Full Throttle

NEWTON, Iowa

The track’s co-designer, NASCAR driver Rusty Wallace, was on hand to tout the 7/8 asphalt oval that will be built by U-S MotorSport Entertainment Corporation. Track organizers say it will be the industry’s first driver designed Speedway.

Wallace says the speedway project is an “economic shot in the arm” for Newton, where the area’s top employer, Maytag Corporation, faces an uncertain future.

The racetrack has gotten a handful of economic boosts from the state, including a multi-million dollar incentive package.

That package exempts the track from paying sales tax on the first 12-and-a-half million-dollars in sales.

Playing devils advocate… just which current NASCAR venue will give up a date for Iowa? And New York? Or Washington?

One things for sure, at 7/8^ths of a mile the track can’t be placed into the “cookie cutter” stereotype many people cry about.