Hy-Vee And Iowa Speedway Announce Big-Name Concert Lineup For 2023 IndyCar Weekend

When Iowa-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee and Iowa Speedway staged a blockbuster IndyCar doubleheader on July 23 and 24, featuring some of the biggest names in music, it created a tough act to follow.

What are you going to do for an encore?

Hy-Vee and Iowa Speedway answered that proverbial question on November 16.

Four of the biggest names in entertainment will perform before and after each of the two NTT IndyCar Series races on July 21-23, 2023. Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney will perform on Saturday of race weekend while Zac Brown Band and Ed Sheeran will crank up the energy by rocking on the Hy-Vee Stage on Sunday.

The concerts are wrap-around, value-added content for the two full-length, NTT IndyCar Series races around the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway short oval.

Ticket renewals for the 2023 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend will begin on Monday, November 21. Fans can register immediately for an exclusive pre-sale opportunity before tickets go on sale to the public on Monday, December 5.

“When we first agreed to hold the event in Newton (Iowa), we knew we wanted to make it the best and biggest event on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s Chairman of the Board and Executive Director. “We made the weekend quite the spectacle in 2022; however, we knew we could top our efforts when planning for 2023, and I think our lineup of concerts shows just that. This is an event you won’t want to miss.”

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

Both pre-race concerts will feature 60-minute performances while each post-race concert will include a 90-minute show. Exclusive trackside concert viewing passes will be available for purchase once 2023 tickets go on sale in December.

“Thanks to the support of Hy-Vee and their commitment to making Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend one of the biggest annual events in Iowa, we truly delivered a memorable experience for our fans this summer at Iowa Speedway,” said Bud Denker, President of Penske Corporation. “With four incredible concerts featuring some of the most popular acts in music today, Hy-Vee is raising the bar even higher in 2023. Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend is going to bring non-stop excitement on and off the track July 21 through July 23.”

After the track sat virtually idle during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds contacted then Hy-Vee CEO Randy Edeker to help return Iowa Speedway to action. Governor Reynolds had received a call from the Mayor of Newton, Iowa, hoping the Governor could help the near-dormant facility.

Hy-Vee is an employee-owned corporation operating more than 285 retail stores across eight Midwestern states with sales of more than $13 billion annually.

The supermarket chain has a heavy emphasis on 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 80,000 employees use the motto “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle” to customers every day.

Edeker was looking to expand Hy-Vee’s footprint and saw IndyCar as the perfect vehicle to help spread that message into new territories such as Indianapolis, Nashville, Louisville and Birmingham, Alabama.

Hy-Vee, which also sponsors the No. 45 Honda at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, not only pledged its sponsor support to Iowa Speedway, but it also came an active and aggressive promotional partner.

More than 80,000 people attended Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend in 2022 as IndyCar made its return to Iowa Speedway after a one-year absence. With the star-studded concert lineup and festival atmosphere adding to the high-speed action on track including two NTT IndyCar races – both televised live on NBC – and the next generation of stars competing in the Indy NXTXT
by Firestone Series, event organizers are looking to surpass those totals with sellout crowds at Iowa Speedway in 2023.

With four nationally acclaimed acts over two days, the 2023 Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend concert lineup features some of the biggest names in country and pop music.

Concert Prior to the Saturday, July 22 IndyCar Race:

Carrie Underwood is a multi-media superstar, with achievements in music, television, film, and as a New York TimesNYT
bestselling author and successful entrepreneur. She has sold more than 66 million records worldwide, recorded 28 No. 1 singles (14 of which she co-wrote), has seven albums that are certified Multi-Platinum or Platinum by the Riaa, and is the most-awarded female country artist for digital singles in Riaa history. Underwood has won over 100 major awards including 8 Grammy® Awards, 16 ACM Awards including three for Entertainer of the Year, 25

CMT Music Awards where she continues to hold the record for the most award wins ever by any artist, 7 CMA Awards, and 17 American Music Awards.

She was the first artist to perform at the new Resorts World Theatre, where her ongoingReflection: The Las Vegas Residency, began with sold-out runs in December 2021 and throughout Spring 2022, and will continue in 2023. Her new album, Denim & Rhinestones, which she co-produced, is out now, and her 43-city U.S. arena tour, “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour, kicked off October 15 with dates throughout Fall 2022 and Spring 2023.

Concert Following the Saturday, July 22 IndyCar Race:

Kenny Chesney has recorded more than 20 albums and has produced more than 40 Top 10 singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 32 of which have reached No. 1. Many of these hits have also charted within the Top 40 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making him one of the most successful crossover country

artists ever. He has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Chesney has received 12 Country Music Association Awards (including winning the Entertainer of the Year honor four times) and 11 Academy of Country Music Awards (including four consecutive Entertainer of the Year awards from 2005 to 2008) as well as six Grammy® Award nominations. He is one of the most popular touring acts in country music history, regularly selling out the venues in which he performs.

Concert Prior to the Sunday, July 23 IndyCar Race:

Zac Brown Band has won 3 Grammy® Awards, sold more than 30 million singles and 9 million albums, had over 10 billion catalog streams, and achieved 16 No. 1 radio singles. Since 2009, Zac Brown Band has earned 55 award nominations from the Grammy® Awards, Academy of Country Music, American Music Awards, Country Music Association and Country Music Television. Most recently, Zac Brown Band released “The Comeback Deluxe” album with songs featuring Cody Johnson, Blake Shelton, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffet among others. On November 19, they will serve as house band for the legendary Dolly Parton during her induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Concert Following the Sunday, July 23 IndyCar Race:

Ed Sheeran is an era-defining artist. With five multiplatinum, critically acclaimed albums under his belt, the British singer-songwriter has amassed more than 60 billion streams and sold over 50 million albums, globally to date, making him one of the world’s biggest-selling artist. An unparalleled live performer, Sheeran’s two-year ÷ world tour made history becoming the most-attended and highest-grossing tour of all

time when it wrapped in 2019.

Late last year, Sheeran released ‘=’, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and marked his fourth consecutive full-length release to top the chart after its first week. Sheeran is currently in the midst of his worldwide “+ – = ÷ x Tour,” hitting North America for the first time in nearly 5 years, including a stop at the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend.