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Gateway International Raceway
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Gateway International Raceway is a race track in Madison, Illinois, USA, just minutes from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It hosts a NASCAR Nationwide Series event and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on a 1.25 mile (2 kilometer) oval, a 1.5 mile infield Road Course used by SCCA and various car clubs, and also has a quarter-mile drag strip that hosts an annual National Hot Rod Association event. The facilities are owned by Dover Motorsports, a group that also owns Memphis Motorsports Park, Dover International Speedway and the Nashville Superspeedway among others.
The first major event held at the facility was a CART series held on Saturday May 24, 1997, the day before the Indy Racing League's Indianapolis 500.
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Encyclopedia
Gateway International Raceway is a race track in Madison, Illinois, USA, just minutes from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It hosts a NASCAR Nationwide Series event and a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on a 1.25 mile (2 kilometer) oval, a 1.5 mile infield Road Course used by SCCA and various car clubs, and also has a quarter-mile drag strip that hosts an annual National Hot Rod Association event. The facilities are owned by Dover Motorsports, a group that also owns Memphis Motorsports Park, Dover International Speedway and the Nashville Superspeedway among others.
The first major event held at the facility was a CART series held 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. After a couple years, track management grew increasingly dissatisfied with its apparent use, as seen by some, as a political pawn or statement by CART and IRL/USAC and its poor attendance as fans generally chose to travel to the Indy 500 for the weekend instead. For 2000, the race was moved to the fall. In 2001, its 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.
The 1.25-mile oval is a favorite of many of the drivers who race there due to the unique shape and different degrees of banking in each corner. Turns 1 & 2 have characteristics similar to New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Turns 3 & 4 are similar to Phoenix International Raceway and the track's egg shape mimics the legendary Darlington Raceway. Several NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams test at GIR in preparation for these events.
There is also an 1.6 mile infield road course used by sports car clubs and motorcycle organizations through the warmer months. This roadcourse hosted a round of the AMA Superbike Championship in 1995. Canadian Miguel Duhamel won the superbike class in blistering hot conditions.
In late 2006, Lenny Batycki took over as the vice president and general manager of the track. Unlike most of his predecessors, Batycki brought with him extensive marketing and PR knowledge of motorsports, having been a vice president at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC and a vice president at Richard Childress Racing for a number of years, working with the late Dale Earnhardt for the last years of the seven-time champion's career.
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. The July 19 Nationwide Series will now be 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 GIR.
It was a big year in 2008 for the NHRA at GIR as legendary 14-time Funny Car champion John Force earned his 1,000th career round win against Ron Capps. Making the event doubly special was the fact it happened on his 59th birthday one week after he lost to his daughter, Ashley Force, in the finals at Atlanta for her first career Funny Car win. Another storyline in the day's event was Rod Fuller beating his arch rival Tony Schumacher in the finals. It would be a big win for Fuller as it represented one of the very few times Schumacher would be beat in an historic season for The Sarge, who won 15 races, with seven of them consecutively with 31 round wins in a row, en route to his fifth consecutive Top Fuel title and his sixth overall.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Gateway was sponsored by Camping World, becoming the Camping World 200. Ironically, the race was won by defending Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday, whose #33 Truck fielded by Kevin Harvick Inc. is sponsored by Camping World.
Also at the 2008 Camping World 200, GIR introduced its brand-new victory lane, a throwback to the one used at Rockingham. The project, spearheaded by Batycki, was an immediate hit as Hornaday and the rest of the Truck Series competitors were very complimentary of the new addition.
Race history
CART & IRL Results
See main article Emerson Indy 250
NHRA Full Throttle Series history
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
- Doug Kalitta (TF)
- Del Worsham (FC)
- Ron Krisher (PS)
- Geno Scali (PSB)
2004
2005
2006
- Tony Schumacher (TF)
- Tony Pedregon (FC)
- Mike Edwards (PS)
- Chip Ellis (PSB)
2007
- Melanie Troxel (TF)
- Ron Capps (FC)
- Dave Connolly (PS)
- Matt Smith (PSB)
2008
Nationwide Series race history
Camping World Truck Series race history
Records
Current events
- NASCAR Nationwide Series - Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 (Announced Jan. 25 by Kenny Wallace).
- NASCAR Camping World Truck Series - Camping World 200
- NHRA Full Throttle Series - O'Reilly Midwest Nationals
Other Events
Metallica's Summer Sanitarium Tour of 2000 made a stop at Gateway on July 3, 2000. Other artist featured at the concert were Korn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000, System of a Down.
See also
External links
- on
- High Resolution image from
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