Voda-Blog : August 2009 - Hogs and Hawkeyes

Hi Everyone!

August and September are big months for me…because they include the 2-race stretch I’ve had circled on my calendar ever since the schedule came out. Chicago and Iowa.

Recently, I attended The Iowa State Fair with Ron Hornaday and Ricky Carmichael. NASCAR sent us there to promote the September 5th truck series race at The Iowa Speedway.  We had a blast! First off, Ron and Ricky could not get over the size of this year’s grand champion boar. Buddy tipped the scales at 1,117 lbs! We met a lot of fans and did a ton of media appearances. I’ll have some extra media stuff coming up the week of The Iowa Race, including my own column in The Des Moines Register, so keep a lookout!

The Iowa race represents something very personal for me. Redemption.

You see, I’ve sort of become the unofficial spokesperson for all things Iowa. Where I live, there aren’t too many Iowans running around. In fact, I’ve always moved around for work, so I’ve had to get used to this fact.

When it was announced The Truck Series would have a race at The Iowa Speedway in 2009, I was ecstatic! Not only would I get to go home, but all of the people I work with would be able to see for themselves why I always talk so glowingly of my homestate. And it’s already happened!

After The Nationwide race was held in Iowa in early August, several of the production guys, who work in the TV compound at the track, came up to me the following week.  They wanted to let me know how much fun they had in the Des Moines area. They all said they never would have guessed Iowa would be so much fun. See, what have I been telling you?!

Even Olympic gold medalist and DWTS champion, Shawn Johnson, could have told you how wonderful Iowa is! She took in a NASCAR race earlier this year and was adorable. Her family was really nice and it was great meeting other proud Iowans!

So, as we get closer to the first-ever truck series race at The Iowa Speedway, I have a favor to ask. I need all of my friends in the midwest to buy a ticket to the race, Sept 5th. I know it’s opening weekend of college football (trust me, I’ve already asked the folks at The Iowa Speedway why they took that date…doesn’t anyone know how big football is in Iowa?!). But there will be other games. There will only be 1 truck race in Iowa this year.

It’s really important that the higher-ups at NASCAR see how big of a following they have in the Hawkeye state, and that if they keep bringing races to Iowa, the fans will keep coming!

Thanks, as always…and see you at the track!

Best Wishes,

Krista