[bgerster]

It is amazing when some positive news is posted on this site how quickly someone takes a shot at it or makes a smart a$$ comment that does nothing but ignite a string of posts that leads to a bunch of negative commentary. This forum entitles everyone to have a voice; I respect that but would like to provide my perspective. Everything about this new is positive. Gateway is a great facility. They have a unique and competitive 1.25 mile oval which differs from so many of the 1.5 mile “cookie cutter” tracks that have been built in recent memory (it’s also small enough to host a Silver Crown race). They have a drag strip that hosts an NHRA National event that is in the “Countdown”, this is a real win for a track that not long ago was closed. The owner at Gateway is a businessman but also a race fan and loves the Silver Crown Series. Last year Gateway hosted one of the most exciting pavement Silver Crown races seen in the last five years, all of this less than 24 hours after tornados passed just north and south of the speedway while teams took shelter in the tunnels at the track. Mr. Francois could have easily bailed out on having that race on Saturday but he didn’t. They raced. The crowd wasn’t good and I would suspect he lost money but Gateway deserves a great deal of credit for putting on a show. Mr. Francois is now on the short list of independent track owners hosting one of the national touring NASCAR series. The truck series should help provide the front gate income that will support the track and make it profitable. The Silver Crown series gets a great race date and a crowd to race in front of. If ten thousand St. Louis area stock car race fans would have seen the race last year maybe some of them would have gone to Springfield or DuQuoin. There is no denying some missteps with the Silver Crown series but right now when there is something positive to discuss let’s keep it that way. If you want to stay close to home and support a local track that is awesome. We are blessed with some of the best short tracks in the country and they need race fans too. What we don’t need on IOW or anywhere else is the mindset that if don’t like an idea we’ll just publicly condemn it and hope others pile on in support.
Brian Gerster