The Fastest Short Track on the Planet Tag

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — The NASCAR XFINITY Series typically delivers great story lines every time they roll in to the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway and Saturday’s US Cellular 250 was no exception. Ross Chastain earned a fourth-place result for JD Motorsports and tied the best finish of his XFINITY Series career in his 125th start. Chastain qualified in the 18th position, right in line with his season average, and picked up a few positions during the 60 laps that comprised the first stage. But while pitting underRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — The NASCAR K&N Pro Series competes at Iowa Speedway on Friday night for the first of two races in 2018 where the stars and cars of the East and West Series will go head-to-head in the same event. One of those stars quickly making a name for herself is 17-year-old Hailie Deegan. In a post-Danica Patrick world, NASCAR is seeking the next female to take the reins. Deegan has begun to gain national attention not because she’s the only female driver competing full-timeRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Zach Veach is in midst of his rookie Verizon IndyCar Series season with Andretti Autosport and the Graduate of Mazda Road to Indy is the first driver to race on all levels with the same team. That bond with the Andretti organization has been critical in his first full season of IndyCar competition. “From Day 1, they’ve been family. To have them a part of my journey has always been extremely special,” Veach told Motorsports Tribune. “I’ve been able to get that relationshipRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— Sam Mayer’s year started by being named to JR Motorsports’ championship-winning Late Model program and his motorsports career took the next step on Saturday at Iowa Speedway with his ARCA Racing Series debut. Mayer qualified the No. 40 MDM Motorsports Toyota in the 10th position and brought the car home with a 10th-place finish. Mayer gained a couple of positions in the early going as the first third of the race was run under green flag conditions. After the first trip down pit road,Read More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa— Sheldon Creed turned a lap at 131.349 mph to take the General Tire Pole Award for Saturday night’s ARCA Racing Series Fans with Benefits 150 at Iowa Speedway. It was the third consecutive pole award  for Creed and the fourth of his ARCA career. “It’s pretty cool. I think we needed a little momentum and a little confidence,” Creed said of taking the top qualifying spot for the third race in a row. “I’m actually pretty shocked; we were pretty terrible in practiceRead More

By Brian Eberly, Contributing Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Sunday didn’t get off to the start that Christopher Bell would have hoped, as his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota didn’t make it through pre-qualifying inspection in time to make a lap in the first round of knockout qualifying at Iowa Speedway. As a result, Bell started the NASCAR XFINITY Series Iowa 250 from the 39th position. It was only a matter of time before Bell would become a factor in the race, cracking the top-10 by Lap 28 and running sixth byRead More

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