NASCAR’s top racing series coming to Iowa in 2024

DES MOINES — The best stock car drivers in the world will compete next summer in Iowa, officials announced Tuesday.

The first-ever NASCAR cup race in the state will be in June at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, a track designed by NASCAR Hall of Fame member Rusty Wallace.

“I was hoping we’d get it. And we got it. It’s going to be a hell of a show, I can tell you that,” Wallace told reporters Tuesday after a news conference on the Iowa Capitol grounds in Des Moines.

The full NASCAR racing weekend is scheduled for June 14 through June 16, 2024, with the new Cup series race scheduled for June 16.

The Iowa Speedway hosted NASCAR Xfinity Series races — the organization’s second-tier racing series — from 2009 to 2019, and also has hosted NASCAR truck series races and IndyCar races. The Xfinity series will return next year to Iowa Speedway.

Wallace said the success of those other races enabled Iowa to score the cup series race once an opening was created on NASCAR’s racing schedule earlier this year with a California track undergoing a major renovation.

“First you had to get NASCAR, had to make them believers of the racetrack. And with all the drivers that drove here from NASCAR, almost every single one of them saying positive things, it made NASCAR feel good” about the Iowa Speedway, Wallace said. “Quite honestly, when the California racetrack shut down, it gave us an opening. And everybody unanimously jumped on it and said we have to go to Iowa.

“When I got the phone call that it was going to happen, you couldn’t believe how excited I was for this, for everybody involved.”

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The new NASCAR cup race will be sponsored by Iowa Corn, a collective of the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. Iowa Corn was a previous sponsor of IndyCar races at Newton Speedway.

The June 16 NASCAR cup race at Iowa Speedway will air at 6 p.m. on USA Network. The racing weekend will include an ARCA Menards Series race on June 14 and an Xfinity Series race on June 15.

Ticket sales will be announced later. Meantime, fans can put down a $25 deposit for priority access to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the public. That deposit can be paid at the Iowa Speedway website, iowaspeedway.com.

Gov. Kim Reynolds also spoke at Tuesday’s news conference, saying that Iowa for years has been working to establish itself as a racing destination. She called Iowa Speedway “a great track in a community that loves racing,” and said that with the announcement, “Iowa proudly takes its place in victory lane.”

Reynolds also highlighted professional baseball games held in 2021 and 2022 at the “Field of Dreams” movie site near Dyersville as examples of the state’s ability to host major sporting events.

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There is no long-term agreement to make Iowa Speedway an annual stop on the NASCAR cup series schedule. NASCAR’s schedule is reexamined and produced annually, a series spokesman said.

Wallace said when he designed the Iowa Speedway, it was always with the long-term goal of hosting a NASCAR cup race.

“So many people back then would say, ‘We’re going to build a track and NASCAR’s going to show up.’ I said, ‘That’s not going to happen. You have to prove yourself first,’” Wallace said. “And we waited and waited and waited, and now we’ve got the NASCAR cup series.

“But hey, we’ll wait our turn. It was a long time to wait. But now we got it.”

The Iowa Speedway is considered a “short track” in auto racing parlance. While some NASCAR races are held on “super speedways” that are 3 miles or longer, Iowa Speedway’s racing oval is seventh-eighths of a mile. A NASCAR news release called Iowa Speedway “one of the most challenging short tracks in the country.”

Iowa, the place dreams come true. pic.twitter.com/I5aCeClbys

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 3, 2023

Of the drivers projected to be competing in NASCAR’s cup series in 2024, 19 have won previous races at Iowa Speedway, according to NASCAR.

Brad Keselowski, a NASCAR driver and 2012 cup series champion who has won three times at Iowa Speedway, also spoke at Tuesday’s news conference. Keselowski said he has advocated for Iowa as a cup series race host. He praised the track’s facilities and the fan attendance.

“I think I’ve been pestering a few of my friends here at NASCAR over my shoulder here for a while now about bringing a cup series date to Iowa,” Keselowski said. “One of the best tracks, I think, in the United States. And we’re going to put on a tremendous race and I think this is going to be one of the can’t-miss events of the year. Can’t wait to see the community come out and embrace it.”

Iowa Speedway also is scheduled to once again host a weekend of IndyCar races next year, on July 13 and 14.

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