WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa Speedway has been saved thanks to the combined efforts of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Hy-Vee Supermarkets chairman, CEO and President Randy Edeker and IndyCar owner Roger Penske.
Thursday’s announcement means IndyCar has agreed to a multi-year lease at the .875-mile short oval in Newton, Iowa. NASCAR owns the track, but IndyCar will serve as the promoter thanks to a multi-year agreement with Hy-Vee to serve as the sponsor of the race.
Hy-Vee will provide broad support for next year’s doubleheader event set for July 23-24 through a wide-ranging partnership that will bring IndyCar racing back to the .875-mile oval after a one-year hiatus. The two races will be the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 on Saturday, July 23 and the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 on Sunday, July 24.
Both races will be televised on NBC, according to IndyCar.
The annual summer trip to the short oval in Newton, Iowa, has been a highlight on the schedule for IndyCar since the track opened in 2006 and IndyCar made its debut in 2007.
However, this year there was no IndyCar Series race at Iowa as NASCAR essentially shut down the track with the exception of the ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 150 on July 24.
Faced with the possibility that the track may shut down, Governor Reynolds contacted Newton Mayor Michael L. Hansen and Edeker.
Reynolds said the IndyCar Series race at Iowa Speedway must be saved.
Hy-Vee is a 91-year-old company with 86,000 employees based in West Des Moines, Iowa. It is a leading supermarket chain in the Midwest.
“We think we have discovered the next best opportunity for Hy-Vee, our state and our customers,” Edeker said. “We started in 2020 with a simple, one-time partnership with a vendor named Tom Bowman of Citrus Systems who asked if we wanted to be on Graham Rahal’s car prior to the Iowa Speedway race. We said absolutely.
“Graham finished on the podium that day with the Hy-Vee logo on and we got so many compliments from suppliers and customers that made us think about running a partial season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.”
From that podium finish, the relationship between Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing grew with sponsorship on the No. 45 Honda, including the 105th Indianapolis 500 with Santino Ferrucci, who finished sixth.
“Then, Governor Reynolds came to visit one day and mentioned to me she would like our help to bring IndyCar back to Iowa after a one-year sabbatical at Iowa Speedway,” Edeker said. “She was very persuasive. We started talking to Penske Entertainment and met several times with Penske Corp. President Bud Denker.
“Hy-Vee is proud to announce the Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 on July 23 at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. Then, on Sunday, July 24, we will be hosting the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300.”
In addition to the deep support of Iowa Speedway, Edeker also announced Hy-Vee will step up to become a full-season sponsor of the No. 45 Honda at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Jack Harvey is expected to be named to that entry soon.
“We’re really excited about that,” Edeker said. “We will run that car strictly as Hy-Vee without any other sponsors to tie into a larger digital strategy that we have around marketing and advertising for this next year.”
Edeker said one of the things that drew the company to IndyCar was Penske and the Penske Corp. purchasing IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the end of 2019.
“This is a really a special day for us and the standpoint of IndyCar and Iowa Speedway,” Penske said. “We built this series over many years and came to Iowa in 2007. It’s one of the most exciting race tracks that we compete on.
“We need to have more tracks like Iowa. We race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and cannot have a series of street course and road courses. We need to have our cars run wheel-to-wheel, side-by-side, like you see at Iowa Speedway.
“We’ve had four our Indy 500 winners win at Iowa, and it shows that success breeds success at Iowa Speedway.
“What we really have here today is really a partnership. This is a terrific partnership. What we want to try to do as a series is bring in new commercial people that want to build our brand. I can’t think of a better company in Iowa backing it than Hy-Vee. When we come here next year, the who weekend will be to honor the farmer. We care about you; we care about the fan, and we care about this relationship in Iowa.”
Mayor Hansen called himself the happiest man in the state of Iowa after this announcement to revive Iowa Speedway.
“We believe this event will breathe new life into Iowa Speedway and bring new events as well as community events and festivals,” Hansen said. “This relationship guarantees more world-class entertainment at Iowa Speedway.”
Edeker recalled his conversation with Iowa Governor Reynolds, who was very concerned with the future of Iowa Speedway.
“To be honest, it was bleak at that time,” Edeker said. “She asked us to look into it, think about it and see if there was anything we could do.
“If it’s right for the state of Iowa; it’s right for our customers.”
Governor Reynolds believes Iowa Speedway is a statewide treasure that had to be preserved.
“From dirt tracks to speedways, Iowa has a long tradition of racing,” Reynolds said. “From the moment Iowa Speedway opened 15 years ago further solidified our state’s commitment to this sport. It has helped us draw high-caliber drivers, events, and racing fans from across the Midwest and beyond, which is exactly what it was intended to do.
“I personally challenged leaders to find a way to bring that excitement of a high-speed, action-packed IndyCar race back to Iowa Speedway and I’m so pleased to be here today to help make that announcement with some of the biggest names in racing.
“IndyCar’s return to the Iowa Speedway is a win-win to the drivers and fans as well as the entire impact it will have on the Iowa economy.
“There’s a lot of work to be done to make this partnership a true success so I am encouraging other Iowa-based businesses, organizations and leaders to step up and help support this two-day, two-race, national-televised event through sponsorships, partnerships or volunteers.
“We want to Iowa to be an IndyCar destination where people from all over the country come to enjoy racing in our state for years to come. We are going to make that happen.”
Although NASCAR continues to own the track, Penske said the facility will be promoted and operated by IndyCar and Penske Entertainment.
“What we’ve done from an IndyCar perspective is lease the facility from NASCAR for multiple years which gives us complete control over the site during the time that we will be partnering with Hy-Vee,” Penske said. “We have a team that will work with Hy-Vee as well as hiring some local people to help with the event.
“This will be nationally-televised on network both Saturday and Sunday and that will really showcase Newton and the state of Iowa. We wanted to be sure we had a national presence and that will be handled by IndyCar.
“We have a great relationship with NASCAR, and this will give us a chance to manage this facility. This outcome is a real turbocharger for the track, the state and the surrounding area.”