By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
New pavement should enhance racing at Iowa Speedway
NEWTON, Iowa — Ryan Blaney has mixed feelings about the imminent repaving project at Iowa Speedway.
Ryan Preece thinks it’s necessary. Christopher Bell applauds it.
On Monday, the speedway will embark on a $20-million renovation project that includes a complete repave of the racing surface.
The new asphalt will replace the hybrid surface that was partially repaved in the corners before the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race in 2024.
Blaney has enjoyed enormous success in the two events at Iowa. He won the debut in 2024 and finished fourth last year. His average running position for the two races is a series-best 3.9.
“I think the track, the way it is now, has a lot of character in it,” Blaney said. “…I think with the full repave, I hope they do a decent job with progressive banking the way it needs to be, where we can run up the track…
“I hope they bank up the third and fourth lanes, and it’ll be a heck of a race track if you’re not locked onto the bottom. Time will tell.”
Preece’s opinion is based on a first-hand inspection of the racing surface.
“Brad (Keselowski), Chris (Buescher) and I kind of did the track walk earlier, and you could see separation between some of the lanes,” Preece said. “So, I think it needs (a repave), unfortunately.
“I’m curious to see if they’re going to do anything different with banking, but yeah, it’s time.”
Bell believes the repaving has the potential to widen the track. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs racing Toyota won twice and scored two poles and two runner-up results at the track from 2017-2019.
“Iowa was my favorite track before this half-repave thing that we have right now,” Bell said. “Right now, you have two grooves, and it’s never going to get any more than two grooves. At least now, with the fresh repave, it’s going to have the opportunity to get a lot wider.”
Haas Factory Team adds Dean Thompson to driver roster
Dean Thompson will join Haas Factory Team’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series roster as the organization adds a third car next season, team president Joe Custer announced Saturday at Iowa Speedway.
“It’s a multi-year deal,” Custer said. “We’re super excited about Dean coming on board. We are expanding at Haas Factory Team to a three-car O’Reilly program. We love the O’Reilly Series.
“Regarding Dean, I’ve known Dean for a long time… He’s a Southern California kid. We’re from Southern California. Watched him grow. Watched him experience all different forms of racing. He comes from a family of racers—his grandfather, his father. His whole family supports racing.”
Thompson, 24, currently drives for Sam Hunt Racing. In his second full season with that organization, he has posted a pair of top-10 finishes with a best of sixth at Talladega in April. Last year, he scored his only career top five in the O’Reilly Series, a fifth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“I grew up racing around Cole (Custer, Joe Custer’s son),” Thompson said. “Joe’s been a big part in my growth as a driver. We’ve known Joe my whole life. Where to go, who to talk to, who we race for—he’s always led us in the right direction and given us good contacts.
“Finally, it all comes together full circle.”
Custer said the organization is still working through its O’Reilly Series plans for 2027. Current drivers are Sheldon Creed, who scored his first career victory this season at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), and Sam Mayer, who won back-to-back races at Iowa Speedway in 2024 and 2025.
As of yet, neither Mayer nor Creed has re-signed with the organization for next year.
Custer asserted the organization’s commitment to its single-car NASCAR Cup Series operation, with Cole Custer as the driver.
“We have unfinished business in the Cup Series as Haas Factory Team,” Joe Custer said. “We are dead committed. (Team owner) Gene Haas is an F1 owner, a NASCAR Cup owner and an O’Reilly owner, and we intend to keep it that way…
“We’re going to try to figure out Cup as a single-car team, and we have a ways to go. Stay tuned.”
Chase Briscoe broadens his racing interests with sprint car team purchase
Like his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe now owns a race team.
Unlike Hamlin’s organization, Briscoe’s new acquisition doesn’t race stock cars.
Briscoe announced Saturday morning at Iowa Speedway that he has acquired Brent Marks Racing and will field 410 winged sprint cars, with Marks as the driver and general manager, in the High Limit Racing Series founded by Cup driver Kyle Larson and champion sprint car racer Brad Sweet.
“We’re excited to announced that we’ve bought out Brent Marks Racing, and it will become Chase Briscoe Racing in the High Limit Series,” Briscoe said. “We’re excited to have a full-time car on a national tour. It’s something for me that’s been a childhood dream.”
With Marks, Briscoe gets a fully operational elite team and a championship-caliber driver. Marks’ resume already includes victories in the high-paying Kings Royal, the Historical Big One and Williams Grove National Open.
Christopher Bell, another of Briscoe’s JGR teammates and himself an elite dirt racer, voiced his approval.
“I’m happy for him,” Bell said. “I think it’s really cool. I think it’s great for dirt-track racing. Brent’s a great driver. I think (Briscoe) did really good getting an organization that is already acclimated to each other. They should have success right out of the gate.”
