‘The future is bright’

Ed Poe, of Newton, was seeking shelter beneath the shade of the grandstands of the Iowa Speedway with a cold beer in his hands and watching cars make laps around the track during the opening day of the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend. It had been a long time since he had seen this kind of energy at the racetrack.

And it was only getting started.

Ever since the Iowa Speedway opened its gates in the mid-2000s, Poe has found himself mingling with the racing crowds, so much so that he oftentimes gets more fixated with the people seated next to him than the roaring vehicles. “I’m a people person,” he says. Luckily for Poe there was plenty of folks packing the stands.

In the past, Poe met people from Alabama and the Carolinas. Heck, people are coming from everywhere to visit his town track, whether it is for the race or the live music from acts like Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton. Either way, Poe is ready to experience the familiar and the new.

“After I pull into the parking lot I go out and have a few with my friends, walk around and see what’s all here for food vendors and then find my seat. I like to get up in the stands. The heat don’t bother me,” Poe says. “There’s like 50 food trucks out here, and that’s pretty cool. Later on I’ll be going to the concerts.”

Seeing so much life returned to the Iowa Speedway during race weekend affirms Poe’s thoughts that the track is a viable entity in Newton. With rumors about the racetrack’s bleak future circulating, many questioned whether NASCAR had abandoned its Iowa track. Poe takes one look around and has faith.

“Look on TV at the NASCAR and if you look at some of the stands, there’s nobody there,” Poe tells Newton News before addressing NASCAR directly. “You need to bring it here to see what happens. I think they would pack it like this every time. They would pack it every time.”

Obviously this wasn’t Poe’s first visit to an IndyCar race, nor his first time braving the heat at the Iowa Speedway. The white T-shirt, shorts and ball cap indicate the need to dress for comfort this race weekend. The blistering 90-plus-degree heat and unforgiving humidity were beating down spectators and drivers.

Visitors still withstood the sweat and sunburn to see the races. Compared to NASCAR races, IndyCar Series races do not usually last as long, which is good news for anyone fanning themselves in the stands. Poe says the fast cars on the short track also make for a more exciting experience.

Which is doubly true for drivers in some cases. Will Power, driver for the Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, praised the Iowa Speedway for providing “such good racing,” noting the degradation and multiple lanes as high points for the track. “It’s a very fun track,” Power says, and the Indy Cars “are really good here.”

Bruce Voss, of Hiawatha, is a big fan of racing, even sporting a racing shirt to the grandstands. Like Poe, this isn’t his first time to the Iowa Speedway, nor his first time watching IndyCar. But unlike Poe it has been seven years since he was last at the fastest short track on the planet. Race weekend brought him back.

“There’s a lot more stuff here now,” Voss says. “I love IndyCar. It’s a very different sporting experience. I love the competitiveness (of racing). And the speed.”

IndyCar has made several appearances to Iowa Speedway over the years, but the sponsorship from Hy-Vee certainly added a new level of hype to the event. As did the extra additions of four live music concerts from top notch performers starting and ending both IndyCar Series races on July 23 and July 24.

Which is what Voss’s date, Janet Shannon, of Independence, is looking forward to most. Admittedly, she’s not much of a race fan. Other than a few dirt tracks, she has never stepped foot into a racetrack arena. In fact, the “Free Family Friday” was the first time Shannon ever visited the Iowa Speedway.

“But I’m pretty impressed,” Shannon says. “I would come back here for sure.”

With Voss and Shannon committing two of the three days of race weekend, they admit to having to real plan. They are winging it, Shannon says. Others, like Katrina Davis, are sticking it out for as many days as they can. With a grandchild on her lap and another not too far, Davis is ready for an exciting time with family.

It is the excitement and whole race weekend experience that brings Davis and her family to the Iowa Speedway. While the concerts, race and food trucks are all packaged together under one ticket, Davis admits, like Shannon, she is eagerly awaiting the concerts, particularly Blake Shelton.

While folks are enjoying tunes like “God’s Country,” “Mine Would Be You” and “Hillbilly Bone” or getting pumped by the fast-paced IndyCar action, Newton is reaping the benefits of having the spotlight placed squarely on its racetrack for three consecutive days. Davis said the races definitely impact the community.

“People are coming here, seeing what Newton has to offer and maybe going to the hotels, the restaurants and the businesses,” Davis says, acknowledging there’s also a return to form for the Iowa Speedway. “We haven’t seen these crowds out here for so long. Having all the people back here is exciting.”

Promotions for the race weekend were inescapable, but the exposure of the event spilled outside the track. Cliff Barker, state chairman for the American Legion Riders, led a troop of motorcyclists from other local Legion Riders to escort the Chip Ganassi team trailers from Williamsburg to the racetrack.

“The Jimmie Johnson car will be the first one in,” Barker says minutes before the riders escorted the team. “We’ll be bringing all of the haulers in to Iowa Speedway. The American Legion is a sponsor on the Ganassi cars. It’s a nice partnership and we’re glad to be part of this.”

To be included in race weekend and have local American Legion Riders guide the teams of Johnson, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou into the infield is a big deal. The riders are “the most public arm” to the American Legion itself, and it is an honor to be a part of the weekend, Barker says.

“It was an exciting 45-mile ride over,” Barker says. “We had 24 bikes, I believe, with a police escort and the haulers. We got seven different chapters from all over the state here … At the end of the day this is an honor for us. To be able to say we did this, this is something you never get to do the first time again.”

The same can be said for Trenton Eilander, of Newton, who joined his class of 2020 peers rounding the Iowa Speedway for a socially distanced graduation, a gesture that has not since been repeated. Eilander says he had not been to the Iowa Speedway since that large-scale graduation ceremony two years ago.

“As a resident of Jasper County, it’s definitely good to be back at the Iowa Speedway. I haven’t been here since COVID. I was a graduate of the 2020 high school so the last time we were out here was when we drove our cars around for graduation,” Eilander says. “It feels good to be back to normal.”

Eilander was excited to experience the race weekend, getting to meet some race car drivers and enjoying the cool air inside the suite alongside Mark Hallam, a member of the Newton City Council. Hallam says in addition to the economic impact the race will have, it could also have a psychological impact.

Seeing people packing the Iowa Speedway again could be a morale boost to the community, and perhaps other areas throughout the state.

“That’s just fantastic to see all this action,” Hallam says while surrounded by a seemingly endless autograph line. “Something else I’d like to add is how wonderful it is that Hy-Vee stepped up and is sponsoring this event with IndyCar. It’s a great benefit not just to Newton but to all of Central Iowa.”

Even before the races started, Hallam marveled at the amount of people who showed up to the practices and driver meet-ups. If there were any doubts of the Iowa Speedway’s future in Newton, the turnout and response from spectators may just change folks’ minds.

“I would have to say that this event today shows the future is bright, in fact the entire weekend shows that,” Hallam says.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com