NASCAR star Kyle Larson talks favorite Iowa spots for food and racing
Watch as NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson talks about his favorite places in Iowa while driving in a Corvette Stingray at Iowa Speedway.
NEWTON — Joey Gase stared at a house-sized American flag before the NASCAR Xfinity Series race as he held his young son during the national anthem Saturday, Aug. 2. Then he climbed his car and went to work.
Gase, 32, is a Cedar Rapids native and NASCAR journeyman who has made 385 starts in NASCAR’s three national series since he made his Truck Series debut at Iowa Speedway in 2011. From 2015 to 2019 he ran full-time in the Xfinity Series, one level below the top-level Cup Series.
He’s also made 91 Cup Series starts since 2014. Gase is running both in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series races at the Iowa Speedway in cars sponsored by the longtime Fox sitcom and Hulu reboot “King of the Hill.”
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on USA Network.
Johnston native Sammy Smith raced in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. West Des Moines native Mason Mitchell and Slater native Kadence Davenport raced in the Friday, Aug. 1 ARCA Menards Series race.
Gase has been coming to races here since the Iowa Speedway opened in 2006. He raced here for the first time at age 15.
In 2024, Gase ran in the Xfinity Series race, but not the first-ever Cup Series race. By his own admission, his team, Garage 66, is “underfunded.” Gase will start the Iowa Corn 350 race on Sunday, Aug 3, at No. 36 of 37.
“It means a lot to be able to do it at your home state,” Gase said. “We almost did it last year, and it didn’t work out. This year it did. We appreciate the opportunity, and hopefully we can have some fun.”
Gase planned to run the Xfinity Series race at Iowa Speedway again, but his sponsor wanted him to run the Cup Series race as well. Season 14 of “King of the Hill,” will premiere on Hulu on Monday, Aug. 4. So Gase will drive with lead character Hank Hill’s face on both his Xfinity and Cup series car. The sitcom is also advertising on both a billboard in turn two and an advertisement on the turn two wall.
“They knew I would be the only Iowa native in the Cup race, and maybe some extra publicity would come from that,” Gase said.
Gase’s car was the talk of the track this weekend with some reporters practicing their Hank Hill impression. Driving both the Xfinity and Cup Series races is not easy, he said. Xfinity Series practice started at 10 a.m. He followed that with Xfinity qualifying, Cup practice and Cup qualifying.
Gase finished No. 27. in the Hy-Vee Perks 250 Xfinity Series on Saturday.
“I used to do it a lot. It’s a little different when you’re not doing it every week,” Gase said. “It can be a lot, but it’s more track time.”
Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and motorsports for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184 or pjoens@registermedia.com.
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