Iowa
Iowa native Mitchell seeks return to Victory Lane at Iowa Speedway
West Des Moines native Mason Mitchell remembers attending the very first race at Iowa Speedway when he was 12 years old.
Winning the ARCA Series race at Iowa Speedway in 2015 was one of his favorite moments as a driver.
Mitchell’s race team, Mason Mitchell Motorsports, ceased operations in 2018, but the 2014 ARCA Series championship winner has returned to racing recently and hopes to win another ARCA Series event at Iowa Speedway on Friday night.
“It means a lot to be able to come back here and race at my home track,” Mitchell said. “It just feels right. I’ve always had a connection to the fans there. It’s a special place.”
Mitchell, who graduated from West Des Moines Valley in 2012, was a driver and team owner in ARCA from 2012 to 2018. He compiled 55 wins as a driver and seven victories as team owner.
Now 29 years old, Mitchell has resurfaced recently with Sigma Performance Services and team owner Joe Farre.
Mitchell competed in two dirt races in 2022 and scored seven wins during a full season of dirt in 2023.
The 2024 schedule includes two ARCA platform events plus another full slate of dirt racing.
He competed in the ARCA Menards Series West MMI Oil Workers 150 earlier this season and placed 18th. He had engine issues and only completed 58 laps.
The second ARCA platform event for this season is this weekend’s Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway.
“We had some mechanical stuff go wrong for us at that first ARCA race,” Mitchell said. “I’m trying to control the things I can control. I think my maturity, confidence and mentality will help me at Iowa. I will rely on my championship experience and my ability as a driver.”
Mitchell agreed to the two ARCA Series events before NASCAR announced its schedule and return to the 7/8-mile oval. But knowing it’s a full weekend with the first NASCAR Cup Series race on deck, Mitchell wants to be a part of the event even more.
“The stars just aligned for us,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be electric there. I love that place. The Sigma Performance Services team leaves no stone unturned. They have a no excuses mindset. I just need to perform to the best of my ability.”
The ARCA Series Atlas 150 at Iowa Speedway is the seventh of 20 races on the schedule this season and the fifth out of eight races on the ARCA Series East slate.
Eight drivers have eclipsed 200 points in the standings. The top five are Andres Perez (273), Greg Van Alst (257), Amber Balcaen (240), Lavar Scott (236) and Kris Wright (234). Not too far behind are Christian Rose (226), Andy Jankowiak (223) and Toni Breidinger (221).
The top eight in the standings have completed all six races. Michael Maples and Alex Clubb are two other drivers who have finished the six races.
The wins have come from Tanner Gray, Gus Dean, Jake Finch, Connor Mosack, William Sawalich and Connor Zilisch.
Zilisch is currently the ARCA Series East points leader, while Sawalich is second. Sawalich also finished second at last year’s event, while Breidinger and Scott were in the top five.
Perez’s 23-point lead at the top of the standings comes with top 10 finishes in five of the six races.
The ARCA Series Atlas 150 starts a three-day weekend full of racing. The green flag is slated to drop at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Hy-Vee Perks 250 is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The NASCAR Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol will be under the lights starting at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Iowa
Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)
Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.
Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:
Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field
Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.
Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field
Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.
Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field
Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.
Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field
Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.
Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis
Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.
Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf
One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.
Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf
An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.
Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field
Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.
Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field
The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.
About Our Athlete of the Week Voting
High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.
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Iowa
Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit
The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.
Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.
The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.
After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.
“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”
Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).
“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.
A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”
A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.
Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.
He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.
A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.
Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Iowa
GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall
DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.
Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.
One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.
“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”
Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.
“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”
Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.
Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.
Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.
“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.
Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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