Exclusive: New chief revs up Iowa Speedway for the busiest season in its 18-year history

With snow covering parts of the backstretch and wind whipping, Eric Peterson stood at the finish line at Iowa Speedway and envisioned cars hurtling by at more than 130 mph during the track's first NASCAR Cup Series race in June.

Peterson, a lifelong Kansan, was named the new president of Iowa Speedway on Thursday. He steps into the role as the speedway prepares to host the June 16 NASCAR event. Less than a month later there will be a pair of NTT IndyCar Series races, marking one of the busiest periods in the track's 18-year history.

The inaugural Cup race — the Iowa Corn 350 — will be the most important race in Iowa history, Peterson said.

Former Iowa Speedway President David Hyatt left the job during the pandemic according to NASCAR, which owns the Newton track about 40 miles east of Des Moines. The track had been without a president since then. Most recently Peterson directed sales for NASCAR's west region and was based at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. Hyatt's longtime goal was to bring a Cup race to Iowa, and now Peterson will be tasked with preparing for that soon-to-be-realized ambition.

All of the tickets for the Iowa Corn 350 had been claimed before the scheduled sale date of Dec. 4, with fans placing $25 deposits in advance. On Wednesday, grandstand tickets were listed for as much as $604 on resale website StubHub.

"Showing that we have a sold-out race in a matter of minutes really does prove that there is an appetite for racing at Iowa Speedway," Peterson said at the track Wednesday. "If you haven't been to a NASCAR race, it is an experience unlike any other in any sport or any entertainment. It's great watching it on television, but being there is such a visceral experience."

Preparing for Iowa Speedway's action-packed season

Iowa Speedway will be one of just three tracks in 2024 to host both Cup and NTT IndyCar races, the two top series in the nation. Worldwide Technology Raceway near St. Louis and Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be the only other tracks to do so.

Since it was built, in 2006 Iowa Speedway has become a special track for race fans, Peterson said. At just 7/8 mile, it generates tight, tense action, yet its so-called "tri-oval" shape and a front stretch with 10 degrees of banking allow cars to hit higher speeds than at most short tracks.

From 2009 to 2019, Iowa Speedway hosted 20 Xfinity Series and 13 Truck Series races. And since 2007, Iowa Speedway has hosted 19 IndyCar races. NASCAR bought the track in 2013 for $10 million.

While the June 16 NASCAR Cup race is sold out, tickets are still available for the two races that precede it that weekend: the ARCA Menards Series, a low-level feeder circuit, on June 14, and the Xfinity Series, a step below NASCAR, on June 15, Peterson said. Drivers in the cup also are scheduled to practice on June 14 and qualify the following day, said Matt Humphrey, a communications manager for NASCAR.

Entertainment is still being finalized, but the team is working to make it an event "fans won't soon forget," Peterson said. Outside the track on the Midway there will be fan zones, kid zones and sponsor booths and activities, as well as souvenir trailers. Musical artists will perform outside the track near Turn 4, he said.

"We're going to put on a show for folks that can bring out their entire family," Peterson said. "So there's something to do for every person that comes out here."

Over the years, the track has earned a reputation as a place drivers love, with opportunities to pass both in the corners and on the straightaways. But it has struggled at times to stay afloat, and just three years ago, many fans thought it might be closed for good.

How IndyCar's big race weekend at Iowa Speedway came together: It started with a chat

That crisis came In 2021 as the track fell off the IndyCar, Xfinity Series and Truck Series schedules. ARCA raced there that year, but the only other major activity was crash testing of vehicles and farm equipment in the infield. NASCAR laid off most of the staff and leaned heavily on workers at Kansas Speedway to assist in operations.

But IndyCar returned in 2022, with support from Hy-Vee, a major sponsor of the series, and also featured race-weekend concerts highlighted by high-wattage performers including country star Blake Shelton and his pop-diva wife Gwen Stefani.

Humphrey, the NASCAR spokesperson, said that the first time he came to the track he thought it was primed for a Cup date. Peterson echoed his sentiments.

"You won't find a racetrack that has so much ready from an infrastructure standpoint," Humphrey said. "Look how nice the media center is, how nice the infield is. The garage area is top-notch. You have the Newton Club. This place from a racetrack standpoint can handle a Cup Race."

Fan enthusiasm impressive, new Iowa Speedway President Eric Peterson says

Most tracks on the Cup Series schedule hold at least 50,000 fans. Grandstand attendance at Iowa will be capped at about 25,000, Peterson said. But corporate support for the event is strong enough to warrant a Cup date well into the future, he said.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association, the title sponsor of the Iowa Speedway's IndyCar event through 2018, will sponsor the Cup race. Numerous other sponsorships for the weekend will be announced in the next few months, Peterson said.

Several factors go into creating the schedule each year, he said. The opportunity for Iowa Speeday to host a Cup race came from the closure of a previous series site, Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, for remodeling.

Iowa fans' enthusiasm showed NASCAR it was right about the track's readiness for a turn in the big time, Peterson said.

"The support was unlike anything I've ever seen for any Cup Race that's ever been announced," he said.

Hy-Vee's sponsorship of the IndyCar Doubleheader at the speedway runs through this year, and it now is in discussions with NASCAR to sponsor this year's Cup Series race weekend in some form, as well, said Tina Potthoff, spokesperson for the supermarket chain.

Details of the contract are not finalized and no other information is yet available, Potthoff said.

Hy-Vee has spent millions using IndyCar to reach new audiences in places like Indianapolis, one of several cities West Des Moines-based company is planning to expand to. It also is planning stores in Tennessee — long a NASCAR hotbed.

Peterson said he has bought a house in Ankeny and is excited about the summer ahead.

"It's going to be an incredible opportunity to show off Iowa," he said.

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Speedway set for first NASCAR Cup Series race, new president says