Iowa Speedway expected to return to IndyCar calendar in 2022, with Rahal sponsor Hy-Vee lending sponsorship – IndyStar

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On the eve of IndyCar's final oval race of the 2021 season, the series appears primed for one of its longtime short-track ovals to return to the calendar. The series has announced plans for a joint press conference Thursday withsupermarket chain Hy-Vee, that will include series owner Roger Penske, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing owner Bobby Rahal and driver Graham Rahal, Hy-Vee chairman/CEO/president Randy Edeker and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

It's expected IndyCar will announce the return of a race at Iowa Speedway for 2022, with Hy-Vee a major RLL team sponsor to serve as the race's title sponsor.

IndyCar has run 15 races on the short-track oval that measures just under 1 mile in length, including a July doubleheader during the pandemic-altered 2020 season and at least once every year from 2007-20. But it fell off this year when NASCAR, whichowns the track, and IndyCar couldn't come to a financial agreement. IndyCar had to rent the track last year and serve as the race promoter without a title sponsor, all while permitted to host 5,000 or so fans each day.

Earlier this summer, Penske revealed that Rahal had been in talks of some form with Hy-Vee representatives about trying to get the race back on the IndyCar schedule through a title sponsorship.

RLL connected with company a year ago to run what began as a one-off title sponsorship deal on the younger Rahal's car during one of the Iowa doubleheader races. After finishing on the podium, the supermarket chain supported the team's third Indy 500 entry driven by Spencer Pigot. They returned in similar fashion this year on the No. 45 car for the 500, driven by Santino Ferrucci, and then signed up for a handful more primary sponsorship spots withFerrucci and Rahal this summer.

"They're a company on the move," Rahal told IndyStar of Hy-Vee in July. "They're expanding, and they're a fabulous chain. I think they see (IndyCar)fitting with where they want to go. IndyCar is very much midwest-centric, as are they.

"Hopefully, there will be a race at Iowa again in their backyard."

Penske and Mark Mileshave spoken several times over the past year about IndyCar's desire to return more oval races to the calendar, having just three tracks and four total oval races on the 2021 schedule. Through all those conversations, they saw Iowa as a candidate for a return.

As recent as the Nashville weekend earlier in August, Miles, Penske Entertainment Corp.'s president and CEO, told IndyStar that conversations involving Iowa were ongoing, stating, "Hopefully we'll have some good news in that regard."

During that conversation, Miles reiterated Texas Motor Speedway's impending return for 2022, with the track and series having one year left on the present promoter deal. Although, Miles said, "I doubt it's a doubleheader."

"We want to see Texas Motor Speedway on the calendar," Miles continued. "We think it can be great racing again, and ovals are important to us."

Homestead-Miami Speedway, a track that had been mentioned as a possibility as IndyCar looked to add more ovals for 2022, "is not on the front burner at this point," Miles said.

With the paddock and fans still awaiting the rest of the schedule release, which is expected in a matter of weeks, Iowa appears likely to be the only addition heading into 2022, with Miles having said next year's slate will look "very similar".

More on IndyCar's schedule future:

Presently, at least 12 races are locked inwith Long Beach, Mid-Ohio and WWT Raceway needing to come to a renewal to be part of the 2022 slate. The status of Laguna Seca isn't immediately known, with track president and general manager John Narigi saying publicly last year that the permanent road course race only had one year left. It is believed, though, that the track since tacked onone more year (presumably for 2022) because of its canceled 2020 race due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With Texas likely returning to just one race, as Miles said, next year's race count hinges on whether Iowa would run asone race which would make for 17 events on the calendar or a doubleheader, which has circulated as a rumor around the paddock in recent weeks.

Penske, though, has saidthat after running five doubleheaders a year ago and two more in 2021, holding two races in one weekend isn't ideal for the series from a monetary standpoint, essentially because IndyCar doesn't typically pull double the sanctioning fee. Doubleheaders on ovals, in particular, can also lead to expensive weekends for teams in terms of crash damage.

For example, for this year's doubleheader at TMS, Penske said IndyCar footed some of the financial blow as abnormally small crowds showed up, leaving the track with significantly smaller ticket revenue due to the pandemic. But without TMS's help in hosting a doubleheader weekend, IndyCar would have held just three oval races half of the pandemic-altered 2020 schedule and two fewer than what was originally planned for last season.

"We think 16, 17 or 18 races is the goal for an ideal schedule," Miles said.

Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown at nlbrown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.

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Iowa Speedway expected to return to IndyCar calendar in 2022, with Rahal sponsor Hy-Vee lending sponsorship - IndyStar