New Iowa oval confirms Indycar race
Construction work is at an advanced stage at the new Iowa Speedway.
Picture: Iowa Speedway
Iowa Speedway will host the cars of the Indycar Series as part of its inaugural season's competition, track officials have announced.
The state-of-the-art racetrack which is currently nearing completion, will host a 250-lap IndyCar race on June 24, 2007. The track had already secured a round of the Grand-Am series for its infield road course.
The announcement was made in conjunction with an IndyCar Series and Indy Pro Series compatibility test that included Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi Racing and 2005 Indy Pro Series champion Wade Cunningham of Brian Stewart Racing.
The facility alongside I-80 is 32 miles from Des Moines, 85 from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and 28 miles from Knoxville, Iowa, site of the famed Knoxville Nationals. Iowa Speedway is the 56th racing oval in the state – second only in the USA to Pennsylvania’s 59.
The track is being built by the U.S. Motorsport Corporation. The “Rusty Wallace Signature Series Track” will have a seating capacity of 40,000, including 25,000 permanent seats and 15,000 festival seats. Former NASCAR champion and current IndyCar television commentator Rusty Wallace is co-designing the track, which will be the industry’s first driver-designed speedway.
"It will be fan-friendly and driver-friendly, a premier racing facility – if not the premier racing facility in the United States,” Wallace said. “I’ve driven many racetracks as a veteran driver and past NASCAR champion – I’ve seen the good and the bad – and Iowa Speedway will be the best of the best."
The tri-oval has a width of 60 feet with 12-14 degree compound banking in the turns. The front stretch features 10 degrees of banking and the backstretch has 4 degrees of banking. Iowa Speedway is the first track to have the SAFER Barrier installed around the entire perimeter of the race track and first to use the New-Age SAFER Barrier, which does not have a concrete wall behind the energy absorbing barrier.
Construction crews laid about 180,000 tons of rock around the entire facility. Paving of the racing surface was completed in late July, and the speedway will host its inaugural race event Sept. 15.
"We are extremely proud to showcase the Indy Racing League here at our fabulous facility designed by one of our partners, Rusty Wallace,” Iowa Speedway president Stan Clement said. “The Indy Racing League will allow spectators and race fans an opportunity to attend a first-class display of talent and speed."
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