Newton Independent

Newton Power Tour stop to feature Pinewood Derby race benefit

Newton Independent

Iowans planning to take in or participate in the 2010 HOT ROD Power Tour scheduled to kickoff Saturday, June 5, at the Iowa Speedway in Newton can do their part to help find a cure for pediatric cancer by participating in "Muscle Car" Pinewood Derby Races with a chance to win valuable prizes.

This year's Power Tour, presented by GM Performance Division, has named the Austin Hatcher Foundation for pediatric cancer the official charity of the seven-day, seven-city tour. The event kicks off in Newton and travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

New to the tour in 2010 is the Austin Hatcher Foundation's daily Pinewood Derby races. Each day of the tour, participants and fans will have the chance to build and race customized pinewood cars in single heat eliminations with daily prizes awarded. Daily prize winners will compete for the grand prize on the last day of the tour.

The cars, sold in advance online for $25, with "skins" going for $12, will be mailed beginning Monday to allow time for customizing the cars before the competition. Cars purchased after May 1 will be available for pick up during the tour. Limited quantities of cars will be available for purchase at the tour stops.

Proceeds from the sales of the Pinewood "Muscle Car" will benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation for pediatric cancer.

"We hope that this large community of car lovers will enjoy customizing and racing the pine cars during their week-long tour," said Jim Osborn, co-founder of the foundation. "We are fortunate that HOT ROD Magazine is bringing us on board with such an amazing event and giving us the opportunity to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer."

To purchase a car, follow this link. For more information on the Power Tour, go here.  

Iowa Speedway race fans will be asked to help Cedar Rapids businesses

Newton Independent

Fans attending NASCAR's Nationwide and Camping World Truck races at the Iowa Speedway will be asked to give donations to help Cedar Rapids businesses hit by last year's floods.

Iowa Speedway is teaming with the Greater Cedar Rapids Foundation to raise money for its Jobs and Small Business Recovery Fund.

The Nationwide race is scheduled for Aug. 1 with the Truck Series coming to the Iowa Speedway Sept. 5. Newton race officials expect 50,000 fans at each event.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette posts the story here.

Rusty Wallace roast set July 30

Newton Independent

Rusty Wallace will get "roasted" at a fundraiser for the NASCAR Foundation at the Iowa Speedway as part of the festivities surrounding the Nationwide series' initial run at the Newton racetrack.

In a release from NASCAR today, the event will highlight key moments of the former NASCAR driver's career, including his 1989 Cup Championship and his 55 career wins.

Those scheduled to attend include ESPN sportscaster Marty Reid, Nationwide Series driver Kenny Wallace and NASCAR President Mike Helton.

You can read the full release here.

Looks like Iowa Speedway to get more IRL races

Newton Independent

Looks like the Iowa Speedway is going to host more Indy Racing League races in the coming years as reports of a contract extension appear near. Here's a report just forthcoming from Pressdog about an interview with Jerry Jauron and Stan Clement of the Iowa Speedway. You can read it here.

Governor lowers state ownership requirements for sales tax rebate at Iowa Speedway

By PETER HUSSMANN

Iowa Speedway will continue to be able to receive a rebate on state sales taxes collected at the track even if its Iowa ownership involvement falls to 25 percent.

Changes in the state sales tax rebate provisions Iowa lawmakers previously granted to the speedway were signed into law by Gov. Chet Culver Tuesday night as part of the wide-ranging "standings bill."

In 2006, Iowa lawmakers approved a measure where the speedway would be able to claim a rebate on sales taxes at the facility for a 10-year period or up to $12.5 million. In granting that incentive, lawmakers included provisions that required that at least 60 percent of the ownership of the facility rest with Iowa residents, an Iowa corporation or a combination of both. The sales tax rebate would cease should "change of control" of the Newton racetrack fall below those percentage levels prior to its ending date.

The measure signed by the governor lowers the Iowa ownership requirements to 25 percent. The Iowa track owners now become ineligible for the sales tax rebate if their ownership interests fall below that threshold.

The change in the ownership requirements signed into law by the governor is likely an outgrowth the speedway's board of director's decision to substantially increase the availability of ownership shares in the racetrack.

In a filing with the Iowa Secretary of State in late October 2008, the U.S. MotorSport Corporation, parent company of Iowa Speedway, amended its articles of incorporation to increase the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue.

The amended article states that "the aggregate number of shares of stock which the corporation is authorized to issue is 100,000,000 (100 million) shares of common stock, no par value. The common stock shall have unlimited voting rights and shall be entitled to receive the net assets of the Corporation upon dissolution."

Previously, the corporation was authorized to issue 20 million shares.

The Iowa Speedway has attracted several high-caliber races this season. In addition to the return of the Indy Car Series, the Newton raceway will also host a NASCAR Nationwide race and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, the number two and number three NASCAR series. Speedway officials have said they will bring in temporary seating to accommodate the expected large crowds. The track currently has permanent seating for 25,000 but officials have said they will look to expand that capacity.

Pizza Ranch to sponsor Kyle Busch at Iowa Speedway

Newton Independent

Pizza Ranch will announce that it has signed a deal with Joe Gibbs racing to sponsor driver Kyle Busch at the inaugural Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway on Aug. 1. You can read a press release here.

How Newton lands a top NASCAR race

Newton Independent

Remember Jerry Carroll? He was one of the individuals initially part of development proposals for a Newton race track.

He's back in the NASCAR racing news down in Kentucky. In 2000, he was was one of a group that spent about $150 million to build the Kentucky Motor Speedway. A few years back his group sold it to Bruton Smith for about half that amount.

Smith wants to bring a NASCAR race to his new Kentucky facility - he owns a bunch of tracks across the country - but Carroll and his group of former owners won't budge from an anti-trust lawsuit against NASCAR for not providing the Kentucky facility a tier one race. And NASCAR won't deal with Kentucky until the suit is gone.

You can read more about it here.

And a Birmingham News columnist says Carroll's obstinence might just allow Newton to land a major NASCAR event. That theory can be read here.

Iowa Speedway supporting lottery losers

Newton Independent

A television report today talks about a new Iowa Lottery promotion that gives Iowa Powerball losers the chance to at least redeem those non-winning tickets for discounts at statewide attractions, including the Iowa Speedway.

As reported on KWWL-TV, people who hold losing Powerball lottery tickets purchased in May and June will be able to get discounts for tickets purchased at preselected tourist venues as part of the lottery's new "staycations" promotion. You can read more about it here.

And speaking of the Iowa Speedway, it appears Pizza Ranch is now a sponsor for one of the races in the Newton track's July racing weekend. You can read that here.  

Lawmakers correct sales tax glitch

By PETER HUSSMANN

Though state lawmakers last year inadvertently opened the door for the Iowa Speedway owners to collect an additional penny rebate on taxes collected on sales of merchandise at the facility, the threshold was never traversed, state officials say.

The door was opened last year when Iowa lawmakers increased the state sales tax rate from 5 to 6 percent. The penny increase replaced individual school districts' School Infrastructure Local Option sales taxes with a statewide collection system aimed at equalizing funding sources among all districts.

Several years earlier, in assisting the Iowa Speedway's development, state lawmakers approved a measure where the owners of the racetrack are able to obtain a rebate on the state sales taxes paid by retailers at the facility for a period of 10 years, but not to exceed $12.5 million. At that time, the state sales tax was 5 percent. Only the state sales tax is subject to the rebate. The collection and distribution of Newton's local option sales tax is not impacted.

The speedway's sales tax rebate provision runs to Jan. 1, 2016 or until the full amount agreed upon has been paid. Provisions included in the law state it sunsets should ownership of the facility change.

Lawmakers this session unanimously supported - and the governor signed on April 15 - a measure that specifically limits the rebate for sales taxes collected at the speedway to not more than 5 percent of the sales price of merchandise sold at the facility.

Renee Mulvey, public information officer for the Iowa Department of Revenue, said Iowa Speedway continues to collect rebates on only 5 percent of the state sales tax and had not sought to collect on the additional penny that went into effect July 1, 2008. She said raceway officials were aware and agreed to the technical changes included in Senate File 322, the measure that includes specific language on the speedway's rebate amount.

Due to "confidentiality reasons," the Department of Finance cannot release the amount of sales tax refunded to the Iowa Speedway so far, she said.

US Cellular new Iowa Speedway sponsor

Newton Independent

US Cellular has hooked up with the Iowa Speedway as the major sponsor of the Aug. 1 Nationwide race. You can read a press release from Iowa Speedway here.

NASCAR testing ban idles Newton track

Newton Independent

NASCAR's implementation of a testing ban this year means tracks will lose a source of revenue from race teams renting facilities, like the Iowa Speedway in Newton.

NASCAR.com does an indepth story on the matter and what it means to track operators and racing teams as the season progresses. Mike Beecher, media relations director for Iowa Speedway, won't say how much the Newton track stands to lose, but says the facility is being impacted in this article.

Speedway corporation issues more stock

By PETER HUSSMANN

It looks like the Iowa Speedway is trying to raise some cash.

In a filing with the Iowa Secretary of State in late October, the U.S. MotorSport Corporation, parent company of Iowa Speedway, amended its articles of incorporation to increase the number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue.

The amended article states that "the aggregate number of shares of stock which the corporation is authorized to issue is 100,000,000 shares of common stock, no par value. The common stock shall have unlimited voting rights and shall be entitled to receive the net assets of the Corporation upon dissolution."

Previously, the corporation was authorized to issue 20,000,000 shares.

The board of directors of the U.S. MotorSport Corporation voted Oct. 6 to adopt the change to its articles of incorporation. The matter was presented to its shareholders on Oct. 29 where the number of shares entitled to vote on the amendment was 19,670,686 and 18,461,915 represented and present at the meeting voted in favor of the amendment.

The Iowa Speedway is slated to host another Indy Car series event this year, as well as several NASCAR sanctioned events, including a truck series race. The truck series is expected to draw an extremely large crowd, like more than the nearly 40,000 who attended last year's Indy car race.

On Monday, the Iowa Speedway said its stadium seating is nearly sold out. You can read the press release here.

Newton gets another NASCAR-sanctioned race

Newton Independent

Iowa Speedway officials announced today the addition of another NASCAR-sanctioned race to its 2009 lineup. Read the Iowa Speedway press release here.

Iowa Speedway to get cancelled NASCAR truck series race

Newton Independent

TV reports out of WTVG in Toledo, Ohio and WHOTV in Des Moines late this afternoon are reporting that the Iowa Speedway is slated to get a NASCAR truck series race in September 2009 due to a cancellation of a date on the current series previously scheduled in Mansfield, Ohio. Information is unavailable at the current time from the Iowa Speedway, however, several sources are reporting that the Newton track will now be host to another of NASCAR's sanctioned series in the coming year.

According to WTVG, the Mansfield Motorsports Park has decided to cancel its scheduled Camping World Truck Series race in 2009, the track announced today, however to be replaced by an event in Newton in September.

NASCAR announced that Iowa Speedway will now host a truck race on Sept. 5 to make up for the lost Mansfield race, the Toledo TV station announced. The Camping World Truck Series was formerly known as the Craftsman Truck Series, but title sponsorship changed after the 2008 season completed.

"It is always exciting to go to a new venue and show the fans what the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is all about," NASCAR vice president of racing operations Steve O'Donnell said in a statement.

In addition to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, Iowa will host the NASCAR Nationwide Series, as well as the NASCAR Camping World East and West Series in 2009.

"We are extremely pleased to continue our strong relationship with NASCAR with the awarding of yet another NASCAR series race to Iowa Speedway," said Iowa Speedway CEO Stan Clement in the release. "We know from past experience that fans here in the Midwest will support this exciting new event."

Mansfield's decision comes on the same day that Chrysler announced that it will close all 30 of its manufacturing plants for at least a month to save on costs. Automakers did not receive a bailout from the government and face a serious cash flow crisis.

The Newton Independent will continue to update this story.