Final race weekend promises to be a great one

Sam Hornish Jr. got a taste of Iowa Speedway’s Pizza Ranch Victory Lane in May. Last August, Brad Keselowski made his way back to Victory Lane at Iowa.

Hornish and Keselowski, the winners of the last two NASCAR Nationwide Series races on the 7/8-mile oval track at Newton, will be on the track this weekend for the 2014 U.S. Cellular 250 presented by New Holland. Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race should prove to be a great race for fans. The green flag drops on the U.S. Cellular 250 at 7 p.m.

Keselowski, a two-time NASCAR national series champion, announced this week he would compete in the Nationwide Series race in Iowa and in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania on Sunday. Hornish finished second to Keselowski in the 2013 U.S. Cellular 250.

Throw into the mix on the Speedway track Nationwide Series points leader Chase Elliott, who comes into Saturday’s race with a four-point lead over Regan Smith. Elliott Sadler is third in the standings just 11 points back. Fellow Nationwide Series rookie Ty Dillon is 15 points by Elliott. Dillon is coming off his first series win at Indianapolis last week.

This is the final race weekend of the season at Iowa Speedway.

It all begins Friday with practice sessions for the Nationwide Series drivers and the up-and-coming drivers of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Late afternoon and evening gives way to the qualifying for Friday night’s K&N Pro Series’ Autolite Iridium XP 150.

The Autolite Iridium XP 150 is NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series combo race The 150-lap event is an annual clash between the K&N Pro Series East and West, and features a large group of NASCAR’s rising stars, including nine members of the 2014-2015 NASCAR Next class.

The green flag drops on the Autolite Iridium XP 150 at 8 p.m. Friday at the Speedway. The race will air on a tape-delayed format at 10 a.m. on Aug. 8 on Fox Sports 1.

In May’s K&N Pro Series race, then-East leading Ben Rhodes claimed the win at Iowa. Rhodes still leads the East division points standings at 457. Cameron Hayley is second in the East at 395 followed by Gray Gaulding, 383, and Jesse Little, who is driving the No. 97 Get To Know Newton Chevrolet, is fourth at 379. Last year’s winner of the Iowa August K&N race, Cole Custer, is 25th in the standings.

Greg Pursley is leading the K&N West points standings with 342. Pursley was the highest finishing West driver — fourth — in last August’s race at Iowa Speedway. The top finishing West driver in May at Iowa was David Mayhew, who was ninth. Mayhew is fourth in the West points race.

Kenzie Ruston, who was named one of this year’s NASCAR Next drivers along with Rhodes, Gaulding, Little and Custer, sits 10th in the East points race. She was running in the top 10 through the first half of the race at Iowa in May. A mechanical failure relegated her to a 16th-place finish.

“I’ve always had speed at Iowa, just a few things have happened outside my control or my teams control,” Ruston said. “I love racing at Iowa. Being from Oklahoma, Iowa Speedway is as close to home as I get during our season, so its nice to have family and friends come out and be a part of the weekend. Hopefully I can give them something to be excited about Friday night.”

On Saturday, Nationwide Series drivers take over the Speedway. There’s the fourth and final round of competition in the Nationwide Insurance Dash 4 Cash, which includes pairing four fans with the four eligible drivers in Saturday’s race in the bonus contest.

Four NASCAR Nationwide Series championship contenders are eligible to compete for the chance to win the $100,000 bonus this weekend at Iowa. By winning the Dash 4 Cash award at Indianapolis, Dillon automatically qualifies for the next payout along with  Trevor Bayne, Brian Scott and Smith.

This weekend, Nationwide includes a fan element into the program. The following four sweepstakes winners are entered to win the bonus: Kathy Coffman, Gonzales, La.; Patricia Martens, Danville, Calif.; James Dennis, Henry, Ill.; Patricia Cochran, Houston, Texas.

Each sweepstakes winner will be paired with a driver randomly on Saturday morning; they will also be an honorary team member during the race. If their driver wins the Dash 4 Cash they win the $100,000 dollars bonus as well.

Also every fan attending the NASCAR Nationwide Series race may join the “Dash 4 Cash Bash,” a NASCAR-style celebration immediately after the checkered flag waves, culminating the popular “Dash 4 Cash” driver and fan sweepstakes and Iowa Speedway’s 2014 race season.

Saturday afternoon is the qualifying round. The pole winner will receive the Pork Be Inspired Award sponsored by Washington County Pork Producers.

Then it is race time. The U.S. Cellular 250 runs at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

During a test in May, Keselowski was asked why Iowa Speedway is one of his favorite tracks, the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series and 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ said it served competitors and fans well.

“The design and layout is one of the few tracks that has a great balance between what the drivers like and the fans like,” Keselowski said. “Drivers want a track where you can run and not spin out all the time for no reason, and they like the smaller tracks but not too small.

“This track is 7/8 of a mile so it’s smaller but not so small you’re on top of everybody. And I think drivers like that.

“From a fan perspective with the progressive banking and the way the track has aged and gotten rougher, the cars seem to run side by side here really well, and I think that makes for great racing for the fans from that perspective.”