A NASCAR first – full ownership of a racetrack.
Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, NASCAR said it purchased Iowa Speedway for an unspecified amount. The agreement departs from the usual France family practice of gathering racetracks under the independent International Speedway Corporation that controls Daytona, Homestead, Talladega and Watkins Glen among other premier venues. Instead, a new wholly owned NASCAR subsidiary, Iowa Speedway, LLC, takes control effective immediately. The France family of course controls NASCAR, but they have not been able to escape the negative effects of a shrinking blue-collar fan base hurt from the ongoing effects of the Great Recession, which in turn has hurt the racing business.
The facility, located 30 miles east of Des Moines in Newton, formerly the home of Maytag until Whirlpool closed its factories and moved the work to Mexico, is a fast, .875-mile asphalt paved tri-oval designed by NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace and patterned after the Richmond track Wallace was so successful running on. There is also a road course.
The Speedway released its 2014 schedule earlier this month, with big three weekends, one each in May, July and August, but no Sprint Cup race. The schedule includes two Nationwide Series races, a combination Camping World Truck Series and IndyCar Series weekend, plus two additional K&N Pro Series support races. NASCAR said it has no plans for Iowa Speedway to host a “in the immediate future.”
