Iowa Speedway Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — The NASCAR XFINITY Series at Iowa Speedway typically produces great racing and more often than not good story lines of drivers making their series debuts. With the standalone weekend, NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series regulars typically don’t make the trip to Iowa. Riley Herbst got the opportunity to pilot the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and the Las Vegas, Nevada native took full advantage. Making the final round of knockout qualifying for Sunday’s Iowa 250, Herbst rolled off from the ninth positionRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Austin Cindric turned a lap at 131.409 mph in the final round of knockout qualifying to put the No. 22 Team Penske Ford on the pole for Sunday’s Iowa 250 presented by Enogen at Iowa Speedway. It was the first pole of Cindric’s NASCAR XFINITY Series career in his 15th start. Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Elliott Sadler and Cole Custer rounded out the top-five. Hemric starts from the outside of the front row for the second week in a row in the No.Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Heading into the 2018 NASCAR season, it wasn’t the plan for Justin Haley to make any starts in the XFINITY Series. But with the suspension of Spencer Gallagher in April for a violation of the sport’s substance abuse policy, it allowed the opportunity to present itself and Haley is set to take advantage. “I had intentions to run XFINITY, I always wanted to but it wasn’t something that we talked too deeply about. It was a last minute type deal. I’m thankful toRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — After taking the checkered flag in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series M&M’s 200 at Iowa Speedway, Christian Eckes climbed from his No. 46 Toyota and immediately sat down beside the truck. Saying it was hot on Friday in Iowa would be an understatement and temperatures inside the truck were well into the triple digits. Eckes was provided water and Gatorade by his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates as well as NASCAR officials. After several minutes, Eckes rose and headed back toRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — On Saturday morning at Iowa Speedway, Brett Moffitt told the assembled media that a win at the track located just over 40 miles from his hometown of Grimes, Iowa would be huge. Moffitt indicated his No. 16 Hattori Racing Toyota had speed this season, but they just haven’t put the whole race together to compete with the likes of Johnny Sauter, who has four victories in 2018. Before the sun set over Newton less than eight hours later, Moffitt returned to that sameRead More

By Rob Gray, NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Heat and humidity. Three-wide action. One race-changing wreck — and a rousing triumph for a local favorite. The wild, competitive and unpredictable M&M’s 200 Saturday at Iowa Speedway certainly showcased the drama the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series delivers from week-to-week. But once the dust settled and the sun sank low in the sky, a relative sense of calm swept over speedway veteran Brett Moffitt. Why relative? Because Moffitt — who grew up on Iowa dirt tracks before climbing NASCAR’s ranks —Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Harrison Burton turned a lap at 132.850 mph in the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota to win the Pole Award for Saturday night’s M&M’s 200 presented by Casey’s General Store at Iowa Speedway. It was the first pole of Burton’s Truck Series career in his 10th start. Matt Crafton will join Burton on the front row in the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford. Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-five in qualifying. Six of the 11 previous Truck Series racesRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa —The first question on Saturday during Brett Moffitt’s media availability at Iowa Speedway was regarding his outlook and expectations for the night’s M&M’s 200. “Beat him,” Moffitt said with a laugh and a nod towards Johnny Sauter, sitting alongside him at the podium. “I guess that is the expectation. He’s set the bar. It’s certainly the goal.” Sauter has been on a tear in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, winning four of the first eight races. Moffitt won the secondRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The driver rotation at GMS Racing’s No. 23 team continues as their Xfinity Series program announced Monday that Camping World Truck Series regular Justin Haley will make his series debut in Sunday’s Iowa 250 at Iowa Speedway in Newton. In one previous Truck Series start at Iowa, Haley started seventh and finished in 10th. Since Spencer Gallagher’s suspension after his race win at Talladega, GMS has had Johnny Sauter, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman sharing seating time in the No. 23 car. For the 19-year-old,Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer The last time Christian Eckes made a start in the ARCA Racing Series, it was one to remember for the teenage driver as he got the infamous kiss from Big Bill Venturini in victory lane. Eckes put on a dominating performance at Salem Speedway four weeks ago, battling teammate Chandler Smith down to the last lap to earn the first checkered flag of his ARCA career in his 16th start. The 17-year-old driver is running 13 of the 20 races this season, so he wasn’t inRead More