Iowa Speedway

Iowa Speedway is a 0.875 mi (1.408 km) oval short track in Newton, Iowa. Since its inaugural season of racing in 2006, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, including events sanctioned by NASCAR and IndyCar. NASCAR has owned the facility since 2013, with Eric Peterson currently serving as the track's president. Iowa Speedway is served by Interstate 80.

As of 2023, the track holds 30,000 seats. Along with the main track, the track complex also features seven road course layouts, including a 1.300 mi (2.092 km) road course layout that combines parts of the main track along with the infield road course to make a "roval".

After an initial proposal to build a 1 mi (1.6 km) track by businessmen Jerry Lowrie and Larry Clement failed in the early 2000s, in 2003, the Paul Schlaack-owned U.S. Motorsport Entertainment Corporation made a bid to build a shorter facility. After another delay due to a perceived lack of funds that lasted throughout 2004, groundbreaking commenced in mid-2005, with the facility holding its first races in September 2006. The sanctioning body of NASCAR later bought the track in 2013 to save the facility from financial issues.

The speedway in its current form is measured at 7⁄8 mile (1.4 km), with 10 degrees of banking in the frontstretch, four degrees in the backstretch, and a progressive banking system utilized from 12 to 14 degrees in the turns. Varying sanctioning bodies have disputed the length of the track; NASCAR's official measurement is at 0.875 mi, while IndyCar measures the track at 0.894 miles (1.439 km).

Along with the main track's construction, road course layouts that combined the main track with dedicated infield portions were constructed, with developers making seven road course layouts.

The facility is served by Interstate 80, and is approximately 35 miles (56 km) east from the Iowa capital of Des Moines. According to a 2023 report by The Des Moines Register, it holds 30,000 seats. In a 2006 Autoweek report, the track constructed 28 luxury suites; in recent years, extra temporary suites for its IndyCar races were developed by Hy-Vee.

In November 2000, Kentucky Speedway developer Jerry Carroll proposed to the Jasper County board of supervisors plans to build a $76 million, 40,000-seat, 1 mile (1.6 km) track in Newton, Iowa. With the proposal, Carroll sought for the county to issue $30-40 million worth of bonds to fund the project, along with seeking as much as an additional $35 million from the Vision Iowa program, a state economic growth program. However, by January 2001, Carroll abandoned the plan to focus on developing the Kentucky Speedway. As a result, California businessman Jerry Lowrie opted to replace Carroll in directing the project. Lowrie decided to decline to ask the county for bonds. The project drew support from Newton mayor David Aldridge, but later saw opposition from residents near the proposed site. The opposition claimed that building the site would be a nuisance for the rural residents and later tacked on Lowrie's unproven record of success.

An approval from Vision Iowa was considered critical for the project to survive, with developers hoping to secure $20 million. However, by August, the remaining available funding from Vision Iowa dropped lower than the amount needed. The next month, Lowrie abandoned the project to focus on building a speedway in California, leaving the project to be led by race team owner Larry Clement. Although Clement claimed that by October he had commitment from private anonymous investors totaling $7-10 million, Vision Iowa leaders refused to still give the remaining money, claiming that they did not feel that sufficient proof of total commitment from investors had been provided, with Vision Iowa demanding that the identities of the investors be released. The funding was rejected by the fall of 2002.