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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. 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 2.600 mile and 1.010 mile configurations. The asphalt circuit had a 30 foot track width, 55 pit boxes within the 880 foot 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. Original track layout at bottom of page. 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. The 1.250-mile (2.012 km) 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 infield of the oval track includes a road course that features a 2.0-mile configuration. In 1997, CART Indy Car series, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the NHRA would all be newcomers to the revitalized Gateway International Raceway. Rick Carelli had a stout truck that day, and would lead seven of the final 90 laps to get the win, beating Ron Hornaday. In the first Xfinity series race held at the facility, Joe Bessey would win the pole; but Ricky Craven would lead the first 22 laps. 12th place starter Elliott Sadler would find his way to the lead with

about 100 laps to go. He would take the lead for the final time, and go on to claim the checkered flag, beating Jason Keller by five car lengths. The NASCAR Truck series made their first stop here in 1998. Greg Biffle won the pole, and led the first 24 laps. But he was in an accident with about 45 laps to go, and finished two laps down. 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. 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. In 2010, Gateway received a second Xfinity 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. 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. 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 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. On April 17, 2019, World Wide Technology announced it had acquired naming rights for the track, renaming it to World Wide Technology Raceway. 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. 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. 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. 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. The NASCAR cars and stars rolled into the facility for the Enjoy Illinois 300, held on June 5, 2022. Chase Briscoe won the pole and led the first 27 laps. Kyle Busch led a race high 66 laps, and seemed to be cruising to the win. But, Kevin Harvick crashed with two laps to go and bunched up the field. On the final restart, Joey Logano got the jump on Busch and led the final two laps and stole the win. 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 won the main event for a remarkable third time in a row—fourth time overall.

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WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY - MADISON IL