History was made on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 when the NASCAR Nationwide Series came to the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa for the very first time. Thousands and thousands...56,087 to be exact...were in attendance and from all reports, the track couldn't be happier with the great turnout. Things appeared to run smoothly as we arrived at the track about 8:45 a.m. We had no trouble getting into the speedway or parking. We were far from the first arriving though, as cars were everywhere, many already tailgating and ready for the days activities. People watching was about as popular as tailgating, bean-bag tossing games, and imbibing in general. Flags were flying everywhere as groups displayed their favorites. Our group proudly flew a huge Iowa Hawkeye flag and a huge American flag. Many favorite driver flags were flying as well. We also noticed someone not far away, flying a John Deere flag. Only in Iowa! All those flags make a great "landmark" for finding your vehicle in a sea of cars.
The souvenir hauler and sponsor display area was absolutely packed when we were there. We noted it appeared much busier than when we were in Daytona this past February. The line for the Fan Walk was extremely long and from all reports, it was well worth the wait for getting to see the infield and garage area. The shuttles into the infield seemed to run the entire race allowing fans to get the taste from the other side of the track.
The U. S. Cellular "250" NASCAR Nationwide Series race took the green flag right at 3:45 p.m. after a stirring rendition of the National Anthem by country singer James Otto. The finale of the song was capped by a fly-over by a huge refueling plane as it passed close over the track. Forty-three cars took the green flag to the cheering and enthusiastic standing-room-only crowd. You can often find a vacant seat here and there no matter what event attended, but not on this day. Every seat was filled as far as we could see and standing room was at a premium as well. Our view was great from our regular seating area in the upper section toward turn one. Lots of extra seating was added for this race and talk is that perhaps more permanent seating is in the offing. There is also talk that extra lanes may be added to I-80 in the area to more easily accommodate some of the traffic during big race dates.
Capturing the fast times during earlier qualifying were the #16 of Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., (a Jack Roush driver) and the #12 Verizon sponsored car of Justin Allgaier. Allgaier's nickname is "Gator" or "Little Gator" which has dogged him from childhood. We learned this upon having met him this past February in Daytona at a Verizon sponsored function. The Riverton, Illinois driver is quite a personable young man and was one of our group's favorite on the day. He had a very good run for most of the race until a late race incident involving two other cars would cause a caution and send him back in the field.
Twelve cautions would slow the racing action over the day. It did provide interesting action in the pit areas though. We noted one incident happening right in front of us that caused a huge fuel spill that had to be cleaned up by the fire crew. At 125 laps down, the #88 bright green car of Brad Keselowski was leading the race over Allgaier with Kyle Busch, successful NASCAR Sprint Cup star, running in third. More cautions flew and each time at the restart, it was Busch and Keselowski battling one-two. The cheering was intense as the two swapped positions but in the end it really did seem as though the loudest and most enthusiastic was when Keselowski made the final pass on Busch to take the lead and continue on to take the double checkers for the first ever Nationwide Series win at the Iowa Speedway. The 38 of Jason Leffler finished third. Making his way quietly over the day to finish fourth, was another NASCAR star, Carl Edwards in the 60 car and finishing fifth in the #10 car, was Kelly Bires.
Racing was completed right at 6:10 p.m., taking just a bit over 2 hours and 22 minutes. Due to the many cautions, the average speed overall was just under 92 mph. No one was in a hurry to leave after the race was completed, as much activity continued in the concession and souvenir area as well as more tailgating in the parking lot. We count ourselves fortunate to have this wonderful facility only twenty miles from our doorstep and look forward to attending more races "right down the road" in the future. We hope many of you were also able to attend the history making event at the Iowa Speedway. Happy racing!
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