When NASCAR left Auto Club Speedway in Fontana back in the winter, there was some question of how the space would be filled. Track owners were planning on reshaping the two mile track into a short track; meaning the facility would not be available for the foreseeable future.
On October 3, NASCAR announced a new addition to the list of tracks on the circuit for the 2024 season. At just under a mile in length, Iowa Speedway will host its first ever Cup Series event next June. Scheduled for June14-16, the track will host an ARCA, Xfinity, and Cup Series races.
The Craftsman TruCk and Xfinity Series ran races at Iowa Speedway from 2009 to 2019.
NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy Ben Kennedy spoke on the new addition to the schedule saying, “we’re really excited to be heading to Iowa Speedway. The first time in what will be the 76-year history that we’ve had a (Cup) race at Iowa Speedway, and the first time in a really long time that we’ve had a (Cup) race in the state of Iowa, so we’re excited to get there.”
He continued, “we talk a lot about the racing product and what that looks like, and we hear from a lot of our fans that would like to see more short tracks. And then we also hear how good intermediate racing is with this Next Gen car. And I think Iowa in a lot of ways shows both the short track as well as an intermediate race track in the way that it races. I’m so excited to see it on the schedule.”
NASCAR has not run a Cup Series race in the state of Iowa since 1953.
NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace is the co-founder and designer of Iowa Speedway. Speaking on NASCAR’s return to the track said, “this is a dream come true This track was built with the intent of hosting a NASCAR Cup Series race one day, and to finally see it come together is a testament to the tenacity of the great race fans in Iowa.”
Ben Kennedy is among the drivers who has raced at Iowa Speedway. He spoke on the racing surface saying, “selfishly as a fan but also as a driver being able to race around that track, I loved Iowa Speedway as a driver. It’s a ton of fun and had a lot of grooves. We know what the racing product looks like on a worn-out surface. So I think to be able to go there on the same surface that’s there today is going to put on a great racing product. There’s going to be a lot of energy around it. So I’m looking forward to that.”