Brad Keselowski shows love to Iowa as NASCAR returns

The NBC portion of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season gets underway this Sunday with the Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol at Iowa Speedway.

It’s the first Cup Series race to emanate from the racetrack since its opening in 2006 and as you could imagine, there’s a lot of intrigue within the sport to see how it will go. Brad Keselowski in particular, is looking forward to NASCAR heading out to Iowa with the opportunity to grow the sport in a different part of the country.

“[Iowa] is exposing us to just a different part of the country, different region that’s hungry for our sport and it’s going to embrace us at all levels — whether it be the fans in the stands or the corporate partnerships,” Keselowski said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “I think we get caught up in this flashy New York City or pick your hot city of the day, and we forget sometimes to serve markets that already love us.

“That’s a tough balancing act that I have empathy for NASCAR when they make those decisions. But is nice to go somewhere like that, where the fan base is already there. They’re ready. They’re excited, and they’re committed to our sport.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. voices concern about Iowa Speedway

The track underwent a partial repave earlier this year, with the entrances and exits of turns two and four getting a fresh coat of asphalt. Photos of the newly paved surface emerged last month, showing just a sliver of the old pavement remaining in the corners of the track.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on his “Dale Jr. Download” podcast last week that he’s a “little bit worried” about Iowa. He believes the partial repave will encourage drivers to stay on the new pavement as long as they can while avoiding the original surface.

“I’m a little bit worried about Iowa as we saw with the photos and images from the tire test,” Earnhardt said. “They paved parts of the racetrack and unfortunately, you’re never ever going to want to get out of that new pavement. So, wherever they put new pavement is where the cars are going to go. I know this track was extremely rough and it was the very reason why I never went there in the Xfinity Series was because of listening to my drivers talk about how bad the bumps were, especially getting down into Turn 1.

“They probably had to fix the track but why they didn’t pave the whole track is interesting. So, I’m not sure what kind of race it’ll be — a good one or not when we actually go there for real.”