The Associated Press

NEWTON - Former NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace gave a thumbs-up sign as he exited a pace car Thursday after test driving the new Iowa Speedway he helped design.

The 7/8-mile oval track is scheduled to open in September for a shortened inaugural season.

"It's just a perfect work of art," Wallace said.

The first of three layers of asphalt have been laid on the $70 million track, which features banked corners and the newest soft wall technology that Wallace said will make it the safest and fastest track of its size.

The track is smaller than some NASCAR speedways, which can be a mile around or more, but Wallace said some of those tracks are too big for the type of excitement he prefers.

"Too big is too big. It gets to be a little ho-hum at bigger tracks," he said. "This will be a little closer quarters, a little more excitement and a little more action going on."

He estimated top speeds at the track will reach 170 mph, equal to many of the tracks used by NASCAR series cars vying for the Nextel Cup, the sport's biggest prize.

Wallace said he expects to announce soon that contracts have been signed for the 2007 racing season. Speedway officials were hoping to announce a few weeks ago that the Indy Racing League has signed on to race at the track, but it never occurred. Wallace said details are being worked out and should be released soon.

For Thursday's test drive, Wallace used a track pace car, a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS. He pressed track officials for a date when he can get a real race car on the track. They told him to shoot for Aug. 1.

"I can't wait to get on it with a real race car so I can drive a car 180 mph," he said.