NEWTON, Iowa — Minor glitches are inevitable at tracks hosting major races for the first time. But the mess the Iowa Corn Indy 250 had to deal with last year was a doozy.
Nearly 5 inches of rain fell in the 48 hours leading up to last year’s Iowa 250, turning four of the six lanes for directing parking lot traffic into mud and rendering 70 percent of the grass lots unusable.
That led to massive traffic jams on the highway feeding into Iowa Speedway. Some fans weren’t able to get into the track until after the race had started.
The track responded by enlisted the help of parking experts from the southeastern U.S., according to Iowa Speedway president Jerry Jauron. Officials spent over $500,000 to add gravel to about 35 percent of the grass parking lots — ensuring the turf can withstand both the weather and the influx of cars — and to install a number of gravel lanes that feed into the parking areas.
Jauron says that the track can park anywhere between 12,000 to 15,000 cars for Sunday’s race. Better yet, sunny skies are in the forecast for race day.
“We’ve really taken ownership of this and spent a lot of time and money, ” Jauron said. “We’ve got a great game plan.”
The speedway is expecting a crowd of about 40,000 on Sunday. That’s nearly 5,000 more than last year, despite concerns that the recent floods and tornados that have slammed Iowa would hurt attendance.
ROAD RAGE: Arie Luyendyk Jr., the son of the former two-time Indy 500 winner, appeared well on his way to his first IndyPro win in Saturday’s Jeld-Wen 100. But Luyendyk caught up with the pack riding a lap behind the leaders and was passed by Dillon Battistini with 13 laps to go.
Battistini went on to claim his third win of the year, and Luyendyk was left steaming about how he saw one of his best chances for a win slip away.
“Guys just wouldn’t get out of the way. If you’re in the back, just move out of the way,” Luyendyk said.
LUCKY BREAK: Tony Kanaan picked up his best starting position in five races when qualifying was canceled due to rain. Kanaan will start fourth, and will be joined on the second row by Dan Wheldon.
Andretti Green Racing teammates Danica Patrick, Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti will start sixth, seventh and eight respectively. Kanaan will be seeking his first win since last September at the Raceway at Belle Isle in Michigan.
“I can’t really complain. We haven’t had as much practice time as we would have liked, but I think we’ll be ready for the race,” Kanaan said.
SPARKPLUGS: Vitor Meira has gone 83 starts without a win, the longest current streak of any IndyCar driver. Meira will start 12th Sunday. … Sinden Racing Service is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the return of helmets that were stolen from the Indy Fan Zone in Indianapolis on June 16. Helmets from Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Dan Wheldon, Sarah Fisher, Ed Carpenter and Ryan Hunter-Reay were taken, as well as DVD players, laptops and XBox 360 gaming consoles. … Recent history suggests that polesitter Scott Dixon will be the driver to beat on Sunday. Dixon has won three races from the pole this year, including the Indy 500.
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