Iowa Speedway and co-promoter Hy-Vee has cut in half the cost of its lowest-priced ticket for the 2024 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend doubleheader. Also, the first part of the two-race contest will be a Saturday night race in prime time on NBC.

Ticket renewals to existing customers began last week. Ticket sales to the general public began on October 2 for the 2024 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend scheduled for July 12-14.

Those fans will see a reduced ticket price that starts at $55 for a single-day Sunday grandstand seat and $65 for the Saturday night event. That is half of the cheapest priced ticket for 2023, which was an increase from the first year of ticket pricing in 2022.

“We still have really great entertainment, really great racing, but we lowered the entry level price,” Hy-Vee Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Anna Stoermer told me. “We had a little feedback last year and we wanted to make sure everybody who wanted to attend the race will be able to do so.

“The lowest ticket price we have on sale is for the Sunday race and that is a $55 ticket and the lowest ticket price for the Saturday race will be $65. The entry point to get a ticket will be a lot lower than it was last year.

“We will still have really great experiences that are available for more. If somebody wants to buy a concert pit pass, we have those for sale. If somebody wants to upgrade to have food and drink included in their ticket, we have those for sale as well.

“We want to appease to several different groups of people to make sure that anybody who wants to come is able to do so.”

The popular event at the short oval located in Newton, Iowa features four big-name entertainment concerts along with two complete NTT IndyCar Series races.

The track began hosting IndyCar Series races in 2007 and many of those years featured a Saturday night race under the lights.

Two races were held under the lights during the COVID year of 2020 including a Friday night and Saturday night contest. The track was not on the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, but a combined effort between Penske Corporation and Hy-Vee, a midwestern supermarket chain based in West Des Moines, Iowa, revived the track with its current doubleheader concept in 2022.

The past two years, the races have been conducted under the hot Iowa sun in the middle of July. Next season, a Saturday night race returns at Iowa followed by a day race the following day.

“One of the things we thought we could do this year that would add a new level of fan excitement and engagement is to move one of the races that occurs under the lights,” Stoermer told me. “If you have ever been to the Iowa Speedway under the lights, it’s a very special feeling.

“This is a really cool thing to be able to say we are having a racing under the lights in 2024.

“It will be interesting to see how it goes. The hours at the gate will be open later on Saturday and that quick turn for Sunday won’t be an issue for our team. We want to make sure the action is tied together for all the people who are out there camping and staying in the Newton, Iowa area, it helps to condense the schedule.

“From our suppliers to our customers and our employees, they are highly engaged in what we are doing from year to year at the Iowa Speedway. The exciting thing this year is to bring a night race back for IndyCar. To get that done in year three of our involvement with IndyCar is very exciting. All our suppliers, race fans and employees are excited about that opportunity.”

Each race day ticket will once again include access to the premier trackside concerts featuring some of the biggest names in music. The concert lineup for the 2024 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

“We are really close on several people who are going to join us that weekend and provide some really great concerts for us,” Stoermer said. “We like to have everybody locked in before we announce any of them. While we have a couple that are on their way to Iowa for next July, we will hold that until we are fully ready with all the artists.

“We are starting earlier this year than we have in the past with getting these tickets out and on sale to make sure anybody who came the first two years has first rights at their seats they had last year. We will be looking at ticket sales closely. It is interesting to see how many tickets we sell when the entertainment is not announced. It grows year over year. They are starting to purchase tickets earlier and earlier.”

The entry level pricing has been reduced. For those who want increased access, there are a variety of premium ticket packages.

“One of the VIP packages is called the ‘Chairman’s Club’ that includes all your food and drinks for the weekend, access to the concerts on pit lane and we have about 1,100 of those this year for that Chairman’s experience,” Stoermer said. “If somebody wants to get close to the action, that is a really good package for them.”

In addition to the concerts and the IndyCar races on Saturday and Sunday, fans will once again have free access to Iowa Speedway on the opening day of Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend with the return of “Free Family Friday” on July 12.

In 2023, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden swept both IndyCar Series races at Iowa Speedway. Carrie Underwood performed a concert before the Saturday race and Kenny Chesney performed for 90 minutes afterward.

On Sunday, Zac Brown Band had a full concert before the race and Ed Sheeran closed it out with a full concert afterwards.

When the concert lineup for 2024 is announced, Hy-Vee will increase its IndyCar activation at its stores.

“We will make sure we have lots of materials in the stores that are promoting the events and the acts that are coming,” Stoermer said. “We do a lot of sign-ins with a QR code that takes them to be able to buy a ticket or concert pit pass. Once we announce the concerts, we will bring that to life at our stores.

“When the IndyCar season starts in 2024, we will be in full-fledged IndyCar racing in every store that we have. It’s always an exciting time when. That season kicks off and we can bring IndyCar racing to life in our trade area.”

From a business standpoint, the Hy-Vee brand will get increased exposure because the Saturday night race will be during prime time on NBC.

“It’s always great for us to have the national exposure we get with an NBC partnership,” Stoermer said. “What is key about next year is that Saturday night TV window that we have is prime time programming. A lot of people are tuned in to the NBC network on Saturday night and we are very excited to have this prime-time race that will take place next summer.

“It will really be exciting to see the ratings and how people tune in and get a feel for what we are doing with IndyCar at the Iowa Speedway.”

Stoermer also said Hy-Vee is evaluating the return of The Milwaukee Mile on the IndyCar Series schedule in 2024 and could be involved in that weekend.

“It’s not something we would rule out,” Stoermer said. “We haven’t signed up for anything yet, but we like to make sure we are part of the promotion in areas we plan to go with our business someday. We have a sponsorship at Nashville at that IndyCar race and sponsorship activation at the Indianapolis 500 with our intentions to move to Indianapolis.

“I wouldn’t write off the possibility of us making something happen at that Milwaukee race.”