Gateway

June 14

http://www.stlracing.com/2013/10/25/...-park-in-2014/

Anyone know whats wrong with Rockingham that they dumped it again? I mean it seemed they had more fans at the Rock for a Truck Race than they had at Bristol for the Cup cars.

Jumping in bed with NASCAR again, are they? I don't know who to feel sorry for here - USAC and what once was a great series until the aerodynamic bathtub era from which they have never recovered from, the NASCAR Truck Series that no one cares about, the owners of Gateway who have a track that no one wants to go to, or the fans who will pay $$$ to attend.

I think I'll be at Gas City and/or Kokomo that weekend, thank you.

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

I never knocked Gateway one bit as did complainer up there.

Just wondered why Rockingham got dumped again.

Heard the problem at the Rock was lack of adequate safety improvements. No details given.
No verification of that statement so please do not take it as fact...

If USAC can get the Slivercrown cars back with NASCAR on NASCAR week ends it is a move in the right direction. You can bash all you want but when USAC went that direction before we had more interest from outside the main circle of people. There were more sponsership opertunities we made a lot more money from the top down. But bad decisions from the top ruined it. The whole new car idea split the core group instead of a meet in the middle plan it was all or nothing then it all blew up and we all got screwed. But getting back with NASCAR has way more advantages than disadvantages. I was there I saw it cashed the checks. I really hope it works out for the group still running with USAC . If it shows promise I might even get one of my cars out of storage and put someone in it.

This news along with Belleville on next years schedule is good news. I'm happy there is going to be Silver Crown racing in 2014...who knows maybe this early news about next year will entice some more people to race next year.

Looking forward to this event! Due to the weather conditions, I missed the Silver Crown race this year, but a friend who attended said it was one of the best races he had seen. Also, I have never seen a NASCAR truck series race in person. IMO, they put on the best races of any NASCAR series. I understand Gateway is a really nice facility, and it is one of the few tracks I can drive to on practically all Interstate highways.

As long as USAC doesn't screw with what they have this is good news. I remember going to Memphis when they ran with what was then the Busch cars. Great races and good crowds.

Another thing just came to mind, with Humpy wanting to get into the short track deal, and he's no fool, maybe NASCRAP sees something too. With a shrinking fan base,(look at the grandstands) they may be realizing they need to put their product in front of a different fan base. Let's be honest , stock car people don't watch open wheels, and open wheelers don't like stock cars. Oh, some will argue it isn't that way, but it is. Watch the grandstands empty at any local show after the sprint feature.

I just hope this works. I don't want to go to a race one day and see my last Dirt Champ race.