NEWTON, Iowa. — After a one-year absence from the IndyCar calendar, Iowa Speedway will be back on the 2022 schedule as a doubleheader weekend.
In a new multi-year sponsorship deal with Hy-Vee, which is based in Des Moines, IndyCar will be running two races on the short-oval during a weekend in late July. On July 23, the series will run Hy-VeeDeals.com 250. The next day the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 will be run.
“As we built this series over many years, I think we go back to 2007 was the first time we raced here at Iowa,” said NTT IndyCar Series owner Roger Penske. “It’s probably one of the most exciting race tracks we’ve raced on.”
“We need to have tracks like Iowa,” he added. “Because we come to Indianapolis every year, but we can’t keep running on street circuits or permanent road circuits. We need to come places where we run wheel-to-wheel and side-by-side.”
The D-shaped 0.875 mile oval is the perfect fit for that kind of racing, says Penske. Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal has had a part-time relationship with Hy-Vee this year and for one-off Indianapolis 500 rides for Santino Ferrucci and Spencer Pigot.
“All these rumors of coming back and the race happening again is roundly accepted,” Rahal said. “They’re cheered by out fans and we are just so glad that it’s happening.”
In addition to bringing Iowa back to the IndyCar calendar next season, Hy-Vee is also planning to sponsor a third full-time car with Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing. The addition to the Rahal stable will likely mean the IndyCar Series will have 22 full-time cars next year.
