World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway

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, United States, 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. Rather than scheduling a race directly opposite the Indy 500 (as they had done in 1996 with the U.S. 500), 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 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 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, 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 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 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, Mike, and Kenny.

* 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 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