After years of work and help from the state the Iowa Speedway in Newton is a step closer to reality after today’s official groundbreaking ceremony. The 70-million dollar facility will be located near the Newton airport.Newton mayor Chaz Allen says he’s asked all the time what this means for Newton. He says, “It means a new future. It means our community is going to embark on a new great adventure.” He says the track will not only help Newton, but will help all the cities in the area. The Iowa Speedway was designed by NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace, and is the first driver-designed track in the country. Wallace says they’re going to build the facility, showcase it, and have some great racing. Wallace says he tried to draw on his experiences as a driver in designing the track. He says it’s very friendly for the fans so they can see all the way around the raceway and all the seats will be good seats. Wallace says there are a lot of racetracks with problems, and hopefully they learned from those mistakes. One of the series that is likely to race at the track is the ARCA Remax series. ARCA President Ron Drager says the scheduling is a long-term process and they’re tow and three years out on scheduling. He says the track will be built and people will be pleased with the quality of races. Minus any construction delays the first race is expected to take place next summer.
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