NEWTON – Central Iowa racing fans have found a new niche at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. The 7/8-mile track, which opened in 2006, has hosted a number of racing series, including the ARCA RE/MAX Series’ Prairie Meadows 250 on June 2 and the NASCAR Grand National East-West Series on May 20.

Track vice president and general manager Craig Armstrong said the track goes to great lengths to provide entertainment to fans.

“We call ourselves ‘America’s Place to Race,’ which I think is a tad audacious for a first-year facility that has yet to complete its first full season of racing,” Armstrong said. “I truly believe we are the finest motor sports facility in the country, if not one of the finest in the world. I’m not uncomfortable saying that.”

Armstrong said the design of the track made it intrinsically fan-friendly. The 7/8-mile oval is small enough to allow fans to see the whole track during a race, and the banked corners allow two- and three-wide racing on a regular basis. Also, the track is surrounded with Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barriers, which absorb impacts and give drivers the opportunity to not worry about crashing and focus on racing.

The 25,000-seat facility is already sold out for the Indy Car Series’ Iowa Corn 250 on June 24, prompting the installation of extra seats for the race.

“We’re looking for people who are looking for something exciting to do. Certainly the Indy Car race will give them an opportunity to see something they normally wouldn’t see,” Armstrong said. “This will be literally the first major league sports event in the state’s history, and we’re pretty excited for it.”

Former NASCAR Nextel Cup Series driver Rusty Wallace designed the racing oval. Armstrong said Wallace was intrigued by the proposed location of the track, which is near an Interstate 80 exit and right next to the Newton Municipal Airport. The final selling point, however, was the speedway’s partnership with the Manatt Corporation, the company in charge of paving the track.

“The Manatt family really stepped up to the plate and allowed us to build this $70 million facility in Iowa,” Armstrong said. “It all worked together.”

As for the future of the track, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and Busch Series races are the goal. A Nextel Cup date, NASCAR’s premiere series, may be unfeasible at this point.

Armstrong said the speedway is concerned not only with providing racing fans entertainment, but also with giving nonfans an alternate activity they may not have had interest in before. Both types were in attendance at the ARCA race on June 2.

Andrew Larson, senior in finance, attended his first-ever race at the event. Larson was talked into going by his fiancee’s father, Mark Cummings, who has been to the Daytona 500 three times. Larson said he didn’t quite know what to expect, but liked the idea of witnessing a few wrecks.

“I’ve always wanted to go to a race, so this should be fun,” Larson said before the race. “I want to see some wrecks, some cool crashes – basically everything but death would be cool.”

However, the racing was relatively clean, and despite a few wrecks, nobody was injured.

Cummings, a season-ticket holder, said although the track is new and overshadowed by more famous NASCAR tracks, the quality of the racing was comparable.

“It’s a good track, a lot of passing,” he said. “This is a pretty first-class facility. It’s good racing. It doesn’t have the rep of all the other tracks, but it’s a good track.”