Pizza Ranch launched a number of exciting racing initiatives in 2009.  It started first by signing a multi-year partnership to be the Official Pizza of Iowa Speedway.  Along with that came Pizza Ranch Victory Lane and the Pizza Ranch 100 (a Star Mazda Championship Series race) came to Iowa Speedway.

Then in August of 2009 Pizza Ranch and Joe Gibbs Racing teamed up to bring Nationwide Series points leader and eventual season points champion, Kyle Busch to Iowa Speedway’s inaugural NASCAR Nationwide Race.  And in front of 70,000 plus fans Kyle and the #18 Pizza Ranch Racing team came all the way from the back of the pack to take the race lead.  Kyle ended the race in second place, tying Nationwide Series legend, Jack Ingram with a record nine consecutive top-two finishes.

Then Pizza Ranch announced in October 2009 that they had signed on to sponsor four NASCAR Nationwide Series races with Joe Gibbs Racing and their newest young talent, driver Matt DiBenedetto.

Matt DiBenedetto made his Nationwide Series debut in Memphis on October 24, 2009. In addition, Pizza Ranch and DiBenedetto will team up at three Nationwide races in 2010 including Elkhart Lake, WI (6/19/10); St. Louis, MO (7/17/10) and at Newton, IA (7/31/10).

“We look forward to building on the success we’ve had already this year with Joe Gibbs Racing and to sponsor a brand new driver on the track.  We’re also very pleased to have Joe Gibbs and Matt DiBenedetto representing Pizza Ranch next year.  Joe strives for integrity and quality in everything he does and Pizza Ranch is driven to live out those same beliefs everyday in our stores and communities,” said Pizza Ranch president, Adrie Groeneweg.

“We’re excited about Pizza Ranch partnering with us and Matt on these four races,” said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. “They work hard to provide their customers quality pizza and outstanding service and we want to provide them an exciting race program to be proud of.”

“Matt has done a great job with every opportunity we’ve provided thus far and we’re excited to see what he can do in the Nationwide Series,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR.  “He is an exciting young talent that brings a lot of skill to the track, but he also has a great personality.  We really believe he has a bright future in the sport and will represent Pizza Ranch well.”