NASCAR 350, Powered by Ethanol

Sometimes I have to pinch myself. It truly is hard to believe I get picked to photograph some of the cool assignments I get!!!

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of photographing the NASCAR Iowa Corn 350, Powered by Ethanol, at the Iowa Speedway on Rusty Wallace Drive outside Des Moines. I was shooting for the Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA), which is the title sponser of the race. The best part about that is I get carte blanch to go just about anywhere I want and photograph every aspects of the day. I bounce around from the VIP tent to the Club suite, from Midway with all the vendor trucks to the infield with all the team garages, and of course the race itself from inside and outside the track. I cover the pre-race festivities like VIP presentations, pace-car rides, pre-race concert, behind-the-scenes appearances, driver introductions, and more. I’m one of only 2 photographers that gets to cover the most famous words in the racing world…”Gentlemena, start your engines”. Then we literally RUN off the track and out of harm’s way. Once the race starts, I’m constantly moving around, looking for unique angles and interesting subjects. And of course after the race is over, I get to cover all the celebrations at the end!

The Iowa Speedway where the race is held is a 7/8-mile oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa…approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Des Moines. The track was designed with influence by Rusty Wallace, who patterned it after Richmond Raceway, a short track where Wallace saw a lot of success during his racing days. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered Recreational Vehicle viewing area along the backstretch. The track hosts the NTT IndyCar Series and NASCAR events.

This year’s Iowa Corn 350 was held on August 3, 2025, at Iowa Speedway, contesting over 350 laps around the D-shaped oval. It was the 23rd race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. William Byron won the race. Chase Briscoe finished 2nd, and Brad Keselowski finished 3rd. Ryan Blaney and Ryan Preece rounded out the top five, and Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Carson Hocevar, Joey Logano, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top ten.

Many thanks to the amazing team at ICGA for all their hard work planning and organizing this incredible event. It was such an honor capturing all the energy and excitement of the day for them!!!

ICGA Annual Grassroots Summit

Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) is singularly focused on supporting sound policy development and pro-farmer legislation to support long-term profitability for corn growers. ICGA works to support state and federal policy on increasing blends and access to renewable fuels, decreasing regulatory burdens on Iowa’s livestock industry, improving Farm Bill programs, promoting trade policies and so much more.

It was a real honor to photograph this year’s ICGA Annual Grassroots Summit, which is one of the many opportunities for delegates to get involved and make their voices heard. Attendees get an in-depth look at the issues facing the corn industry, debate key policies that impact their farm, help set the direction for the organization moving forward and get to know other corn growers from across the state. This year’s event was held at Prarie Meadows Hotel & Casino in Altoona, IA. Keynote speakers included Secretary Mike Naig and Governor Kim Reynolds!

Many thanks to Shannon, Amanda, and Rachel from the ICGA communications team for bringing me on board to capture all the energy and excitement of this amazing conference!!!

Iowa Corn Grassroots Summit

I’ve discovered that farmers are the nicest people on the planet!!! So it was with great pleasure that I accepted Shannon’s request to come to Des Moines to photograph the annual Grassroots Summit for the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Shannon and I met at one of the US Grains Council events that I’ve photographed over the years. She worked with her team in arranging all the details to get me to their event at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeney, just north of Des Moines, Iowa. So I owe her a HUGE Thank You!

Most of the delegates and guests at the event are local farmers. So they were able to drive to the event. It was fantastic to see so many familiar faces from photographing other conferences involving the farming and grains communities. To be honest, I’ve begun to think of many of these folks as my friends!

Luckily the weather was absolutely gorgeous, which allowed me to start my coverage with a few drone shots of the venue. When covering such conferences, I like to tell the “story” of the day from start to finish. A few cool establishing shots from the DJI Mini 3 Pro are a great way to do this. Next I switched to a pair of Nikon Z9 bodies, rotating between the Nikkor 14-30 f4 Z, 24-70 f2.8 Z, and 70-200 f2.8 Z as needed. For additional lighting, I brought 6 Flashpoint Zoom Li-On II strobes.

After getting registered, everyone had time to mingle and catch up with one another. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig, kicked things off with a fantastic keynote address. There was a delicious luncheon before delagates began debating and discussing various topics. Then Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg raised some fantastic points during his keynote address. After more discussions it was time for dinner. And finally we transitioned into the highlight of the program, the Awards Banquet!

It was a long day, but super fun and rewarding! I hope I get asked back to photograph it again next year!!!