Full Throttle

Rusty Wallace, taking a cue from Kevin Costner, has made good on a promise made last year to provide Iowa a sequel. While he has made no claims of Curtis Turner, Robbie Flock, Junior Johnson, or even “The King,” appearing amidst the tall corn of Iowa there will be a place for new legends to be made. And the local officials are very pleased:

One year ago this week, NASCAR superstar Rusty Wallace promised NewsChannel 8 that the racetrack would come to Iowa. “It’s going to be a reality, and it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be beautiful,” Wallace said.

The racetrack will be located next to Newton’s airport, with an asphalt track that will be 7/8 of a mile long. The grandstand will hold 25,000 fans. Temporary seating should boost capacity to 80,000.

“This is the biggest thing we’ve had in a long, long time,” said Jim Greve, of the Newton City Council.

Developers are ready to begin building, and racing could begin as early as next summer, if weather permits, according to Dennis Chalupa, the developer’s attorney.

The city does not have to guarantee the developer’s debt. “We’re not responsible for any part of the loan,” Newton Mayor Chaz Allen said. “Our simple responsibility is to put in water, sewer and infrastructure.”

In return, U.S. Motorsports will work with the NASCAR driver himself to design the first Rusty Wallace Signature Track.

“This will be the biggest thing that ever hit the state of Iowa, eventually,” said Larry Clement, of U.S. Motorsport Corp. “I mean it’s going to be huge.”

The next step in the process is to determine who will race on the track. Negotiations are under way with several sanctioning bodies. “We know what happens around these race tracks, and we know the impact it has, and we’re just extremely excited to bring this to Iowa and Newton in general,” Clement said.

With the the city having no financial responsibilities, with the noted exceptions, it sounds like a go to me. It will be interesting which sanctioning bodies sign up. I’m thinking Craftsmann Truck Series, USAC Modifieds and maybe Champ or IRS. [Update: You can add IMCA to the list of possible sanctioning bodies to sign up. And it may be the first considering many of it's events are held in the mid-west.]

The only queston that remains: Will the site of the track be host to images of Dick Trickle complete with cigarette dangling from his mouth, or Elmo Langley looking as if he were ready “rebend” a few fenders like gave Bobby Allison, “Tiger Tom” Pistone, David Pearson, and Buddy Baker in his day?

Time will tell, legends never die, it could be a few will appear out of the tall corn of Iowa just as the movie!