NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — IndyCar's return to Iowa will be celebrated as a three-day festival with a quartet of musical acts.
Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton were announced Monday as the performers for the July races at the track in Newtown. Hy-Vee, the Iowa-headquartered grocery chain sponsoring the weekend, has vowed to turn the sporting event into a larger entertainment experience.
“We want this event to be one of the most talked about events of the year," said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chairman and CEO. "Iowa will be the place to be this summer with these live music acts, coupled with nationally televised IndyCar races and a festival-like atmosphere that has something for everyone to enjoy.”
McGraw is scheduled to play before the July 23 race, with Florida Georgia Line scheduled after the event. Stefani will perform before the July 24 race and Shelton, her husband, has the postrace show.
The artists are scheduled to perform for 50 minutes before the race, with a 90-minute show planned postrace. All concerts are included with the race ticket.
Iowa Speedway hosted 15 IndyCar races before the “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet" fell off last year's schedule. The return is backed largely by Hy-Vee, which entered IndyCar as a race sponsor for Rahal Letterman Lanigan and steadily has grown its series involvement.
Hy-Vee worked with IndyCar, Bobby Rahal and Penske Entertainment to get a race back to the 0.875-mile, D-shaped oval. The grocer also has signed DoorDash and Google as title sponsors to help create the festival weekend.
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The Associated Press
