Iowa Speedway
Discover the history of Iowa Speedway, including NASCAR race winners for the Cup, Xfinity, and Truck Series, detailed track facts, and a full gallery of past race images.
Iowa Speedway NASCAR Race History
CUP Race Winning Drivers
1
Ryan Blaney| DATE | RACE | WINNER | # | MAKE | ST | TEAM | CREW CHIEF | LAPS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06-2024 | Iowa Corn 350 Powere… | Ryan Blaney | 12 | Ford | 2 | Team Penske | Jonathan Hassler | 350 | 02:58:37 |
Cup Race Recaps
By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service
Two-tire call helps Ryan Blaney find Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway
This time, there was no unpleasant surprise waiting for Ryan Blaney near the finish line of a NASCAR Cup Series race.
Grabbing the lead on crew chief Jonathan Hassler’s two-tire call under the final caution of Sunday night’s Iowa Corn 350, Blaney led the final 88 laps of the inaugural Cup race at 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway.
In front of a large contingent of family and friends, the reigning series champion crossed the finish line 0.716 seconds ahead of runner-up William Byron, who was racing on four new tires after a pit stop under caution for Chris Buescher’s accident on Lap 260.
The victory was Blaney’s first of the season and the 11th of his career. Blaney now has won at Iowa Speedway in all three NASCAR national series, having triumphed in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series in 2012 and the Xfinity Series in 2015.
All told, the race winner led four times for 201 of 350 laps on a track that was repaved in the bottom two lanes in the corners.
“What a cool way to win here. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to my mom (Lisa, from Chariton, Iowa),” said Blaney, who was leading June 2 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway outside St. Louis before running out of fuel on the white-flag lap.
“We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on, so they willed us to that one. Overall, I really appreciate the whole (No. 12 team). I mean, our car was really fast all night and we got a little bit better through the night, and two tires was a good call there.
“I didn’t know how well I was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end but had enough to hang on. I’m super proud of the effort.”
Byron wasn’t surprised Blaney won the race on two fresh tires, given the quality of the Team Penske driver’s No. 12 Ford.
“No, he had a really good car, so he was up front and contending a lot, and him and the 5 (pole winner Kyle Larson) were really good,” Byron said. “So, we were just a step off of that, you know?
“I feel like I just needed to turn the center just a hair better and still kind of maintain the long run. Proud of the effort. It was a really good night, and I feel like we can learn from this and build from it to be a little bit better.”
In a race that featured eight cautions for 49 laps, Chase Elliott finished third, followed by Christopher Bell, who started from the rear of the field in a backup car after blowing a right front tire and crashing in Friday’s practice.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home fifth, with Joey Logano, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski completing the top 10.
The restart after the second stage break changed the entire dynamic of the race. Larson had just taken the green/checkered flag to claim his eighth stage victory of the season.
But on lap 220, one circuit after the final stage went green for the first time, contact from Suarez’s Chevrolet sent Larson’s Camaro spinning into the outside wall on the frontstretch, pinching Denny Hamlin’s Toyota into the barrier in the process.
Larson’s crew eventually repaired the wounded machine, but not until the 2021 champion had lost 31 laps in the garage. Larson finished 34th, 36 laps down and lost the series lead to Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.
Larson, who led 80 laps on Sunday before the accident that waylaid him, trails Elliott by eight points with nine races left in the regular season.
XFINITY Race Winning Drivers
2
Christopher Bell
1
Justin Allgaier
1
Chase Briscoe
1
Sam Mayer| DATE | RACE | WINNER | # | MAKE | ST | TEAM | CREW CHIEF | LAPS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06-2024 | Hy-vee PERKS 250 | Sam Mayer | 1 | Chevrolet | 5th | JR Motorsports | Mardy Lindley | 253 | 02:36:27 |
| 07-2019 | US Cellular 250 | Chase Briscoe | 98 | Ford | 2nd | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Richard Boswell | 250 | 02:28:00 |
| 06-2019 | CircuitCity.com 250 | Christopher Bell | 20 | Toyota | 2nd | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff | 250 | 02:19:02 |
| 07-2018 | U.S. Cellular 250 pr… | Christopher Bell | 20 | Toyota | 3rd | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff | 257 | 02:18:00 |
| 06-2018 | Iowa 250 presented b… | Justin Allgaier | 7 | Chevrolet | 11th | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett | 250 | 02:08:33 |
| 07-2017 | US Cellular 250 Pres… | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 254 | 02:17:37 |
| 06-2017 | American Ethanol E15… | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 250 | 02:32:52 |
| 11-2016 | Ticket Galaxy 200 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 200 | 02:03:19 |
| 07-2016 | US Cellular 250 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 250 | 02:05:43 |
| 06-2016 | American Ethanol E15… | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 250 | 02:07:51 |
| 08-2015 | US Cellular 250 pres… | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 260 | 02:12:02 |
| 05-2015 | 3M 250 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 259 | 02:24:17 |
| 03-2015 | Axalta Faster Toughe… | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 200 | 01:49:57 |
Xfinity Race Recaps
By Reid Spencer - NASCAR Wire Service
Sam Mayer holds off Riley Herbst for overtime NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Iowa
In a race of tire management and hurt feelings, Sam Mayer held off Riley Herbst in overtime to win Saturday’s Hy-Vee Perks 250 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ return to Iowa Speedway after a four-year hiatus.
Mayer’s No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line 0.146 seconds ahead of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Herbst, who felt Mayer had abused him earlier in the race.
The victory was Mayer’s second of the season and the sixth of his career, all coming within the last 29 races in the series.
“We struggled (Friday in practice), and the team went to work,” said Mayer, who started fifth when qualifying was canceled because of rain earlier on Saturday. “Obviously, we did pretty good overnight, making different changes on this race car.
“I feel really good. I could do another 100 laps — with a race car like this, it would be a lot of fun.”
Mayer held the lead when John Hunter Nemechek slammed the outside wall in Turn 4 with his left front tire down, the result of close quarters racing with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Sheldon Creed.
That accident on Lap 245 caused the ninth caution of the afternoon and sent the race three laps beyond its scheduled distance.
In the overtime, Mayer and Herbst took the green flag side-by-side and remained in that posture into Turn 1, but Mayer cleared the race runner-up off Turn 2 and held the top spot the rest of the way.
“I like racing Sam, but Stage 1 or 2 he just absolutely brooms me,” Herbst said. “We were racing clean for fourth, and he takes us back to 10th and then doors me down the back straightaway before the green-white-checker.
“It’s just frustrating the way he wants to do that, but all in all, it was fun. I’m happy to be back on ovals. The speed is back in the 98.”
Corey Heim finished a career-best third after starting 22nd because of the qualifying rainout. Sammy Smith was fourth, followed by Creed, who survived the dust-up with Nemechek after a restart on Lap 238.
Cole Custer, Matt DiBenedetto, Chandler Smith, Ross Chastain and Daniel Dye completed the top 10.
If any driver had cause for frustration, it was Chandler Smith, who led a race-high 131 laps and swept the first two stages. Smith restarted third to begin the final stage, but lack of short-run speed quickly dropped him to 12th, and he never recovered.
Austin Hill likewise had reason to bemoan his result. Overcoming early handling issues, Hill charged into the top five in the final stage, but a cut left front tire sent him hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 218, causing the seventh caution.
Hill finished 29th and dropped to third in the series standings, 41 points behind Custer, the current leader and defending series champion. Chandler Smith, second in the standings, trails Custer by one point.
TRUCKS Race Winning Drivers
2
Brett Moffitt
1
William Byron Jr
1
Erik Jones
1
John Hunter Nemechek| DATE | RACE | WINNER | # | MAKE | ST | TEAM | CREW CHIEF | LAPS | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06-2019 | M&M'S 200 presented … | Brett Moffitt | 24 | Chevrolet | 6th | GMS Racing | Jerry Baxter | 200 | 01:40:18 |
| 06-2018 | M&M's 200 presented … | Brett Moffitt | 16 | Toyota | 16th | Hattori Racing | Scott Zipadelli | 200 | 01:56:45 |
| 06-2017 | M&M's 200 presented … | John Hunter Nemechek | 8 | Chevrolet | 5th | -- | Gere Kennon | 200 | 01:47:42 |
| 06-2016 | Speediatrics 200 | William Byron | 9 | Toyota | 5th | -- | Rudy Fugle | 200 | 01:53:16 |
| 06-2015 | American Ethanol 200 | Erik Jones | 4 | Toyota | 1st | -- | Rudy Fugle | 200 | 01:48:33 |
No race recap articles available.
3333 Rusty Wallace Drive
Newton, IA, 50208
641-791-8000
Accupredict Similar
Track groupings used in my driver projections.
Compare the degree of track banking at this and other groups of tracks.
Iowa Trivia
No trivia for this track.
Iowa Image Gallery
Click to view full-size
Iowa History
The track opened in September 2006 with the Soy Biodiesel 250, won by Woody Howard, for the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Four Champions playoff. The Indy Racing League announced a race there on June 24, 2007, the Iowa Corn Indy 250, which was won by Dario Franchitti, who barely nipped Marco Andretti at the finish line. The track also secured a combined NASCAR Camping World East-West race where results counted towards both series' championships. That race delivered a dramatic battle between 17-year-old Joey Logano from the Busch East Series, who defeated Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick, 1998 West Series champion, who represented the West Series at the end of the race.
The track was designed with influence from Rusty Wallace and patterned after Richmond Raceway as a D-shaped oval, a short track where Wallace was very successful. The track length is disputed by the two major series that run at Iowa. The NASCAR timing and scoring use a length of 0.875 miles (1.408 km). The IndyCar Series timing and scoring use a length of 0.894 miles (1.439 km).
The track was awarded a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and a NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 2009.
On July 5, 2011 it was announced that the Manatt family, builders and primary owners of the Iowa Speedway through the holding company U.S. Motorsports Corporation, had sold their majority interest to the Clement family, owners of Featherlite Incorporated. "It was our privilege to help build the track five years ago, and like a proud parent, we've enjoyed watching it thrive and grow," said company president Brad Manatt. Featherlite Incorporated already has a long-standing relationship with NASCAR. Many race teams use Featherlite Trailers and Featherlite Coaches for the transport of cars and staff. Rusty Wallace will remain a minority owner in the track.
Following news of financial issues at the track, the facility was purchased by NASCAR by November 2013.