Iowa Speedway Weekend Packages on Sale TODAY

Weekend packages for all races at Iowa Speedway -- including the USAC/Indy Lights/IZOD IndyCar race weekend June 22 & 23 -- went on sale today, Jan. 23. Get your tickets HERE. I'm already in for two at the top o' the stands.  Single-race tickets go on sale Feb. 6.

Given the endangered species nature of ovals in IndyCar ... and the fact that the last four IndyCar races at Iowa Speedway were stunning ... I hope (and pray) that IndyCar fans will sell out all 35,000 (ish) permanent seats at least.

Check below for my advice on remarkably cheap hotels in the area ...

As for places to stay, a couple suggestions. Newton itself is adding motel rooms at a pretty good clip (from what I can observe), so give it a try. Probably sold out this close to the race, but you never know. Then search for hotels in Grinnell. That's EAST of the track on I-80, and probably closer than Des Moines motels. Grinnell is home of Grinnell College, the most expensive college in all of Iowa. Kind of trendy little town. Check out its schwerve here. Also, Pella, Iowa, is south of the track and about the same distance (time-wise) from Newton as Des Moines. It's home of Central College. Another option is the aforementioned Knoxville. 30 min. due south of Iowa Speedway. There are a few motels there, including a big Super 8, in the lobby of which I once interviewed Erin Crocker. Should be a plaque there too.

Motels in the Des Moines metro: Search in the eastern suburbs of Pleasant Hill and Altoona. Both are just about 20(ish) minutes from the track. Altoona is home of Prairie Meadows, a big casino. For reasonably cheap hotels in Des Moines, I always recommend the Merle Hay Road area. Partial listing here.

Merle Hay Road comes right off I-80 (which goes right by Iowa Speedway) and leads to Merle Hay Mall. Many many restaurants along this road as well. There are also a ton of motels out by the airport on Fluer Drive, which is probably 40-ish minutes from the track. There's also Ankeny, a town north of the metro blob, but probably about the same distance, time wise, from the track as most of Des Moines. Ankeny to Newton is an easy, all-Interstate drive as well.

Comments

[DZ]

Having not been, but looking at it for 2012, it would appear there's not really a bad seat in the house. What say you Capt. Mediacenter?

[pressdog]

The first five or so rows (down by the catch fence) can dicey, honestly, especially in the middle. Not horrid by any stretch, but not ideal either. Some of the haulers can block the view for spots on the back straight from down there. Anything above that is fabulous. I've bought at least two tickets for every IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway. Higher is always better, and I prefer to be on the turn 1 side, but that's just me.

[DZ]

I'm abbynormal in that I prefer to be closer (lower) for the speed factor.

How are those lower rows dicey? Catch-fence obscuring view dicey or Tires/debris/life in hands dicey?

[pressdog]

As I said, DZ (Mr. Careful Reader): "Some of the haulers can block the view for spots on the back straight from down there." Row 5 is close enough to feel the breeze. Go for it.

[The Speedgeek]

It's a little further away (and it only works if you're OK with heading west), but I got a scorching deal for a room in Urbandale on Priceline last year. It wasn't the nicest place I've ever stayed, but for $30, all I was looking for was a place to crash instead of doing the sleep-driving thing back to Omaha at 2:00 AM. Oh, and it was like a mile away from the Machine Shed, where I had an unreal breakfast buffet with the cash that I saved, Shatner-style. A buffet where I can get fresh, homemade biscuits, three types of egg dishes, and FIVE types of meat? Um, yes. I'll have that.