After a late night/early morning on Saturday, it was nice to have a short travel distance to the beautiful Iowa Speedway on Sunday. Iowa should be proud of that great facility that grew from the cornfields near Newton, Iowa. By the time we arrived at the track, the field of 37 cars had already been set for the running of the NASCAR Camping World East/West Series. Mother Nature decided to throw a little shower - an unpredicted one I think - into the mix for us. It didn't last long, but the track was wet and after driver introductions on the frontstretch, with "King" Richard Petty in attendance, the jet dryers were called to action. It was right at 5:50 when the racing action got underway, with polesitter, Kyle Busch, well--"off to the races". He was lapping the field with only 12 laps down and pretty much dominated the whole way and took home the win. He is the first NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to score a feature win at the track. Last year's race winner, Brian Ickler was no doubt hoping for a repeat win, but ended up having to settle for second place. Third place was the 17 car of David Mayhew who was also in contention all race long, followed by a familiar last name in racing, Jeffrey Earnhardt, grandson of the late great Dale Earnhardt. Fifth place went to Paulie Harraka and taking sixth was Grimes, Iowa's own 16 year old Brett Moffitt. Moffitt had quite a day and was picking off cars quite regularly and at one time was riding in third place. Still, sixth place was quite an accomplishment for this young and upcoming driver that we have often seen compete on the dirt tracks in our area.
It was fun to see winner Kyle Busch do a burnout in front of the grandstand, much to the delight of the fans. His comments in Victory Lane were quite complimentary of the track and facilities at Newton. Seems he took the trophy home with him in more than one piece as a track official dropped it. Hmmm? Did we hear that that track official happened to be Positively Racing's own Barry Johnson? You'll never live this one down Barry!
We were fortunate to enjoy the race from high up in one of the suites, and right on the start/finish line. What a spectacular view to say nothing about being out of the damp and more than a little chilly weather. We had a great time and look forward to more races this year at the Iowa Speedway. If you get the chance, you need to attend a race if you have not already done so. It's quite the racing facility for Iowa.
Happy racing!
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