Iowa Corn 400

The Iowa Corn 400 is a 400-lap, 400.5-mile NASCAR Cup Series race held at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, the race is held on July 19, 2020 and replaced the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

History
The track’s second-year president thinks the chances are better than ever for the NASCAR’s top-level Cup Series racing to come to central Iowa as part of the 2021 schedule.

“We’ve got, I believe, our best opportunity ever,” David Hyatt told the Des Moines Register in a recent interview. “Maybe not even in a while, but perhaps ever.”

The racy 7/8-mile, Rusty Wallace-designed Newton track opened in 2006. It’s been hosting IndyCar and NASCAR national series races since 2007. But acquiring a long-discussed, long-coveted Cup Series date has proven elusive.

In the last 15 years, NASCAR fans have seen the NASCAR Cup Series schedule expand to include Texas, Fontana, Las Vegas, Homestead, Chicago, Kansas, and Kentucky. That's six 1.5-mile high-banked ovals and a two-mile high banked oval, all of which produce the same strung-out, uneventful racing.

So there was excitement in the air when Iowa joined the NASCAR circuit, as fans rejoiced at the addition of a .875-mile oval that loosely resembles Richmond International Speedway with a layout that combines close quarters and high speeds.

Iowa has produced some fantastic racing in its six NASCAR Xfinity Series races and four NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races, and seems the perfect spice to fix (or at least partially alleviate) the overload of mile-and-a-half tracks that has fans and even drivers (via Sporting News) clamoring for more unique venues.