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| Track Details: |
| Turns: T1-2 11°,
T3-4 9° |
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Straights:
3° |
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Distance: 1.250 miles, Shape: Oval |
| Last
updated: 3/27/11 |
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BY THE NUMBERS |
SCHEDULE |
PAST RESULTS |
Sportsman Cup Series Race Record
Q-Ball 107.759 mph 07/26/2006
Sportsman Cup Series Qual. Record Duck
131.837 mph (34.133s) 07/18/2007
Diamond Series Race Record Gael Brooks
103.471 mph 04/29/2010
Diamond
Series Qual. Record Andrew Mendes 126.590
mph (35.548s) 04/29/2010 |
Track no longer on schedule.
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2010 -
Sportsman
7/14
2010 -
Diamond
4/29
2009 -
Sportsman
7/15
2008 -
Sportsman
7/23
2007 -
Sportsman
7/18 2007 -
Diamond
9/6
2006 -
Sportsman
7/26 |
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| TRACK HISTORY |
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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
Craftsman Truck Series race on a 1.25 mile oval, 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 by
CART, 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 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 predecesors, 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. Many in the St. Louis
area feel the track is now on an upswing with GIR being run by
individuals with actual racing ties and knowledge rather than
mainstream businessmen.
In early January of 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 19th Nationwide
Series will now be called the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers
250. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers such as Carl Edwards,
David Ragan, David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer, and defending race
winner Reed Sorenson are scheduled to race in the event. St.
Louis native and fan favorite Kenny Wallace will race his #36
Fitz Motorsports Dodge at Gateway that night as well.
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