A little over five years ago, when Iowa Speedway was a fledgling facility just starting out, track designer and former NASCAR driver Rusty was begging for a NASCAR race — any NASCAR race — to come to Newton. Since that time, Iowa Speedway has landed NASCAR’s Camping World series (now K&N Pro Series), an IndyCar race, NASCAR’s truck series and a pair of NASCAR Nationwide dates.

“It’s ahead of what I expected. I thought it was going to be a lot more to get these NASCAR races.” Wallace said. “Man, I never expected ever this much inventory this quick. And now we’ve got a second Nationwide race.”

How many NASCAR races could the Newton facility run? “Five” said Speedway President Jerry Jauron, smiling. That fifth race would be a Sprint Cup race — the pinnacle of NASCAR racing. If the Nationwide series is like AAA baseball then the Sprint Cup would be the major leagues.