front stretch, and 4 degrees of banking on the backstretch, and the turns have progressive banking (closer to the wall the more the banking) ranging from 12-14 degrees of banking.
For the fuel window, I will use Richmond as a comparison being a similar-sized track. 125-135 laps is the fuel window at Richmond however, Iowa is a bit faster using more fuel so a rough estimate for the fuel window is 110-120 laps. The first stage is only 70 laps so there won’t be green flag pit stops in stage one.
Stage two is 140 laps so the next round of pit stops will come around 130-140 to get into the fuel window to get to the end of the stage. The final stage also has 140 laps so expect drivers to pit as soon as they get into the fuel window depending on how the caution riddled the race is.
The Repave
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NASCAR fans are angry that Iowa repaved the race track taking away all the personality, bumps, and grooves the track has to offer. Fans always grimace at the freshly paved tracks and this is no different. Even drivers groan at repaves Sonoma winner Kyle Larson told the media:
This place had a lot of character, really bumpy, weathered pavement, old pavement which usually produces great racing. Apparently, I don’t know, must have looked like it was time, or at least NASCAR thought it was time to repave it. So, they did, and, yeah, it’s a bummer for all of us.
Christopher Bell a two-time winner at Iowa in the Xfinity series shared his opinion after a tire test:
Iowa was a place that was a low-grip track before, and you could move all over the place and really pass guys. I’m a little bit worried now that the pace is going to be really fast, and it’s going to be hard to pass… I loved the old track, and I love Iowa Speedway. It’s still Iowa Speedway and that’s good, but, I really wish the Cup cars got to experience the old pavement for sure.
The winner of the inaugural race in the Xfinity series in 2009 and Darlington winner Brad Keselowski is happy to see the repave:
A lot [changed] with the track surface. It used to have this really wicked tunnel bump down in [turns] and and two, and now that’s been kind of taken care of which is nice because the Next-Gen car doesn’t really play well with bumps kind of like an IndyCar. But, I think it’ll make the car more raceable.
New Channel For NASCAR
This is the first race of the year for NBC and will take the coverage for NASCAR for the remainder of the year. This race will be on USA Network and Peacock at 7 pm Eastern. With 10 races left before the playoffs, drivers are under more and more pressure to win and get in. With this being the inaugural race could someone steal a win and a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs?
About The Author
Dillon Hildreth is a writer for Total Apex and a lifelong fan of Football with his favorite teams being the New England Patriots and the Georgia Bulldogs. Dillon is also a fan of Motorsports Red Bull in Formula One and William Byron in NASCAR. You can catch Dillon Stream F1, NASCAR, and other video games and side casts on Twitch.
