NASCAR, Iowa Speedway announce 2018 race dates

NEWTON — NASCAR released the 2018 schedules for its three national series on Tuesday, and with that came dates for Iowa Speedway's three NASCAR events.

For the third straight year, Iowa Speedway's opening event will feature a NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series doubleheader on June 16 and 17, 2018. It returns Iowa Speedway's opening races to Father's Day weekend, similar to 2016. Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Small told The Gazette earlier this spring having date equity on Father's Day weekend was something he and the track coveted.

'Every NASCAR race is special but pairing the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series during Father's Day weekend holds a unique allure,' Small said in a news release Tuesday. 'We are thrilled to get our dates so early affording our guests the opportunity to plan ahead for our race weekends in 2018.'

Per the NASCAR release, Iowa's second Xfinity Series date will be July 28, 2018, which keeps its traditional last-weekend-in-July race date it's had the last several years.

The remainder of Iowa Speedway's 2018 schedule of racing events will be announced at a later date. The 2017 season gets started with the Camping World Truck Series on June 23 and Xfinity Series on June 24.

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com