NASCAR star Kyle Larson talks favorite Iowa spots for food and racing
Watch as NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson talks about his favorite places in Iowa while driving in a Corvette Stingray at Iowa Speedway.
- The Iowa Corn 350 NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway is sold out for the second consecutive year.
- The race will take place on August 3rd and air on USA Network.
- Strong attendance at the 2024 race secured Iowa Speedway’s spot on the 2025 schedule.
For the second straight year, the Iowa Corn 350 NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway is sold out.
NASCAR announced the sellout on Tuesday, June 17, and also said in a news release that the Iowa Corn Growers Association had renewed its title sponsorship of the race “through a multi-year-extension.”
The race will return to the NASCAR-owned, 7/8-mile bullring in Newton, known as the “Fastest Short Track on the Planet,” for the second time this year. It’s scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Aug. 3 and will be televised on USA Network.
Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney, whose mother is from Chariton, won the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 in 2024.
During last year’s Cup Series weekend, about 24,000 fans packed the grandstand and some 20,000 more were in temporary suites and camping areas with views of the track.
NASCAR spokesperson Matt Humphrey said “scant” tickets remain for the other races on the Corn 350 weekend: the ARCA Menards Series’ Atlas Roofing 150 on Aug. 1 and the Xfinity Series’ Hy-Vee Perks 250 scheduled for Aug. 2when fans can see Cup Series drivers practice and qualify.
Strong attendance brings NASCAR Cup Series back
Iowa Speedway has long been known as one of the favorite tracks of both NASCAR and IndyCar drivers, who’ve raced there annually since 2007. For stock car drivers it was a place where they would prove themselves in developmental series like the ARCA Menards Series, the Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series. But the track had never held a Cup Series race until last year.
Team Penske Driver Austin Cindric made his first stock car start at Iowa Speedway, and he said during a June 10 tire test there that the track holds a special place in his heart,
“This is a place that anyone who’s come up through the ranks always wished there was a Cup Series race here,” Cindric said.
In recent years NASCAR has seen declining attendance at tracks like Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee and Richmond Raceway in Virginia. But in Iowa, tickets for all three days of the inaugural Cup Series weekend sold out last year.
Iowa Speedway’s spot on the 2025 schedule was far from guaranteed. The track got the change to host the 2024 race after NASCAR closed Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, for renovations and talks to hold the race in Montreal fell through; according to Fox Sports.
Numerous NASCAR drivers after last year’s race spoke highly of the energy from the sellout crowds. Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, said Iowa should remain on the Cup Series schedule.
“It seemed like it was a pretty entertaining race,” Logano said. “The place was packed. The fans showed up. From the inside it looks pretty good.”
A small number of grandstand tickets for this year’s race went on sale in the fall. In February Iowa Speedway President Eric Peterson said the number of fans who renewed their tickets for the second year was “really high.” Most tickets sold at the track go to Iowans, but Iowa Speedway also pulls fans from Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota, he said.
“Almost everyone we’ve talked to has renewed their tickets, and if they haven’t, they just had another conflict come up,” Peterson said.
IndyCar also back at Iowa Speedway in July
Iowa Speedway will be one of just four U.S. tracks this year to host both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NTT IndyCar Series, which is scheduled for July 12 and 13. The others are Indianapolis Motor Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis and Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee.
Sheffield-based farm equipment company Sukup Manufacturing will be the new title sponsor of the Iowa IndyCar Race Weekend, replacing Hy-Vee who sponsored and promoted the race from 2022-2024.
NASCAR will hold a fan fest in Cowles Commons in downtown Des Moines on July 31 to kick off the Cup Series weekend. More details about the fan fest will be announced later.
Philip Joens covers retail and real estate for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184 or pjoens@registermedia.com.
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