Gateway Int'l Raceway
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Gateway Raceway
It was a dream in 1995, a work in progress in 1996, a construction
project still giving off dust in 1997 and it remains a work-in-progress,
constantly looking to improve. Now, in its 12th season, Gateway
International Raceway is positioned as one of America’s premier
motorsports facilities, and certainly one of the most versatile.
The land where Gateway International Raceway now sits was, about
two centuries ago, at the bottom of the Mississippi River. The Great
Earthquake of 1811, the one that shook the New Madrid fault and
rang church bells back in Washington, D.C., “re-zoned”
the land from River bottom to swamp.
Then in 1967, Wayne Meinert brought an eighth-mile drag strip to
life on the land and called it St. Louis Raceway Park. Its first
event was the old America Hot Rod Association Spring Nationals,
and the lesson was there to be learned from the get-go.
The big names in drag racing all came to test the new track, and
the fans followed – more than 8,000 in a facility designated
for 3,000. Names like Ron Colson, the Beebe Brothers, and Dick Harrell’s
Yenko Camero dominated the winner’s circle.
Just after the 1971 Spring Nationals, Meinert acquired enough land
to make a full quarter-mile strip and extend the track in just 14
days. The track was renamed St. Louis International Raceway. The
swampland promptly became the property of Swamp Rat.
The legendary “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and his Swamp
Rat cars paid the first call for the inaugural AHRA Gateway Nationals.
He laid down a track record of 6.49 seconds (231.95 mph), but lost
in the finals to Steve Carbone. This was the Garliet’s last
loss until the opening round of the 1984 event. He would win 33
straight races in St. Louis, eight AHRA Gateway Nationals and six
consecutive event wins between 1978-83.
“If I remember, that’s Swamp Rats 13 through 18 or 19,”
said Garlits, who has most of those old cars in his drag racing
museum in Ocala, FL. “St. Louis was one of those tracks that
could be really tricky, but if you were able to get the combination
and get the read on the place you could have a lot of success. Think
it’s because we had a lot of experience racing a lot of different
tracks, but we had some awfully good years at that facility. And
the fans? The fans were just great to us. It was a place we really
enjoyed coming to each year.
While Garlits made the headlines, it was the Pro Stockers, Super
Stocks and Pro Modifieds, that seemed to be the staple of racing
at Gateway. Harrell, “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Ronnie Sox,
Bill “Gumpy” Jenkins, Dick Landy and the late Lee Shepherd
ran Gateway constantly. St. Louis racers like Jerry Haas and Bill
Kuhlman went on to be the dominant chassis builders in Pro Stock.
“I’ve got a picture of me running three other guys in
a four-car one-race elimination on that strip. It’s true.
I doubt we’d run that kind of race any more.”
Then Chris Pook at the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach came
to town, and things started to perk. After a year of examination,
he bought Gateway in 1994 hinting of bigger and better days. In
1995, the wraps came off those plans after he was able to secure
$21.5 million in bonds by the State of Illinois through the Southwestern
Illinois Developmental Association.
The new Gateway opened in 1997 with the Motorola 300, which played
to a virtual sellout crowd that filled its grandstand seats to watch
Paul Tracy overtake Patrick Carpentier in the finals laps to score
the victory.
In 2001, the Indy Racing League debuted on the oval, bringing the
stars of the Indianapolis 500 from the Brickyard to our backyard.
Two-time Indy 500 champion Al Unser Jr. claimed the first Gateway
Indy 250 title.
Overflow crowds watched the Inaugural Sears Craftsman Nationals
drag races, highlighted by wins from NHRA legends Joe Amato and
Warren Johnson, and the first NASCAR Busch Series race (now the
Charter Pipeline 250) with Elliott Sadler scoring a sun-scorched
victory. And Gateway was off and running. In 1998, the NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series was added to the schedule with the Inaugural Missouri-Illinois
Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200.
The Truck Series has had a great presence at Gateway, with its event
here widely recognized as one of the highest-drawing stand-alone
NCTS events in the country. Ted Musgrave, the 2005 NCTS champion,
was the first-ever Dodge to visit Victory Lane here and is the only
two-time winner in the Truck Series at Gateway.
The track that many describe as a “flat Darlington”
made headlines in 2004 when David Starr won the final multi-“green,
white, checker” finish in NASCAR with an exciting finish that
still ranks as one of the best in Truck Series history.
Several future NEXTEL Cup Series stars made their mark at Gateway
as well. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick won back-to-back races
at the 1.25-mile oval, with Dale Jr. winning the 1998-1999 races
and Harvick winning in 2000 and 2001. Other Cup Series stars such
as Greg Biffle, Scott Riggs, Martin Truex Jr., Reed Sorenson, and
Columbia, Mo.-native Carl Edwards have all visited Victory Lane
at Gateway.
St. Louis’ First Family of NASCAR, the Wallaces, were honored
here in 2004 with the Wallace Family Tribute 250, the first time
brothers Rusty, Mike, and Kenny raced together in a Busch Series
event together. In honor of what the Wallace family has done for
motorsports in the St. Louis area, the grandstands in Turns 1 and
2 were re-named after them.
For fans not wanting to miss any of the great racing action at Gateway
International Raceway, season ticket packages are available by calling
866-35-SPEED.
