Rusty Wallace confident Iowa Speedway has a bright future

NEWTON — Race fans across Iowa and the Midwest have wondered for many months what the future will hold for Iowa Speedway at Newton, host of Saturday night’s ARCA Shore Lunch 150, scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.

NASCAR Hall of Famer and designer of the 7/8-mile long short track, Rusty Wallace, has plenty of confidence that days will get brighter for the popular track.

"You can always count on me to be a voice promoting NASCAR, especially with Iowa," Wallace said. "We put so much effort into building it, now we need to roll up our shirt sleeves and get the excitement going again. I don't think we'll ever see the day where Iowa is abandoned."

While ARCA is the lone national series on the 2021 schedule, Wallace believes the key to more races coming to Iowa Speedway in the future begins with Saturday night’s race.

"We’ll keep coming with the ARCA races, that’s for sure and I’m excited about that," Wallace said. "I can’t promise anything at the moment, although I will tell you the track is really respected by the drivers. They all love Iowa. We’re basically in the rebuilding session for getting Iowa back online."

That is something Wallace, Grand Marshall for Saturday’s events, plans on addressing personally.

"I wasn’t there last year, but I’m here now," Wallace said. "I can’t wait to be a voice for the track to keep pushing NASCAR to bring us any type of racing back. The first thing we need to do is put on a competitive race in Iowa."

Iowa Speedway has permanent seating for 25,000-plus fans and tickets are still available for Saturday night’s feature.

Practice is from 4:15 to 5 p.m. with qualifying set for 6.

There will be an autograph session with drivers from 6:45 to 7:15 and the race begins at 8.

"I can’t wait to drop the flag and get that baby going again," Wallace said. "It’s been a while since we’ve had competitive racing at Iowa and I’m just so thankful that we are able to get back at it."