
NASCAR weekend at Iowa Speedway starts tomorrow. Depending on the day, 20,000 to 40,000 race fans along with race teams, officials, and staff from NASCAR and Iowa Speedway will make their way to and from the track. Police Chief Rob Burdess tells KNIA/KRLS News a lot of planning is put in by the Newton Police Department to ensure public safety throughout the community when there are races at Iowa Speedway, and there are some differences from race to race.
“We know each event is a little unique in terms of what they bring to Newton. Not only is it a race crowd, we have camping and people staying in hotels. We have concerts. Just the amount of activities happening in and around the track are obviously things we have to look at from a public safety standpoint, and prepare for.”
According to Chief Burdess, the police department evaluates how public safety measures went after each Iowa Speedway event or weekend. Public activities at the track Friday begin with the opening of parking lots and the midway at 12:30 p.m., followed by the opening of the Grandstand Gates at 2 p.m. Practice for the ARCA Menards Series gets underway at 2:30 p.m. with qualifying at 3:30 p.m. The start time for the Atlas Roofing 150 ARCA Menards Series Race is 6 p.m.