Iowa

Hy-Vee Renews With IndyCar At Iowa In Multi-Year Extension

Published

2 years ago

July 11, 2024

Hy-Vee Renews With IndyCar At Iowa In Multi-Year Extension

The HY-VEE DEALS.COM 250 on July 23, 2022 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by Brian … [+] Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The combination of midwestern supermarket chain Hy-Vee and the NTT IndyCar Series has proven to be a perfect fit.

It will remain that in the future as Hy-Vee announced an extension with IndyCar to remain a partner at Iowa Speedway with the popular Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa.

The announcement was made Thursday, July 11 at Hy-Vee’s corporate headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa. Beginning Friday, July 12, IndyCar hits the Iowa Speedway seven-eighths mile short oval for this weekend’s Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa.

Under the new multi-year agreement, Hy-Vee – the Iowa-based and employee-owned supermarket chain – will continue as the title sponsor of Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend.

“This event has been a great fit for Hy-Vee,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s executive chairman of the board. “We look forward to continuing to support this race in Iowa by serving as the title sponsor in the years ahead. We set out to make this a world-class event and believe the momentum we have created will continue into the future as IndyCar continues to gain more fans year after year.”

Action from the HY-VEE DEALS.COM 250 on July 23, 2022 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. (Photo by … [+] Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Hy-Vee’s ongoing commitment to motorsports has been demonstrated through its support of the annual IndyCar event weekend held at Iowa Speedway, which is the longest-standing race held at the 7/8 of a mile oval track located in Newton, Iowa.

IndyCar first began competing at Iowa Speedway in 2007 and this weekend represents the 20th and 21st NTT IndyCar Series races at the venue.

The 2024 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend is July 12-14, featuring the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart (Saturday at 8 pm ET on NBC and Peacock) and the Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade (Sunday at 12 pm ET on NBC and Peacock).

Since 2022, Hy-Vee has served as the host and entitlement partner for the IndyCar Series doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway. Attracting capacity crowds with a combination of world-class racing at the “Fastest Short Track on the Planet” and premier live music acts for an entertainment-filled fan experience, has helped transform the IndyCar weekend into one of the biggest annual events in Iowa.

The continued collaboration marks a significant milestone in Hy-Vee’s partnership with IndyCar, which originally began in 2020 when the popular grocery chain first joined forces with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as a team sponsor in the NTT IndyCar Series.

“We are so proud to continue the partnership with Hy-Vee and build on the success of Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend well into the future,” said Bud Denker, President of Penske Corporation, which owns IndyCar. “With Hy-Vee’s vision and unwavering support, this event has continued to grow and expose new fans to IndyCar.

“We thank the entire Hy-Vee team for their partnership and continued commitment to Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend, and we can’t wait to host another incredible event this weekend at Iowa Speedway.”

Driven by the partnership with Hy-Vee, IndyCar returned to Iowa Speedway in 2022 after not competing at the venue during the 2021 season. Since its inception, Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend has become a highlight on the IndyCar calendar.

With a record-breaking estimated crowd of approximately 85,000 spectators over three days, last year’s Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend marked the highest attendance ever recorded for an IndyCar event at Iowa Speedway.

Celebrating its third year as one of the most popular annual events in racing, this weekend’s three-day festival is on track to once again draw capacity crowds to Iowa Speedway.

Beyond its support of the IndyCar event at Iowa Speedway, the industry-leading grocery brand is also the title sponsor of two NTT IndyCar 250-mile races that will be hosted at the Milwaukee Mile August 30-September 1 – the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s Weekend.

The 2024 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend will officially get underway on Friday, July 12, with the return of Free Family Friday. All fans will once again enjoy free gate admission to Iowa Speedway on the opening day of the three-day weekend festival.

In addition to the IndyCar doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday, along with the INDY NXT by Firestone race at Iowa Speedway (Saturday at 2 pm ET on Peacock), Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend will once again feature a stellar concert lineup rivaling even the most prestigious music festivals. Country music sensations Luke Combs and Eric Church will both perform on the Hy-Vee Stage on Saturday, with country superstar Kelsea Ballerini and award-winning artist Post Malone each hosting post-race concerts on Sunday.

LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 06: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Post Malone performs during Wireless Festival 2018 … [+] at Finsbury Park on July 6th, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)

Redferns

All concerts are included with Saturday and Sunday Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend tickets as each artist will perform on the trackside Hy-Vee Stage, in front of the main grandstands at Iowa Speedway.

Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 570 business units across nine Midwestern states with sales of more than $13 billion annually. The supermarket chain is synonymous with quality, variety, convenience, healthy lifestyles, culinary expertise and superior customer service. Hy-Vee ranks in the Top 5 Most Trusted Brands and has been named one of America’s Top 3 favorite grocery stores.

The company’s more than 75,000 employees provide “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” to customers every day.

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Iowa

2026 Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule

Published

8 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

2026 Iowa high school boys basketball state tournament brackets, schedule

The Iowa high school boys state basketball tournament is just around the corner and the full field has now been set.

By March 13, four teams will be crowned state champions and there are plenty of worthy squads vying for the title. On Tuesday, the final brackets were released and we now have a clear picture of the eight teams in each class hoping to take home the trophy.

Here’s a look at the first-round pairings and the full state tournament schedule for next week’s IHSAA action.

Class 4A Iowa boys state basketball tournament schedule

State quarterfinals, Monday, March 9

No. 4 Dowling Catholic vs No. 5 Dubuque Senior, 5:30 p.m.
No. 1 Cedar Falls vs No. 8 Urbandale, 7:15 p.m.

Tuesday, March 10

No. 3 Waukee Northwest vs. No. 6 Johnston, 10:30 a.m.
No. 2 Waukee vs No. 7 Cedar Rapids Prairie, 12:15 p.m.

State semifinals, Thursday, March 12

TBD vs. TBD, 10:30 a.m.
TBD vs. TBD, 12:15 a.m.

State championship game, Friday, March 13

Class 3A Iowa boys state basketball tournament schedule

State quarterfinals: Monday, March 9

No. 1 Ballard vs. No. 8 Gilbert, 10:30 a.m.
No. 4 Pella vs. No. 5 Carroll, 12:15 p.m.
No. 2 ADM vs. No. 7 Xavier, 2 p.m.
No. 3 Storm Lake vs. No. 6 Solon, 3:45 p.m.

State semifinals, Wednesday, March 11

TBD vs. TBD, 5:30 p.m.
TBD vs. TBD, 7:15 p.m.

State championship game, Friday, March 13

Class 2A Iowa boys state basketball tournament schedule

State quarterfinals: Wednesday, March 11

No. 1 Kuemper Catholic vs. No. 8 Union Community, 10:30 a.m
No. 4 Treynor vs. No. 5 Grundy Center, 12:15 p.m
No. 2 Unity Christian vs. No. 7 Western Christian, 2 p.m.
No. 3 Regina Catholic vs. No. 6 Aplington-Parkersburg, 3:45 p.m.

State semifinals, Thursday, March 12

TBD vs. TBD, 5:30 p.m.
TBD vs TBD, 7:15 p.m.

State title game, Friday, March 13

Class 1A Iowa boys state basketball tournament schedule

State quarterfinals: Tuesday, March 10

No. 1 St. Edmond vs. No. 8 Woodbine, 2 p.m.
No. 4 Notre Dame vs. No. 5 Bellevue, 3:45 p.m.
No. 2 MMCRU vs. No. 7 Boyden-Hull, 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Bishop Garrigan vs. No. 6 Marquette Catholic, 7:15 p.m.

State semifinals, Thursday, March 12

TBD vs TBD, 2 p.m.
TBD vs TBD, 3:45 p.m.

State title game, Friday, March 13

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Iowa State announces gymnastics program will be discontinued

Published

20 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Iowa State announces gymnastics program will be discontinued

Iowa State University announced March 3 that it is cutting its women’s gymnastics program, weeks after abruptly canceling the remainder of the season due to what athletics director Jamie Pollard said were “unreconcilable differences” in the program.

Cyclone gymnasts were informed of the decision to cut the program by ISU associate athletics director Shamaree Brown in a meeting on Tuesday morning, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports Network.

Iowa State gymnastics head coach Ashley Miles Greig and her three assistant coaches were told that their contracts would not be renewed, the university’s news release stated. Miles Greig’s contract was set to expire after the season on June 30, 2026.

Cyclones gymnasts will have the option to remain at Iowa State to finish their degrees, or to transfer to another NCAA school to compete in gymnastics. If they stay at Iowa State, ISU will honor their scholarships. Iowa State’s release said its compliance department would work with the NCAA on waivers to help gymnasts receive an additional year of competition.

Tuesday’s announcement ended weeks of speculation about the program’s future that began when Iowa State canceled its gymnastics season on Feb. 8. In a statement at the time, Brown said the decision was because the Cyclones did not have enough athletes available to compete. In a letter to the gymnastics team and alumni on Feb. 17, Pollard wrote that the cancellation resulted from “a series of complex internal conflicts between individual teammates, coaching staff members, and parents,” language that Iowa State repeated in Tuesday’s release.

In a video released by the school, Pollard said Iowa State would take the next several months to decide which women’s sport would replace gymnastics so that the athletics department remains compliant with Title IX, a federal law that requires NCAA schools to provide proportional participation opportunities to men and women.

“I also want to say, this is not a financial decision. This is a student-athlete experience decision,” Pollard said in the video. “Adding another women’s sport will probably cost equal or more than what we’re already spending on the gymnastics program. This is about student-athlete experience.”

Pollard said that Iowa State conducted reviews of its gymnastics program in 2018 and 2023 stemming from unspecified issues. The 2023 review, conducted by an external law firm, led Iowa State to part ways with then-head coach Jay Ronayne. Miles Greig was hired in April 2023.

On Tuesday, Iowa State denied USA TODAY Sports Network’s public-records request for the findings of the university’s 2018 and 2023 gymnastics probes. In an email denying the request, Ann Lelis, a member of Iowa State’s office of general counsel, cited portions of state open records law that prevent the disclosure of personal information of students or public employees. Lelis also said the requested records were not subject to disclosure because they contained confidential attorney privileged documents.

In the video, Pollard said he asked his senior leadership team “to meet with those individuals in our department that work really closely with our gymnastics program and make a recommendation to me about what we should do going forward.”

The leadership team recommended to Pollard that the school discontinue the gymnastics program, Pollard said, and use those resources for a different women’s sport. Pollard accepted the recommendation from his staff, and he spoke with university leaders. “We are all on the same page,” he said. “This is the right decision for our athletics program and for our student-athletes.”

Cyclone gymnast Samantha Schneider, a redshirt freshman, wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday that she was heartbroken by the decision and criticized Iowa State’s administration for deflecting blame onto the gymnasts.

“Terrible that this is the result of the lack of support from Iowa State’s Athletic Administration,” Schneider wrote. “For the last 5 months, we have come forward as a team regarding (certain) situations and environment concerns and nothing has been done to protect us as athletes on this team. The gymnasts should NOT be blamed or be sharing any part of the responsibility for this decision being made.”

A former member of this season’s coaching staff also mourned the decision in a text message to USA TODAY Sports Network on Tuesday. The person requested anonymity for fear of repercussions.

“At the end of the day this is unfair to the athletes and the alumni that have built this program and have continued to ask for better,” the coach wrote. “It appears that the department was looking for an easy way out or an easy solution, not realizing they would hurt a lot of people in the process. My only hope is that the athletes can come back stronger than ever.”

Miles Greig could not be immediately reached for comment when contacted Tuesday morning by USA TODAY Sports Network.

The Iowa State gymnastics team participated in four competitions this season before the athletics department shut down the remainder of the season on Feb. 8. Nick Joos, Iowa State’s senior associate athletic director for communications, told USA TODAY Sports Network at the time that the cancellation was due to a “combination of injuries and other health issues.”

During what ended up as Iowa State’s final meet against Denver on Feb. 1, several Cyclone gymnasts fell off the uneven bars. The Cyclones forfeited their next meet on Feb. 6 against West Virginia, with Miles Greig saying in a statement, “At this time, we do not have enough student-athletes available to safely field a team against West Virginia, and regrettably must cancel this competition.”

Two days after that, Brown met with gymnasts on Feb. 8 at Iowa State’s on-campus practice gym and informed them that their season would not continue.

Iowa State’s annual financial report submitted to the NCAA for fiscal year 2025 showed the gymnastics program generated $287,392 in total operating revenues with $1.69 million in expenses, a gap of about $1.4 million. Iowa State allotted 14 scholarships to gymnastics. Football and men’s basketball are the only Iowa State sports in which revenue exceeds spending.

Cyclone gymnastics recruits who had committed to the program for the 2026-27 season can commit to a different school or attend Iowa State and have their scholarship agreements honored.

Former Iowa State gymnast Shea Mattingly, whose last name was Anderson when she graduated in 2012, said she had been in contact with other former members of the team after Tuesday’s announcement.

“We’re all frustrated. We’re all angry,” Mattingly said. “That (Pollard) video made us all really mad, honestly. … It places all the blame on these student-athletes whereas the administration’s accountability in this, they hired these coaches that maybe it seems like they couldn’t handle the program.”

Mattingly said she and other alums aren’t giving up hope on the future of the program.

“I think we’re still going to fight,” she said. “So we’re going to send emails. We’re going to call. We’re going to do all we can, even though it seems his mind has been made up.”

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Iowa

Seven Of Eight 3A Slots Filled For Iowa High School Boys State Tournament

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Seven Of Eight 3A Slots Filled For Iowa High School Boys State Tournament

Seven of the eight spots for the upcoming Class 3A Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Tournament were determined Monday night in substate championship action.

Advancing to the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa were ADM, Ballard, Storm Lake, Carroll, Gilbert, Pella and Solon. On Tuesday, Cedar Rapids Xavier will play Dubuque Wahlert Catholic, as that game was moved due to the Dubuque Wahlert Catholic girls competing in the girls state tournament.

The seven teams advancing were all the higher seeds, as six of the seven picked up victories on their home court. The other – Storm Lake’s 66-53 win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton – was held at nearby Buena Vista University.

ADM claimed a 30-point decision over Nevada while Ballard bested Oskaloosa, 79-45. Carroll claimed a three-point triumph vs. Sioux Center, Gilbert bested rival North Polk, 73-62, Pella eliminated Keokuk, 60-47, and Solon downed Central DeWitt, 49-44.

The state tournament bracket will be released following the conclusion of the Cedar Rapids Xavier-Dubuque Wahlert Catholic contest.

The 4A substate championships are also on deck for Tuesday evening.

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