It was resurfaced in 1983, and in 1988 was renamed the "Jim Duncan Track" to honor the long time relays public address announcer.

Hundreds of Olympic gold medalists have competed at Drake Stadium including Caitlyn Jenner, Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Frank Shorter, Gwen Torrence, and Jeremy Wariner.

[9] The week of festivities currently opens with a parade on Saturday, continues with a Beautiful Bulldog Contest (Drake's mascot) on Sunday, the Grand Blue Mile on Tuesday, and an indoor pole vault on Wednesday[10] with the decathlon and heptathlon beginning Wednesday and concluding alongside the distance carnival on Thursday.

In January 2018 Drake Relays unveiled the Blue Standard, under which Iowa's top high school athletes automatically qualify based on their event performance.

[14] In addition to the track meet, the Relays serves as a second homecoming for the university[15] and sees other community events such as student street painting and a downtown Des Moines block party.

A $15 million renovation in 2006 reduced capacity from 18,000 seats in order to expand the lanes, allow fans to watch throwing and running at the same time, and allow for more hosting of events.