World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in
Madison, Illinois, just east of
St. Louis,
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, close to the
Gateway Arch. It features a oval that hosts the
NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, a infield road course used by SpeedTour TransAm,
SCCA,
and Porsche Club of America, a quarter-mile NHRA-sanctioned drag strip that hosts the annual
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Midwest Nationals event, and the Kartplex, a state-of-the-art karting facility.
The first major event held at the facility was the
CART Series on Saturday May 24, 1997, the day before the Indy Racing League's
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. Rather than scheduling a race directly opposite the Indy 500 (as they had done in 1996 with the
U.S. 500
The U.S. 500 was an automobile race sanctioned by CART, it was held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event was held from 1973 to 1986 and again in 1996 due to the event being known as the as an alternative to the 1996 ...
), CART scheduled Gateway the day before to serve as their
Memorial Day weekend open-wheel alternative without direct conflict. For 2000, the race was moved to the fall. In 2001, it was dropped from the CART series schedule, and switched alliances to the
Indy Racing League. After mediocre attendance, the event was dropped altogether after 2003. It was later re-added to the schedule for 2017.
In 1998, the then named Gateway International Raceway was purchased by Dover Motorsports, a group that also owned what now is Memphis International Raceway, along with the Nashville Superspeedway and Dover International Speedway. On November 3, 2010, Dover Motorsports closed the facility. On September 8, 2011, the facility was re-opened by local St. Louis real estate developer and former Indy Lights driver Curtis Francois and renamed Gateway Motorsports Park, saving the facility days before being scrapped. Under its new leadership, World Wide Technology Raceway went from the brink of demolition to one of the very few tracks in the United States to host the NASCAR Cup Series, NTT IndyCar Series, and NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series all during the same year. The track also hosts Formula Drift, the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and the Confluence Festival.
Track History
Former Tracks
St. Louis International Raceway was built in 1967 as a drag racing facility by Wayne and Ruth Meinert on property originally purchased by David Bergfield. Initially conceived as a 1/8-mile drag strip, the track was extended to a full 1/4-mile in 1971. Having been developed on dormant swampland that was long ago buried by the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...
, the track soon adapted the nickname of "The Swamp".
Throughout the 1970's, the raceway primarily held regional drag racing events. However, entering the early 1980's, the interest of adding a road racing circuit to the grounds began to mount, and in 1985 a road course was constructed by then-owner Jody Trover, featuring and configurations. The asphalt circuit had a track width, 55 pit boxes within the pit lane, and could officially hold 52,000 spectators. Parts of the existing drag strip were incorporated into the road course build. Coming into Turn 4 was a slight left-hander onto the drag strip's shutdown portion, and after snaking around the back half of the dragway, Turn 12 turned left onto the drag strip back towards the starting line to complete the lap. The course would welcome
ARCA,
IMSA, and the
Trans-Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
in its inaugural year.
Also in 1985, a 1/20-mile quarter midget dirt track was established at the back right corner of the property when pulling into the facility.
In 1994,
Chris Pook, promoter of the
Grand Prix of Long Beach, acquired the facility for $21.5 million. The existing tracks were demolished over the course of 1995–1996 and a new oval speedway and drag strip were constructed at a cost of $25 million.
Current Tracks
The oval is a favorite for many fans and racers alike due to the unique shape and different degrees of banking in each corner. The backstretch is confined to run parallel with
Illinois Route 203
Illinois Route 203 (IL 203) is a north–south state highway in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It travels from just south of I-55/I-70/ US 40 around Gateway International Raceway at Collinsville Road (former ...
, making Turns 1 & 2 a tighter radius than Turns 3 & 4. Turns 1 & 2 have similar characteristics to
New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Turns 3 & 4 are similar to
Phoenix Raceway. The track's egg shape mimics the legendary
Darlington Raceway and
Mobility Resort Motegi race tracks.
The infield of the oval track includes a road course that features a configuration.
Timeline of Notable Events
* On June 24 and June 25, 1972,
Evel Knievel
Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (; October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motor ...
made a stop at the then-named St. Louis International Raceway for two motorcycle jumps. Arriving via his private plane that used the drag strip as a runway, he successfully jumped his
Harley-Davidson XR-750
The Harley-Davidson XR-750 is a racing motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson since 1970, primarily for dirt track racing, but also for road racing in the XRTT variant. The XR-750 was designed in response to a 1969 change in AMA Grand National Champio ...
over 10 cars on both days.
* One of the last major events held on the original road course was Round 8 of the AMA Superbike Championship in 1995. Canadian
Miguel Duhamel won the class in blistering hot conditions. The near triple-digit heat wave triggered local heat advisories which majorly impacted attendance.
* In 1997,
CART, the
NASCAR Busch Series, and the
NHRA would all be newcomers to the revitalized Gateway International Raceway.
* Before the 1999 racing season, Gateway installed the now-named Wallace Grandstand in turns 1 & 2 of the oval track to increase seating capacity. The grandstand is named in honor of the Wallace family's trio of racing brothers who were born and raised in the St. Louis region—
Rusty
Rusty may refer to something covered with rust or with a rust (color). Rusty is also a nickname for people who have red hair, have a rust-hued skin tone, or have the given name Russell.
Rusty may also refer to:
People
* Rusty Anderson (born 1959 ...
,
Mike
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
, and
Kenny
Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names.
In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant of Cionnaith". ...
.
* In early January 2008, it was announced that the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers would move their sponsorship from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, and was called the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. At the 2008 event,
Carl Edwards became the fourth driver to win two NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Gateway.
* 2008 marked a big year for the
NHRA Midwest Nationals event at Gateway as legendary 16-time Funny Car Champion
John Force secured his 1,000th competitive round win by defeating
Ron Capps
Ron Capps is a writer, US Army and Foreign Service veteran, and founder of the ''Veterans Writing Project'', a nonprofit organization that hosts free writing workshops for veterans and others. Capps also wrote the book ''Seriously Not All Right: ...
in the first round. Force accomplished the feat on his 59th birthday, making the milestone doubly special.
* The 2008
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway was sponsored by
Camping World, becoming the Camping World 200. Coincidentally, the race was won by defending Truck Series champion
Ron Hornaday Jr. driving the No. 33 Camping World-sponsored truck for
Kevin Harvick Inc.
* On the last lap of the July installment of the 2010 Nationwide Series race, during the height of their rivalry,
Carl Edwards turned
Brad Keselowski coming out of Turn 4 onto the front-stretch to take the checkered flag. Edwards was penalized 60 points and fined $25,000.
* In 2010, Gateway received a second Nationwide Series race due to the closure of Memphis Motorsports Park. The date was the former late fall event at Memphis. This was the last NASCAR event held at Gateway until 2014, as Dover Motorsports announced it would not seek sanctioning for the three events held at the track in 2010.
The facility made no announcements concerning any of the other track's events. The former Nashville Superspeedway received Gateway's place on the schedule in July, while the race date for October would still be vacant. The NHRA also did not schedule any races at Gateway for its 2011 season.
* On November 3, 2010, Dover Motorsports announced that Gateway was officially closing and ceasing all racing operations. On September 8, 2011, it was officially announced that Gateway would re-open in 2012 and host the 15th AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals from September 28–30, under the leadership of Curtis Francois. On December 6, 2012,
USAC announced that the track would have a
USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series date in 2013 on June 1.
* In February 2013, Francois announced the addition of Chris Blair as Executive Vice President and General Manager. Furthermore, plans were announced for the addition of a world class karting facility (which opened as the Gateway Kartplex in June 2014), an off-road venue (which opened in May 2015 with a TORC Series event) and a revitalization plan for the track's road course.
* On May 1, 2013, Curtis Francois finalized the purchase of Gateway Motorsports Park, officially making the facility locally owned and operated.
* On October 25, 2013, it was announced that the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series would be returning to Gateway on June 14, 2014 for the first time since 2010.
Bubba Wallace won the first NASCAR event under the track's new ownership.
* In October 2016, for the first time since the 2003 season, it was announced that the
NTT IndyCar Series would be returning to Gateway on August 26, 2017 for the
Bommarito Automotive Group 500. After IndyCar Series teams experienced issues with the surface during a May 2, 2017 open test on the oval, track officials undertook a multimillion-dollar renovation of the racing surface. The repaving project began June 19 and was completed in late July 2017.
* On April 17, 2019,
World Wide Technology announced it had acquired naming rights for the track, renaming it to World Wide Technology Raceway.
* On June 26, 2019, a configuration of the road course was completed that utilizes Turns 1 & 2 of the oval track. This added stretch of track was constructed directly in front of the Wallace Grandstand and its inception was partially created as a new course for
Formula Drift
Formula Drift (also known as Formula D) is a United States-based motorsport drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that int ...
and the SpeedTour TransAm Series.
* In late December of 2019, WWT Raceway purchased the adjacent Gateway National Golf Links, a 7,178-yard links-style golf course. “Boosting St. Louis and the Metro East is part of our mission and bringing together the two properties makes great sense,” Curtis Francois remarked.
* On August 21, 2021, due to the outstanding success of the event, it was announced before the green flag of the
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 that the
NTT IndyCar Series would be returning to the track for a renewed five-year contract. The 2021 edition also saw former
F1 competitor
Romain Grosjean
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...
make his first ever career oval track start. His debut attempt would result in a respectable 14th place finish in the
Dale Coyne Racing w/
Rick Ware Racing #51 Honda.
* On September 15, 2021, it was announced WWTR would be added to the
NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the very first time for the 2022 season. Five thousand ticket deposits were placed within the first 24 hours of the announcement. The inaugural event was secured into the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for June 5th, 2022. On March 14, 2022, the Illinois Office of Tourism was announced as the official sponsor of the event, naming the race the
Enjoy Illinois 300. On June 1, 2022, WWT Raceway officially announced a capacity crowd sellout for the event, a first in track history.
* Soon after being awarded a NASCAR Cup Series date for the 2022 season, Francois remarked another $40 million worth of upgrades will be dedicated to the facility. One of the first enhancements was extending the
Steel And Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers down a large length of the oval track's backstretch wall. A request by NASCAR, this improvement meant the originally constructed "bump out" fencing down the back straightaway would be replaced with a swing gate, making the backstretch wall continuous. Other upgrades include a complete modernization of the oval track tower's rooftop and suites, addition of infield camping sites, rejuvenated team areas, and remodeling of concession and midway spaces. The projects will occur in phases and are scheduled for completion by early 2025.
* At the conclusion of qualifying for the 2022 edition of the Bommarito 500,
Will Power earned his 67th IndyCar pole position, tying him for most all-time with the iconic
Mario Andretti.
Josef Newgarden
Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American race car driver who competes in the IndyCar Series full-time for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 Indy Lights champion.
Career
Karting
Newga ...
won the main event for a remarkable third time in a row—fourth time overall.
Annual Events
Current Events
*
NASCAR Cup Series
** ''
Enjoy Illinois 300'' (2022)
*
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
** ''
Toyota 200 presented by CK Power'' (1998–2010, 2014–present)
*
IndyCar Series
** ''
Bommarito Automotive Group 500'' (2001–2003, 2017–present)
*
Indy Lights
** ''
Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge'' (1997–1998, 2000–2003, 2017–present)
*
Indy Pro 2000 Championship
** ''
St. Louis Pro Mazda Oval Challenge'' (2017–present)
*
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
** ''NHRA Midwest Nationals'' (1997–2010, 2012–present)
*
NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
*
Formula Drift
Formula Drift (also known as Formula D) is a United States-based motorsport drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that int ...
(2018–present)
*
USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series (1997–2001, 2013–2014, 2016, 2022)
Future Events
*
Trans-Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
(1985, 2023)
Previous Events
*
AMA Superbike Championship
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned ...
(1995)
*
American Indycar Series (1988, 1990)
*
Americas Rallycross Championship (2019)
*
ARCA Midwest Tour
** ''Illinois Lottery 40'' (2016–2017)
*
ARCA Menards Series
** ''
PapaNicholas Coffee 150'' (1986, 1997, 2001, 2004–2007, 2018–2020)
*
ARCA Menards Series East &
West
** ''
Monaco Cocktails Gateway Classic 125'' (2018–2019)
*
ARTGO Challenge Series (1997)
*
ASA National Tour (2000)
*
ASA Late Model Series
The ASA Late Model Series is an American stock car racing series. Founded by Ron Varney in 2003 as the "USPRO Cup Series", it was renamed "ASA Late Model Series" when it was purchased by the American Speed Association in 2004. After financial di ...
(2008–2009)
*
Atlantic Championship
The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...
(1998–2000)
*
Can-Am (1985–1986)
*
NASCAR Xfinity Series
** ''
5-Hour Energy 250'' (1997–2010)
*
NASCAR Autozone Elite Division – Midwest Series (1998–2003)
*
NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southeast Series (1999)
*
TORC: The Off-Road Championship (2015)
Race History
NASCAR Cup Series results
NASCAR Xfinity Series results
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
NTT IndyCar Series results
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series results
The 2004 event was marked by tragedy as Top Fuel driver
Darrell Russell was killed in a second round crash. Russell had qualified at the No. 1 position for the second time in his career just the day before. One of the drag strip grandstands is named "The Darrell Russell Stand" in his memory.
Track Records
*
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying:
Chase Briscoe, 32.528 s (138.342 mph), June 4, 2022
* NASCAR Cup Series Race:
Joey Logano
Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Serie ...
, 3 h 7 min 34 s (97.965 mph), June 5, 2022
*
NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying:
Brad Keselowski and
Reed Sorenson*, 33.158 s (135.714 mph), July 18, 2009
* NASCAR Nationwide Series Race:
Carl Edwards, 2 h 5 min 54 s (119.142 mph), July 29, 2006
*
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Qualifying:
Grant Enfinger
Grant McArthur Enfinger (born January 22, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. Before moving up to the Truck S ...
, 32.405 s (138.867 mph), 2018
* NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race:
Jack Sprague
Jack Sprague (born August 8, 1964) is an American former stock car racing driver who has competed in all of NASCAR's three top divisions, most notably in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he won series championships in 1997, 1999 and 2001.
Raci ...
, 1 h 45 min 31 s
*
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Fastest Speed:
Brittany Force (Top Fuel, 338.43 mph) October 2, 2022
*
SCCA Formula Atlantic Overall: Hans Peter, 53.635, March 29, 2008
* CART
Championship Auto Racing Teams Race:
Juan Pablo Montoya, 1 h 55 min 38 s (155.519 mph), September 17, 2000
*
IndyCar Single-Lap Record:
Will Power (189.709 mph) August 25, 2017
*
IndyCar Two-lap Qualifying Average:
Will Power (189.642 mph) August 25, 2017
(*) Keselowski and Sorenson tied for the fastest lap time in qualifying, both setting a new identical track record. By virtue of being higher in owner's points, Keselowski was given the tiebreaker and credited with the pole.
Other Events
Metallica's
Summer Sanitarium Tour
The Summer Sanitarium Tour was a music event led by American heavy metal band Metallica. The first edition took place during the summer of 2000, with 20 shows in the United States. A second edition was held during the summer of 2003, with 21 sho ...
made a stop at Gateway on July 3, 2000. Other artists featured at the concert were
Korn
Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream.
Originally formed in 1993 ...
,
Kid Rock,
Powerman 5000 &
System of a Down.
The
Illinois State Police
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...
uses Gateway to train new Troopers in high speed vehicle operations (Emergency Vehicle Operations Course).
During the winter months after the racing season concludes, World Wide Technology Raceway's oval track infield transforms into the WonderLight's drive-through Christmas light display.
See also
*
List of NASCAR race tracks
This is a list of tracks which have hosted a NASCAR race from 1948 to present. Various forms of race track have been used throughout the history of NASCAR, including purpose-built race tracks such as Daytona.
NASCAR National series race tracks ...
Footnotes
References
* http://www.midiv.org/PDF/Track_Records/gir.pdf
External links
*
* High Resolution image fro
Google MapsSt. Louis International Raceway at Ultimate Racing HistoryWorld Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway race resultsat Racing-Reference
{{Navboxes, list=
{{IndyCar Series racetracks
{{Indy Lights racetracks
{{Trans-Am tracks
{{NASCAR Cup Series racetracks
{{NASCAR Nationwide Series racetracks
{{NASCAR Truck Series racetracks
{{NASCAR K&N Pro Series racetracks
{{NASCAR Elite Division Midwest racetracks
{{NASCAR Elite Division Southeast racetracks
{{NHRA dragstrips
{{Pro Mazda Championship race venues
{{ARCA tracks
{{ASA National Tour racetracks
{{Barber Pro Series tracks
{{Can-Am circuits
{{Champ Car tracks
{{TORC race venues
{{USAC Silver Crown race venues
{{MotoAmerica circuits
NHRA Division 3 drag racing venues
Motorsport venues in Illinois
NASCAR tracks
ARCA Menards Series tracks
Champ Car circuits
IndyCar Series tracks
Sports in St. Louis
Sports in the Metro East
Buildings and structures in St. Clair County, Illinois