The 2007 IndyCar Racing Series has concluded, but racing fans still have a chance to catch leading IndyCar Series drivers tearing around the track at Iowa Speedway. IndyCar Series officials are testing the new speedway on October 3rd and 4th and the public is welcome to catch a final glimpse of top IndyCar drivers for 2007.
Top IndyCar teams, drivers, and cars are scheduled to be in Newton, Iowa, next week for two days of “Testing with the Stars” on the 7/8 mile oval track designed by former NASCAR Champion, Rusty Wallace. And, Rusty is scheduled to be in Iowa to welcome back an elite group of race car drivers that include: Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, and Dan Wheldon.
IndyCar® Series officials will conduct a technical test at Iowa Speedway at Iowa Speedway next Wednesday and Thursday, October 3-4. Drivers from Andretti Green Racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske will test to refine the areodynamic package currently used at the .875-mile oval. The IndyCar Series held its inaugural race at Iowa Speedway in June with eventual series champion Dario Franchitti claiming victory by .0681 of a second over teammate Marco Andretti in the Iowa Corn Indy 250. The IndyCar Series is scheduled to return to Iowa Speedway June 22, 2008, and again in 2009.
The two-day event will be open to the public with food, beverages, and merchandise available for purchase. Tickets are $20 each for adults, 13 and over, and children 12 and under free with a paying adult – for both days of testing and any autograph sessions that may be available.
“While we are quite pleased with the results from our first visit to Iowa, we want to take time this off-season to look at our current areo-package for this track,” said Brian Barnhart, president of the competition and operations division of the Indy Racing League, sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series. “Iowa Speedway is like nothing else currently on our circuit. It combines the characteristics of a short oval with those of a banked superspeedway. We want to make sure we’re providing the best possible on-track product for our drivers and our fans when we return to Iowa Speedway next season.”
For Wallace, an ABC/ESPN sports commentator, the Iowa visit offers an opportunity to share time with another high-profile ABC personality – Helio “Dancing with the Stars” Castroneves. The Team Penske driver showed a national television audience this week he can dance as well as drive a race car. Iowa Speedway officials say Helio, and other drivers, will be available for autographs as the testing schedule permits.
Iowa Speedway President Stan Clement said the partnership with the Indy Racing League and the Iowa Corn Growers Association is a natural. “Anyone who watched this year’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway – and people all over the world did – saw a world-class race at a world-class facility,” he said. “If you live in Iowa, or the Midwest, you already have a very good idea of how corn, agriculture, and auto racing fit together. Now, you also know why the Indy Racing League, Iowa Speedway, and Iowa Corn are teaming up to race again. It’s a perfect fit and, based on this year’s event, racing fans in Iowa and around the country seem to agree”.