How a Missouri driver helped design the ‘Fastest Short Track on the Planet’

By: Mitchell Kaminski

NEWTON, Iowa (KMIZ)

Tucked in America’s heartland is a 7/8 mile oval in the middle of a cornfield, dubbed the "Fastest Short Track on the Planet." Despite being located in the hills of Newton, Iowa, its origins have ties to the Show-Me State. 

After the Newton City Council approved plans for the proposed $30 million race track in 2003, Rusty Wallace was named the leading designer of the project. Wallace is one of 41 drivers from Missouri to compete in NASCAR. In 2004, the St. Louis native inked plans for a D-shaped, asphalt oval, becoming the first professional stock car driver in recent history to design a racing circuit. 

“You can definitely tell a driver designed the race track,” 2012 Cup Series Champion Brad Keselowski told ABC 17 News. “ A lot of things that just make sense, the tracks designed with progressive banking, which allows for it to race with two separate lanes and create side-by-side racing and passing. Rusty deserves a lot of credit for that vision.” 

Missouri features over 50 different types of race tracks across the state, including dirt tracks, drag strips, and ovals. Like many grassroots racers in the Show-Me State, Wallace thrived on short ovals, specifically Richmond, logging six of his race wins there. After getting a call from investors a year before he retired in 2005, Wallace decided to bring an improved version of Richmond to the Midwest, which has presented a variety of challenges to drivers.

“This is one of the very few tracks, especially ovals, where I kinda feel like I’m out in left field a little bit with kind of understanding what I need to do to go fast here,” Denny Hamlin, who is just two wins shy of his 60th Cup Series victory, said. “It's certainly shaped uniquely,  very similar to Richmond, but different. This is certainly something that's important in this region to have a racetrack, and certainly the fans will turn out in big numbers.” 

Two years after Wallace completed his design plans, Iowa Speedway opened its doors and began hosting a variety of racing series, including the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Truck Series, and IndyCar.  The track quickly became a favorite for drivers and fans alike, producing several memorable moments. Nearly a decade after opening, Iowa Speedway finally hosted its inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race.  

“It was always my favorite race track on iRacing. I remember coming here in 2016 and just wondering if how I felt about it on iRacing would be the same as in real life and was able to come here and literally the first lap on the racetrack, it felt just like iRacing and just kind of fell in love with the place,” Chase Briscoe told ABC 17 News hours before winning pole position for the second Cup Series race at Iowa. “The repave changed my opinions on that, but still love coming out here.” 

“You roll in and you see almost nothing for hours and hours and you just roll into this beautiful racetrack set up in the hills. Really is an amazing facility,” Chris Buscher, driver of the No. 17 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, added.  

Buescher couldn’t help but grin as he recalled how much the racing surface and the experience have changed over the years. 

“I remember this was one of the hottest races I ever ran in an ARCA car. But it was so much fun back then,” Buescher said as he cracked a smile. “We actually moved around basically all the way to the wall and just to see that progression since that day and see how many races moved around and widened the place out was awesome. Obviously the repave has taken that upper half of the racetrack away from us for the time being. But it was also pretty rough.” 

Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club, got his first taste of Iowa Speedway while in the NASCAR Truck Series. Like Buescher, he has fond memories of coming to the track. 

“In 2013, I came here and ran a truck race, not the same place at all, that's for sure.  But I liked it right away. I had success here in Trucks and Xfinity and won some races.  I always enjoyed coming,” Jones said.  “It's definitely way different with the patch than what it was then, and  the way you race and track and move around and how treacherous it is. This place never seemed so treacherous.” 

The patch Jones referenced, which was part of a repave before the inaugural Cup Series race in 2024, has drawn the ire of several drivers. It has also made the track even more challenging, with fewer lanes to move around in. 

“From the first time I came here, it was a bit tricky to figure out. Short tracks weren’t really my thing. But as the tires wear out, you can kind of move around, so that kind of saved me a little bit.  Getting going I couldn’t really make speed unless you're able to move up and move around,” Tyler Reddick, driver of the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, said. “That game changed a little bit with repaved corners, but you're still moving around searching on those patches.” 

Despite the driver concerns, the track has produced sold-out crowds in each of its first two Cup Series races. 

“Whether the racing is great or not, they show up, hopefully we put on a good show every time,” Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Chevrolevte for Spire Motorsports, said. 

Drivers say the packed grandstands speak to the racing culture in the Midwest, a region that has an appetite for racing. 

“I think the culture is different in motorsports, definitely in different pockets of the country. But the Midwest region is certainly my favorite,” Briscoe, an Indiana native, said. “ Iowa is just such a core motorsports fan base and they just love racing, you know, whether it's NASCAR, IndyCars or sprint cars or late models, it just doesn't matter, it’s just a ton of fans, especially grassroots fans, especially in this area.” 

Jones, who got his start racing in his hometown state of Michigan, offered a similar sentiment. 

“I think there's really a love for it here that's probably a bit understated,” Jones said. " You look at the history of guys who have come out of the Midwest and have been successful not just in NASCAR, but on the short track side, and it’s guys that I look up to from the short track world. They're all from the Midwest.”