NASCAR buys Iowa Speedway, no Cup date planned (UPDATED)

By Nov 27, 2013, 3:20 PM EST
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UPDATED (3:20 p.m. ET): Shortly after NASCAR announced its purchase of Iowa Speedway, MotorSportsTalk reached out to the INDYCAR sanctioning body for comment on the news.

“We have a multi-year agreement with Iowa Speedway and look forward to working with the new owners,” vice president of communications/public relations Amy Konrath replied via e-mail.

The IndyCar Series has raced at Iowa since the 2007 season.

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ORIGINAL: Reports from my colleague Chris Estrada earlier this week first identified that Iowa Speedway would be sold by its current owners, then the ownership transfer was approved by local officials.

The key question though, still, was who was this mysterious buyer of the 0.875-mile track located in Newton, Iowa?

As a quick surprise before most of us retreat to our Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday, NASCAR has just announced it has bought the track. A tweet first from managing director of NASCAR’s Integrated Marketing Communications, David Higdon, broke the news.

A full release formalized the news, including the confirmation that a wholly-owned NASCAR subsidiary, Iowa Speedway, LLC, is the official purchaser.

“Iowa Speedway is a great entertainment facility with a very bright future,” Eric Nyquist, NASCAR vice president, strategic development, said in the release. “The facility has the support of the region, it’s positioned well in the heart of the Midwest, and year in and year out it provides great short-track racing action for motorsports fans.”

This will mean a heavy NASCAR schedule occurs at the track in 2014, and even the verbage has left IndyCar as “second tier” by comparison. The IndyCar weekend, on July 11-12, is referred to as the  “NASCAR Camping World Truck Series/IndyCar Series race weekend.” IndyCar shifts its date from a traditional June date to July in 2014, and Higdon added in a tweet later Wednesday that, “#IndyCar race very important to @iowaspeedway #NASCAR. Nothing changes.”

The key line from the release though is that the track does not plan to have a Sprint Cup race “next year or in the immediate future.” Further details about this announcement will be held at a special event in Des Moines on December 12.

Iowa did release its full 2014 schedule though, and is as follows:

2014 IOWA SPEEDWAY EVENT SCHEDULE
 
Saturday, May 17 – NASCAR K&N Pro Series East vs. West Challenge
Sunday, May 18 – NASCAR Nationwide Series
Friday, July 11 – American Ethanol 200, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Saturday, July 12 – Iowa Corn Indy 300, IndyCar Series
Friday, August 1 – NASCAR K&N Pro Series East vs. West Challenge
Saturday, August 2 – NASCAR Nationwide Series

Roger Penske discusses flying tire at Indy 500 with Dallara executives: ‘We’ve got to fix that’

By May 30, 2023, 6:00 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS – Roger Penske spoke with Dallara executives Monday morning about the loose tire that went flying over the Indianapolis Motor Speedway catchfence and into a Turn 2 parking lot.

The left-rear wheel from Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Dallara-Honda was sheared off in a collision at speed as Kirkwood tried to avoid the skidding No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet of Felix Rosenqvist on Lap 183 of the 107th Indianapolis 500.

No one seriously was hurt in the incident (including Kirkwood, whose car went upside down and slid for several hundred feet), though an Indianapolis woman’s Chevy Cruze was struck by the tire. The Indy Star reported a fan was seen and released from the care center after sustaining minor injuries from flying debris in the crash.

During a photo shoot Monday morning with Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden at the IMS Yard of Bricks, Penske met with Dallara founder and owner Gian Paolo Dallara and Dallara USA CEO Stefano dePonti. The Italian company has been the exclusive supplier of the current DW12 chassis to the NTT IndyCar series for 11 years.

“The good news is we didn’t have real trouble with that tire going out (of the track),” Penske, who bought Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020, told a few reporters shortly afterward. “I saw it hit. When it went out, I saw we were OK. I talked to the Dallara guys today. We’re going to look at that, but I guess the shear (force) from when (Rosenqvist’s) car was sitting, (Kirkwood’s car) went over and just that shear force tore that tether. Because we have tethers on there, and I’ve never seen a wheel come off.

“That to me was probably the scariest thing. We’ve got to fix that. We’ve got to fix that so that doesn’t happen again.”

Asked by NBC Sports if IndyCar would be able to address it before Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix or before the next oval race at Iowa Speedway, Penske said, “The technical guys should look at it. I think the speed here, a couple of hundred (mph) when you hit it vs. 80 or 90 or whatever it might be, but that was a pinch point on the race.”

In a statement released Monday to WTHR and other media outlets, IndyCar said that it was “in possession of the tire in Sunday’s incident and found that the tether did not fail. This is an isolated incident, and the series is reviewing to make sure it does not happen again. IndyCar takes the safety of the drivers and fans very seriously. We are pleased and thankful that no one was hurt.”

IndyCar provided no further explanation for how the wheel was separated from the car without the tether failing.

IndyCar began mandating wheel suspension tethers using high-performance Zylon material after a flying tire killed three fans at Charlotte Motor Speedway during a May 1, 1999 race. Three fans also were struck and killed by a tire at Michigan International Speedway during a July 26, 1998 race.

The IndyCar tethers can withstand a force of more than 22,000 pounds, and the rear wheel tethers were strengthened before the 2023 season.