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Friday, December 13, 2013
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Newton, Iowa
Small reaches Big Time
INSIDE TODAY
Q&A with Iowa Speedway
Local
ReMax donates for courthouse lights Page 2A
Community
Four participate in Drake Honor Band Page 7A
Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News Following the formal introduction of Jimmy Small (second from left) as the new president of Iowa Speedway, Small posed with Jay Byers (far left), executive director of the Greater Des Moines Partnership, Newton Mayor Mike Hansen and Eric Nyquist (far right), NASCAR vice president of strategic development. NASCAR held a press conference Thursday in Des Moines for the official announcement of Small’s appointment to the Iowa Speedway position.
NASCAR marketing manager becomes president of Iowa Speedway By Bob Eschliman Daily News Editor “It is an honor and a privilege to be standing in front of you and accepting the position as the new president at Iowa Speedway.” Jimmy Small paused briefly, his white-knuckle grip on the NASCAR podium at the Iowa Events Center clamping down harder. A moment later, perhaps after fully taking in the gravity of what the 28-year-old Detroit native had just uttered, he continued. “I’ve been working my entire career towards this opportunity. Every step
Sports
Hawk grapplers gain two wins Page 1B
Weather
Saturday
High 22 Low 5
NASCAR makes Ethanol pitch During his initial statement to the media at Thursday’s press conference, NASCAR Vice President of Strategic Development Eric Nyquist took a moment to pitch the sanctioning body’s use of “E15” ethanol-blended gasoline in all of its national touring series. “Iowa is the epicenter of American ethanol and the American corn farmer. As many of you know we worked tirelessly with American Ethanol and the American corn farmer to bring a superior fuel blend to NASCAR several years ago, E-15. In the toughest racing conditions we’ve been able to prove that a 15-percent blend of American ethanol is a superior fuel blend and great for our country.” ETHANOL See Page 5A
PRESIDENT See Page 5A
Sunday
Weather Almanac
Thurs., Dec. 12 High 26 Low 10 No Precipitation Also: Astrograph Page 5B Calendar Page 3A
Jocelyn Sheets/Daily News New Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Smalls speakers during a press conference Thursday in Des Moines.
Classifieds Page 3B Comics & Puzzles Page 6A
Q: What does becoming Iowa Speedway president mean to you? A: Being at Iowa Speedway means everything to me. This is a dream come true. It is something I’ve been working for since my career started six years ago. I’ve been working tirelessly. This is my passion — racing and NASCAR — and short-track racing is incredible. The facility is in great shape. We’ve got the greatest intentions and fully com-
Newton man killed in Colfax crash
Dear Abby Page 6A
By Daily News Staff
Education Page 9A Opinion Page 4A Obituaries Page 3A Police Page 3A
Our 112th Year No. 146
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SPEEDWAY See Page 10A
Q&A with Jimmy Small
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Following the press conference, Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Small, NASCAR Vice President of Strategic Development Eric Nyquist and Newton Mayor Mike Hansen answered questions about the future of the speedway. Q. Eric, you mentioned about wanting to take this racetrack to another level. What is ‘another level’ in NASCAR’s mind? ERIC NYQUIST: There’s a number of ways that we’re going to look at it right now. I think for us, with the Industry Action Plan, we have been working on a variety of fan-engagement measures. I think with Iowa Speedway, for a lot of reasons we noted earlier, the great racing, the fact that wherever you’re at on that complex isn’t a bad place to be for the race. We think it’s a perfect place for us to test out some of the fan amenities we think we can bring to bear. Some of them will be small, little pieces here and there. Again, that creative impact, whether you’re going to a hoops game, a football game, matters greatly. Jimmy, with his experience working with Jill, I think is going to be perfect for that. We will be exploring over time looking at other forms of racing, other ways that we can bring entertainment value to the venue. In the near term I think that’s what you can expect. JIMMY SMALL: It’s still too early to determine what specifically that means. But in the short-term, the quick answer is, having worked in Jill Gregory’s group, I know how many resources NASCAR can provide to racetracks, race teams, et cetera. We’re going to take full advantage of those resources.
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A three-vehicle accident Thursday afternoon on Highway F48 near Colfax resulted in a the death of a Newton man. This morning, the Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office identified the victim as Eric Eugene Ewurs, 52, of Newton. Multiple agencies responded to the accident about five minutes after the initial call at 4:05 p.m. Thursday. Additional callers reported a school bus and car had collided and that the car was on fire with a person trapped inside. When first responders arrived, the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames, and the bus was on fire as well. A crowd was trying to put out the fire. Colfax and Newton firefighters were able to contain
and extinguish the fire, but the Ewurs was found deceased inside. Authorities said the school bus driver had dropped off her last student before the crash. A third vehicle also had struck the rear end of Ewurs’ vehicle, but the drivers of the school bus and the third vehicle were not seriously injured. “We would like to thank all the callers and citizens on scene who attempted to extinguish the fire, help with traffic control and check on the occupants of the other vehicles involved,” stated Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty in a press release issued this morning. Officials from the sheriff ’s office, Colfax Police Department, Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa State Patrol responded to the accident.
mitted to Iowa Speedway. The first thing we’re going to do is get a better feel for the community, surrounding markets. We want to focus on ticket sales and sponsorship right now. That’s first up. As we get closer to the season then we’ll develop plans around what we can do to improve the fan-event experience. Q: Why did you chose this as a career? A: I love to entertain people. I love to put smiles on other people’s faces and
I love sports so what better way to do both than be a promoter in NASCAR. They are a fantastic staff (at the speedway). I’ve spent the last six years working with racetracks across our (NASCAR) circuit, along with teams and drivers, so I’ve been able to see best practices across our entire industry. So we can take a lot of these best practices, thoughts and bring them to SMALL See Page 5A
School board to vote on early-retirement option By Ty Rushing Daily News Staff Writer With Monday serving as the last meeting of the year, the Newton Community School District Board of Education isn’t holding back and its agenda reflects that. A multitude of items are up for both discussion and votes, the board will be provided critical updates on current and future committees, a public hearing on the purchase of laptops and the first public reading on Callaghan changes to the district’s early retirement policy. SCHOOL BOARD See Page 10A