Cedar Rapids’ Joey Gase will be ‘King of the Hill’ at Iowa Speedway

Joey Gase is coming home with mixed emotions.

On one hand, his is maternal grandfather, George Martin, died recently. On the other hand, Gase is coming back to Iowa Speedway for the NASCAR weekend in Newton.

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And he’s driving in the NASCAR Cup race for the first time in nearly a year.

It’s been a “crazy” time, Gase wrote in a text Thursday morning, dealing with the death of his grandfather and getting ready for the trip from his home in Mooresville, N.C.

He was helping load the cars Thursday before getting on a plane to come home.

A Cedar Rapids native and Xavier graduate, Gase not only is a regular in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, he’s a team owner — with Scott Osteen — of Joey Gase Motorsports, which has two Xfinity cars.

So while there is sadness during this trip, there also is excitement. NASCAR is back in his home state and he’ll get a chance to race with the “big boys” in the Cup event, a spot his still covets.

“It’s always good to be back in the Cup series, especially in your home state,” he said Thursday in a phone interview. “It will be good and exciting.”

But that’s not all this weekend will bring. His sponsor for both races is Hulu, which is using his cars to promote the return of “King of the Hill.” Gase will drive his No. 53 entry in the Xfinity race on Saturday, then jump in the Garage 66-owned No. 66 car for the Cup race on Sunday.

If you’re not familiar with “King of the Hill,” it was an animated comedy series that ran for 13 seasons from 1997 to 2009 on Fox. The show returns on Aug. 4 with season 14, on the streaming service.

“A very unique sponsor,” Gase said. “It’s pretty cool.

“A lot of people are really excited about the car.”

In the press release announcing the sponsorship, Gase said “it is a show that I have been watching since I was a teen, and it’s going to be really cool to help them set off their brand-new season on Hulu.”

The 32-year-old admitted he now understands some of the adult humor that got past him in his youth.

All fun aside, though, this is a business trip for Gase. He wants to do “the best I can” for his own team and Carl Long, the owner of Garage 66. Gase drove for Long several years ago, so the connection already was there.

Gase ranks just 34th in the Xfinity points standings in his No. 53 car, but he’s only raced in nine of the 21 events. He shares his seat with, among others, Mason Magio, who has run in eight events, and Sage Karam, who has three starts. He also owns the No. 35 entry, which has run a handful of races with a variety of drivers.

Who ever gets the sponsorship, gets the steering wheel.

“It’s really been one of the better seasons I’ve had in a long time,” Gase, the driver, said. “Definitely had some speed some weekends. I’ve shocked myself.”

For Gase, the team owner, it’s been “up and down.”

“I think we’re definitely getting there, but we have a lot of work to do,” said Gase, who has 5 1/2 year-old twin sons (Carson and Jace) with wife Caitlin. Yes, the twins have go-carts.

He said he deals with the same things any business owner does, but “racing is probably a harder business than some.” One bad move and you’re product is totaled.

“We’re doing good and are in good shape,” he said.

He satisfied as an Xfinity owner and has no visions of owning a Cup team one day. But getting back in a Cup car on a regular basis?

“I would love to start racing more on the Cup side,” he said.

Maybe this weekend will provide the springboard he needs.

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