Perhaps one of the most memorable races at Iowa Speedway was the first for the IndyCar Series – the 2007 Iowa Corn 250, won by Dario Franchitti.

Iowa Speedway, located in the heart of America’s corn belt, stands as a constant reminder for the Verizon IndyCar Series to its efforts with the introduction of ethanol into its fuel, and to the heartland of America’s passion for open-wheel racing. That’s why it came as no surprise when the 2007 Iowa Corn 250 was announced that it would be contested in front of a packed house, and produce a very memorable event.

While the event has since been lengthened to a 300-lap show, the 2007 inaugural race for the IndyCar Series in Iowa became about two things – track position and survival. With practice rained out on Friday due to thunderstorms, there was little time for the drivers to get acclimated with the new track. This may have helped to fuel concerns over the way the track raced, more like a superspeedway than its seven-eighths of a mile layout would suggest.

The event itself saw a bizarre number of large crashes, including an incident on Lap 100 where drivers would attempt to go four-wide, taking out Sam Hornish Jr. and Danica Patrick. The high carnage level would leave only five cars to finish on the lead lap, and ten cars of twenty-two running at the finish. It is one of the few if any moments where a driver can claim to have not been running at the finish, but get a top ten result, that being Vitor Meira for Panther Racing.

Dario Franchitti, winner of the 2007 Indianapolis 500, would go on to win the inaugural Iowa Corn 250, by just six one-hundredths of a second over teammate Marco Andretti. It would be the start of the Andretti dominance at Iowa Speedway, with seven total wins at the track, including three consecutive entering the 2016 event by Ryan Hunter-Reay. Scott Sharp for Rahal Letterman Racing would come home in third.

Relive the full Iowa Corn 250 at the young Iowa Speedway, as aired on ABC here:

Be sure to tune in for the 2016 Iowa Corn 300 on Sunday, July 10 at 5:00 pm eastern, live on NBCSN and the NBC Sports App. Brian Till, Townsend Bell, and Paul Tracy will call the race from the booth, with Robin Miller, Jon Beekhuis, Kevin Lee, and Katie Hargitt reporting from pit road.