So with all that out of the way it was off to the Iowa Speedway for a fun filled day of great racing at Iowa. We left my house a little after 9 am and the parking lot was starting to fill up as we got there even tho they weren't suppose to open up until 10 am.
As we arrived the NASCAR Nationwide Series was on the race track for a practice session that was added because mother nature wiped out the 2 practice sessions scheduled on friday. After that at 11 am it was the NASCAR Foundation Track Walk taking place.
Then at 1 pm, Hospitality Villiage and Spectator Gates Opened up followed by a NASCAR Nationwide Series Driver Autograph Session from 1:30-2:30 pm.
At 3 pm it was time for Qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series 250 presented by John Deere & Northland Oil. Kyle Busch was suppose to go first but ended up going 2nd out he would hold on to the pole for a while until the Aaron's Dream Machine driven by Trevor Bayne would take the pole position with a speed of 133.266 mph, Kyle Busch was 2nd quicket with a speed of 133.007 mph. Rounding out the top 10 in qualifying was Brian Scott, Brad Keselowski, Steve Wallace, Jason Leffler, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier, Matt DiBenedetto and Kevin Lepage.
Then at about 6 pm all of the pre-race activites began, the national anthem was sang by Country Music singer Josh Thompson.
At 6:30 pm it was time for the NASCAR Nationwide Series U.S. Cellular 250 presented by John Deere & Northland Oil and Trevor Bayne, the pole sitter chose the inside so Kyle Busch went to the outside. Busch would take advantage of the outside starting spot and take the lead but as the field came to the line to complete the first lap, Tayler Malsam, Morgan Sherpherd and Mike Bliss all get together, Jeff Green incounters transmission issues and comes to a stop in turn 4.
It would only take a couple of laps for the track safety crew to get it cleaned up so it was back to race and Busch chose the outside leaving Bayne to the inside on the restart. Busch would take advantage of that on the restart and begin to pull away but would encounter lap traffic that would slow him down and as the run got longer his car would start to go away as Bayne's car was coming the further the run went.
Bayne would race side-by-side with Busch and use a lap car as a pick for a lap to take the lead on lap 41 but Busch would come back and take the lead right back on lap 42 and shortly after that a caution came out when Reed Sorenson blew up and hit the turn 2 wall and then Tony Raines makes contact with Sorenson and cuts a tire down and comes to a stop in turn 3 because the exit of turn 2 was blocked by the track safety crew the race was red flagged on lap 44, that red flag lasted 7 mins and 44 seconds.
Pit Stops were made and Kyle Busch would beat Bayne off of pit road to keep the lead. Busch would chose the outside line again and Bayne would start on the inside. Just like the previous starts Busch would take that lead and begin to cruise away.
Lap traffic would begin to slow Busch again allowing Bayne to catch up and make the pass for the lead on lap 76. Bayne would start to pull away but Busch would stay in tow of Bayne specially when a caution came out on lap 93 when Colin Braun (who was already in a back-up car because he wrecked the primary car in qualifying) spins out in turn 2. Braun then would be hit by Brian Keselowski causing Braun's car to go up in the air and come down on the hood of Brendan Gaughan. Paul Menard would get some damage as well on his #98 car. Just like the previous caution though this would also bring out the red flag on lap 94, this red flag would last 15 minutes and 55 seconds
On the restart on lap 98 and after a round of pit stops, Busch would take over the lead again. Busch would again chose the outside line giving Bayne the inside line and take the lead and start to pull away. Busch, Bayne and the field would see another caution come out on lap 106 when Paul Menard would spin out on the front stretch.
The race would resume on lap 109, Busch again restarting on the outside would be the advantage as he would resume the top spot again and begin to pull away.
The next race caution would come out on lap 161 when the car of Brian Scott would slam the turn 4 wall hard bunching the field back up on the restart.
Busch wouldn't let this caution faze him as he would resume command again as the leader but he would see the final race caution would come out on lap 204 when Mike Wallace would hit the turn 4 wall.
The final round of pit stops were made and Kevin Harvick would gamble and take 2 tires and take over the lead, Busch would lose postitions on pit road. On the restart, Harvick chose the outside and Jason Leffler was sent to the inside. Harvick was hoping and looking to go on for the win but Kyle Busch would jump up to 3rd coming off of turn 2.
Harvick and Busch would battle for the top spot and Harvick would hold off Busch until lap 226 when Busch would make the winning pass and take the win.
"Rowdy" Kyle Busch, who showed up just in time to qualify the car and qualified 2nd would lead the most lap and take the win at Iowa. "Happy" Kevin Harvick would finish 2nd, Jason Leffler would finish 3rd, Brad Keselowski was 4th and Trevor Bayne would finish 5th.
Steve Wallace, Son of the Track Designer and NASCAR Legend Rusty Wallace, took 6th. Des Moines, Iowa Native Michael Annett was in 7th. Justin Allgaier, Matt DiBenedetto and Carl Edwards was 8th through 10th.
It was a fun race to watch and i can't wait to see what the Iowa Speedway Schedule for next year will look like. Pay attention to the Iowa Speedway's website: http://www.iowaspeedway.com/
