NASCAR fan who had Mark Martin-inspired bus is excited for cup race in Newton

Guy Winchell, a Newton resident and longtime racing fan, had been wanting to see a NASCAR Cup Series race at the Iowa Speedway ever since the track opened in 2006. He will no doubt attend the Iowa Corn 500 race this month, but he will also be without his customized bus that made him famous for 20 years.

Furnished from an old yellow school bus, Winchell gave the vehicle a paint job fit for a NASCAR driver. The red, white and blue color scheme matched that of Mark Martin’s No. 6 Valvoline car. When the stock car racer’s vehicle donned Pfizer’s Viagra brand, Winchell followed suit and painted the named on the bus.

From 1994 to 2013, the bus had gone with him to every race he could get to. So in addition to being a hospitable sleeping quarters and a fun ride to tracks, it was also outfitted with a deck attached to the roof. This is where Winchell would watch the races, with the bus parked in the infield or at a track-side campground.

As such, the bus caught a lot attention from both the press and race fans. So much so he was invited to bring the bus to a mock tailgate party at the Iowa Speedway and do a lap with it around the track. He also showed off a golf cart adorned with Martin’s No. 5 Kellogg’s car color scheme.

Unfortunately, Winchell won’t be able to bring the bus to this 2024 cup race this year. In 2014, he sold the vehicle and has since been visiting tracks in a fancy camper with all the comfort he and his wife will ever need on any given race day. Sure, it’s more dependable than the bus, but it doesn’t have the same character.

But that is not going to stop Winchell from enjoying himself at the Iowa Corn 500 and cheering on Kyle Larson, the racer he has pinned to win it all.

“We’ve had Xfinity and the trucks before, but this is the cup — this is the big one,” Winchell said of the NASCAR Cup Series race, which is a first at the Newton-based Iowa Speedway. It’s something racing fans had been wanting for a long time, and now that it’s finally here they couldn’t be happier.

Will it feel different without his decked out school bus? Definitely. But Winchell is convinced the experience will not be ruined by any means, because at the very least he gets to hang out with the rest of his racing fans family. They might not be blood relatives but they are just as important to him as his own family.

“There aren’t any fights either,” he said. “…The only time I saw a fight at a race was on a Sunday and the Broncos were 4-0 and the Chiefs were 4-0 and they were going to play that day. Someone had a Broncos flag out and I’ll be damned the first fight I ever saw at a race was over a football game.”

Winchell is very complementary toward race fans in general. They are a different breed of sporting fanatics. Despite the fast-paced nature of the sport, the fans are pretty easygoing people. Winchell said some people just don’t understand racing fans. They can’t understand why someone would even watch it.

Yes, cars are going in a circle for several laps on end. But it is more complex than that. Keeping a top seed at top speed is no easy feat.

Winchell argued the experience is way different at the track than watching through a TV screen. You can hear the engines. You can smell the rubber. Heck, you can feel the cars coming by. Getting that experience from a camper or in the stands or on top of the deck of a customized school bus just hits different.

“I’m just such a dummy for racing,” Winchell said with a laugh. “You don’t understand how fast they’re going until you’re there.”

Having Iowa Speedway host its very first NASCAR Cup Series race means the racing atmosphere will most surely be different. The stakes are higher. For Winchell, it just makes the weekend all the more exciting to be a part of. He and many, many others have been waiting for this moment.

“I’m excited! I can’t believe it,” Winchel said. “It’s just been forever waiting for it.”