Could Iowa Speedway ever land a Sprint Cup race?
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Thursday, July 30, 2009
NEWTON, Iowa – Since Iowa Speedway is NASCAR’s newest Nationwide Series track, many wonder if it will ever host a Sprint Cup Series race.
Track designer Rusty Wallace advised Iowa Speedway officials to not even consider that question when the track was being built.
“We were on our hands and knees two years pleading just to get a Truck race,” Wallace said Thursday as preparations began for Saturday’s inaugural U.S. Cellular 250. “With all the controversy with Texas Motor Speedway and Kentucky and the lawsuits, I said, ‘Let’s never even mention the word Cup around here. We’d be so grateful just to get a Truck race or a Nationwide race.'”
Iowa Speedway was completed in 2006 and is in its third full year of racing. Iowa got the Nationwide and Camping World Truck series races last year when NASCAR announced the 7/8ths-mile track would host those events in 2009.
Would Iowa ever get a Cup race? Track president Jerry Jauron said “that’s out of our control.”
“All we can control in our little world at Iowa Speedway is put on the best show we can, make it the best entertainment event possible,” Jauron said. “It’s our goal to put on the best Nationwide race of the year. If we do that … hopefully NASCAR sees that and sees what we’re getting done here and it leads to bigger and better things down the road.”
Wallace said the track would have to pay a “really big purse” for a Cup race.
“Can we put that many people in here? Will they come? I don’t know,” Wallace said. “We want to get a good snapshot of what this race looks like, what the Truck race looks like, and down the road, if the support’s there and NASCAR wants to have a Cup race [here], we would entertain that, yeah, for sure.”
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch said “for sure” the track is suitable for Cup racing.
“This place has got some good amenities to it,” Busch said. “It might not have the grandstands it needs in order to accommodate a Cup race. It might not have the roads in and out for a traffic pattern. But that’s about all I see that it lacks.”
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10 responses to "Could Iowa Speedway ever land a Sprint Cup race?". Post a Comment.
STP43FAN said:
Jul 30, 2009 at 4:59 PMNo. Iowa Speedway would have to be at least 1.5 miles long and wider than it presently is. The present layout is just another Richmond, and short tracks are not suitable for Winston Cup.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmotorsportsphotography said:
Jul 30, 2009 at 5:32 PMIowa will have a Cup date. The place has been built so they can expand to 110,000 seats. Everything was done so they could secure a Cup date in the future.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportaustinh said:
Jul 30, 2009 at 6:03 PMI agree # 2 i would think even with the model that cup runs now it would make for some better racing with the three lane 12 13 14 degree banking built into the track.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBILLFAN50 said:
Jul 30, 2009 at 6:53 PMI would like to see more short track races. Since nascar won't address the aero problems with the cup car , it makes for better racing on a short track. The racing at O'Reilly Raceway Park last week was hard to beat. Better than sundays race!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportpcrx_greg said:
Jul 30, 2009 at 9:03 PMI think that more short tracks are needed. No more 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks. Iowa seems to be a cross between Richmond and Bristol and would make for a great Cup race.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmatthewallenhughes said:
Jul 31, 2009 at 7:25 AMYeah, I think so. They probably will get a Cup date. From what I hear, it's a great racetrack.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportkcysr said:
Jul 31, 2009 at 11:54 AMOnly if I$C or $mi buys it there is no room on the schedule and then what long time fans do they stick it to when they take their seats and date from their track.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjdxenterprises said:
Jul 31, 2009 at 3:33 PMShort tracks aren't suitable for cup #1? Where do you think the STP43 was racing all those years??
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner said:
Jul 31, 2009 at 3:56 PMisn't that why the trak was built, that's what i thought all along...
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» Confirm Abuse Reportrwilliamhayes said:
Jul 31, 2009 at 11:28 PMAnything could happen but i doubt it.
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