NASCAR is headed to the Iowa Speedway this weekend after a five-year hiatus. Although many drivers have experienced the 0.875-mile track during their come-up in the Xfinity Series, it will be the first time that the Newton track will embrace the Cup Series. But that’s not all.

After Kyle Larson retook the regular season points lead from Denny Hamlin with his win at Sonoma, this weekend is shaping up to be a crucial one for the competition, which needs to keep that lead from expanding. With nearly $9 million in the purse for the Cup Series race, let’s take a look at how NASCAR’s return to Iowa is shaping up.

All you need to know about the Cup Series’ big Iowa debut

Action at Iowa Speedway this weekend shall begin on Friday with the ARCA Menards series practice and qualifying at 3:00 pm ET, followed by the Xfinity Series practice session at 4:35 p.m. ET and the Cup Series practice an hour later. To end the first day of racing at the short track, the ARCA race will kick off on FOX Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Weather conditions for Friday suggest temperatures in the mid-80s with a 2% chance of precipitation.

Moving on to Saturday, the sky over Iowa is expected to darken with a 40% chance of rain and winds of 20 mph. Temperatures will remain in the 80s. As for the racing action, Xfinity Series qualifying will begin at 12:05 p.m. ET, followed by Cup Series qualifying at 1:05 p.m. The Xfinity Series pre-race activities shall commence at 2:00 pm ET, followed by the race at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Sunday is shaping up to be the day fans are looking forward to the most with the Cup Series’ Iowa debut. Kicking things off with the pre-race festivities at 6:30 p.m. ET, NASCAR’s return to Iowa shall end with the Iowa Corn 350 at 7:00 p.m. ET. With FOX Sports’ coverage coming to an end at Sonoma for the premier series, fans wanting to tune in from the comfort of their homes can do so on the USA Network for all races other than the ARCA series.

Those eager to visit the on-track festivities instead can do so from Iowa Speedway’s official website, with a redirect to SeatGeek giving fans access to tickets starting at $168 each.

With the on-track schedule out of the way, it’s also worth mentioning the monumental prize pool NASCAR has in store for drivers and teams this weekend. Taking to X, Bob Pockrass revealed, “Purses for Iowa weekend (came from Fontana) include all payouts, all positions, contingency awards, season-ending points fund, and for Cup, all charter payouts for competing and historical performance: Cup: $8,881,630; Xfinity: $1,408,568.”

Although the payday for Xfinity teams may not look too enticing after the winner takes their cut, the Cup Series stakeholders certainly have a lot to compete for. But with the recent renovation at Iowa Speedway raising racing concerns for drivers, could the weekend go up in flames?

‘Not going to be an issue’: NASCAR officials show utmost faith in Iowa’s rejuvenation

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When the prospect of returning to Iowa Speedway with the Xfinity Series after a five-year hiatus, along with debuting the Cup Series, presented itself, the VP of Competition had to address one major dilemma. Over the few winters that the Iowa Speedway gathered dust, the surface had deteriorated drastically.

With how harsh and cold the winters in Iowa are known to be, Elton Sawyer revealed that the damage caused to the track meant some repair work needed to be done. Although Sawyer shared that the goal ‘all along’ was to ‘not repave’, that notion just wasn’t feasible anymore. Sawyer stated, “We wanted our fans to be able to see that track and a race where all the surface had been worn. But that just wasn’t going to be the case.”

So ahead of the return to the short track, NASCAR took on the task of laying down fresh asphalt across all four turns at Iowa, partially repaving the circuit in the process. Following this repave, Goodyear conducted the tire test, which witnessed drivers such as Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson gather data on the new surface. As a result, NASCAR reports that this weekend will use the same tire combination as Sonoma Raceway.

While officials ‘expect the grip level to vary’, Elton Sawyer believes that this will not lead to any debacles. NASCAR’s VP of Competition concludes, “Aesthetically, it looks a little different than how we would normally go into a facility, but we’re confident the repairs are to a high level, and that’s not going to be an issue.”

After taking a look at Elton Sawyer’s composure ahead of the big weekend at Iowa, do you think NASCAR’s grand plans will go down as expected?