NASCAR goes 1-on-1 with NASCAR's Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy Ben Kennedy as he shares his thoughts on the Cup Series making its first-ever trip to Iowa Speedway.
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00:00 Alex Weaver here in Studio 3 regarding the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule and I am joined by NASCAR's Senior Vice President of Racing Development and Strategy, Ben Kennedy.
00:12 Ben, I always love this time of year because not only are we amping up to crown a champion at the end of the season, but we get to find out where we're headed for the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024. So thanks so much for joining us.
00:24 Absolutely. Thank you for having me today. It's that time of year again.
00:28 Love it. Well, we have some exciting changes on the schedule and I think one of the biggest changes or additions, I shall say, to the NASCAR Cup Series is that we're going to be racing at Iowa Speedway.
00:40 Drivers and fans have been clamoring for a long time to get back to Iowa. So what influenced it to finally be made into a reality?
00:50 Yeah, we're really excited to be heading to Iowa Speedway, you know, the first time in what will be the 76 year history that we've had a race at Iowa Speedway.
01:00 And the first time in a really long time that we've had a race in the state of Iowa. So we're excited to get there.
01:06 You know, we've had the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series racing at Iowa for the better part of a decade.
01:12 Always put on amazing racing. Our drivers really enjoyed it. Our fans loved it. And it's something we've heard a lot as we started to build out the 24 schedule is continue to introduce scheduled diversity, adding new venues and smart locations.
01:27 And I think Iowa is going to be a great addition to it. And they talk a lot about, you know, racing product and what that looks like.
01:34 And, you know, we hear from a lot of our fans that we'd like to see more short tracks. And then we also hear how good the intermediate racing is with this next gen car.
01:42 And I think Iowa in a lot of ways, you know, shows both the short track as well as the intermediate racetrack and the way that it races.
01:50 So excited to see it on the schedule. And I'm sure, you know, it'll be really neat to kick it off with NBC's portion of the season on the 15th and 16th of June next year.
02:00 Well, we're excited to get there in June for sure. But we've seen the innovation and new venues added over the last few years with the NASCAR Cup Series.
02:08 What's the process like now, knowing that we're going to be racing at Iowa in 2024, working with drivers, teams and the racetrack to make sure that it's ready?
02:17 Yeah, so, you know, we've worked with a handful of folks trying to make sure that we have plans for next year, that the track is ready, you know, meets all the right safety requirements that we have around the track, all the fan requirements we'd have for a Cup Series event.
02:32 So we're still building out what those plans will look like. Certainly we'll be engaging teams and drivers along the way.
02:38 Obviously, a lot of planning that will need to take place over the next several months. But I think the great part about it is, you know, IndyCar has also been running there the past few years and the track is in great condition.
02:51 And, you know, I think it's going to be ready for us come June next year.
02:54 Such an awesome part of the country. We're excited to be at Iowa Speedway for 2024. Thanks, Ben. We appreciate the time.
03:01 And race fans, for more information on the NASCAR Cup Series racing at Iowa Speedway in 2024, make sure and visit NASCAR.com.
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