Iowa Speedway Tag

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 10 drivers from the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the fourth-place championship finisher, Helio Castroneves. Helio Castroneves, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet 2017: 4th in the championship  Wins: 1, Top 5: 9, Top 10: 16, Poles: 3, Laps Led: 442 Best Finish: 1st (Iowa Speedway) With Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves set to move over to sports car racing outside of the Indianapolis 500 in 2018, his 2017 served as both an impressive final Verizon IndyCarRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor IndyCar continued its round of tests for the new 2018 universal aerokit at Iowa Speedway this week where test drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Oriol Servia experimented with the Road Course/Short Oval spec car on the 0.894 mile oval. The veteran duo completed 270 laps as they sampled the new kit in various trims to determine a base line set up for next year’s race, where they added and then took downforce off of the cars to find the elusive sweet spot. Like the previous testsRead More

By Rob Gray, NASCAR Wire Service NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Preece’s short-lived, but ambitious 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series schedule began three weeks ago at his de facto home track, New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It ended Saturday in the U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway — as confetti swirled and soared to highlight his first career series triumph in Victory Lane. Preece, held off a hard-charging Kyle Benjamin in a green-white checkered finish that came after the third restart in the race’s final 17 pulse-quickening laps. “I thought this race wouldRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer A Top 10 at Iowa Speedway was much more emotional than normal for J.J. Yeley. Less than one week after losing team owner Mark Smith, Yeley drove TriStar Motorsports’ No. 14 Toyota Camry to a sixth-place finish. Yeley hovered around 20th for the bulk of the US Cellular 250 presented by American Ethanol, only cracking the Top 10 late in the going. He was driving the teams’ unsponsored No. 14 Toyota Camry, affectionately nicknamed ‘Black Betty,’ and carried Smith’s name on the passenger door. ARead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After struggling for much of the season, Brendan Gaughan hopes to turn his season around at Iowa Speedway. This weekend Gaughan will have race sponsor US Cellular on board his No. 62 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro for the first time this season. In 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at the 7/8-mile speedway, Gaughan has one top five and three Top 10s. His average finish at the Newton, IA track is 15.5. Gaughan earned his one top five at Iowa with a fifth-place in AugustRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer 19 races into the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, only three of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regulars (Justin Allgaier, Ryan Reed, and William Byron three times) have scored victories during the 2017 season. This weekend the NASCAR Xfinity Series travels to Iowa Speedway for the US Cellular 250 Presented by American Ethanol. Sadler continues to lead the Championship Point standings, despite not scoring a win. He leads with 40 points over his JR Motorsports teammate, Byron. The last time the Xfinity Series visited the Iowa Speedway,Read More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer After being left without a ride when Red Horse Racing shut down in May, Brett Moffitt has found a home with GMS Racing. Moffitt will pilot the No. 96 Northland Foundation Inc. Chevrolet Camaro in the US Cellular 250 Presented by America Ethanol at Iowa Speedway on July 29. Moffitt has one career NASCAR Xfinity Series start, which came at his hometrack, Iowa Speedway. He finished ninth after starting 10th that day. Moffitt was excited to race in front of his hometown crowd. “I amRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Helio Castroneves went 1,134 days without a victory in the Verizon IndyCar Series after his last win at the Detroit doubleheader race on June 1, 2014. His winless streak ended Sunday in victory at the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway, also ending Team Penske’s 11 year run of futility at Iowa. Castroneves started third, grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 20 and ended up leading 217 of the final 280 laps, passing Al Unser Sr.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Esteban Gutierrez’s first race on an oval ended Sunday night with a 13th place finish in Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. Having driven in Formula One and Formula E, Gutierrez’s past oval experience consisted of a test day at Iowa Speedway in the weeks before running 300 laps around the .894 mile oval, but the Mexican rookie managed to keep his wheels clean, running in the top 10 late in the race. In fact,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden qualified 16th thanks to a bad qualifying draw for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. He managed to salvage a sixth place finish by gradually climbing a mountain of cars in his No. 2 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevrolet. The Tennessee native didn’t crack the top 10 until Lap 68, getting to ninth after passing both James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon. Newgarden continued his rise, getting to his eventual finishing position on Lap 109 and heRead More