Gateway in the Rear View Mirror — and Windshield Too!

Gateway Motorsports Park, all shined up and ready to race

In 1996, Chris Pook tore down the existing Gateway facilities and rebuilt both the oval and drag strip. The Indy wars were underway, and Pook used the facility to host a Memorial Day Weekend race in 1997 to counter the Indy 500. NASCAR and NHRA races were soon added, and the future seemed bright. Pook sold the place as part of a Long Beach deal in 1998 to Dover Motorsports.

But by 2010, Dover Motorsports – owners of Dover Downs, Nashville Superspeedway and Memphis International – were calling it quits in St. Louis. The CART races ended in 2001, and the IRL aftermath ended in2003. The NASCAR Nationwide (Xfinity) and truck races ended in2010. All races were cancelled, the landholder’s leases weren’t paid (Gateway doesn’t own the ground under it to this day) and the place fell into disrepair.

Two weeks before the grandstands were to be sold for scrap, with none of the plumbing working, a savior was found – Real estate mogul Curtis Francois, who also happened to have driven in Indy Lights at one time. The track’s Director of Public Relations, John Busci, explained to me that, by that time in 2011, $20 million dollars was needed just to blow the dust off of the track, make the toilets work, make sure that the critters hadn’t chewed up the wires.

Gateway's CEO, Owner and Savior, Curtis Francois

Francois also set about rebuilding the relationships. The NHRA deal was first, with a handshake deal to bring them back in 2011. Then the NASCAR Camping World trucks returned in 2014. The track keeps courting NASCAR for an Xfinity race, but concedes that the venue will be hard-pressed for a Cup date.

In the plans was always the return of IndyCar. “The IndyCar race is everything for us" explained Busci. “It’s the top rung of racing of its kind in the country." In a town still stinging from the loss of 2 NFL teams (Cardinals, Rams) and lacking an NBA team, it feels a need for a “third sport". And auto racing, the Gateway people figure, should be that third sport.

In the weeks before last weekend’s IndyCar race, the venue busted its butt in an effort that, pound for pound, puts every other promoter to shame. First, they had to fix the badly aging pavement, as their track was paved with street pavement, not racing-style asphalt pavement. Francois dug into his wallet to the tune of $1.7 million, and soon 3 inches of new pavement, in two layers, was put down. Praise from the drivers on the quality of the work has been a common theme of the weekend. They painted every inch of track walls, and spruced up every building.

They also promoted the hell out of the race. They founded the St. Louis Speed Festival, complete with a bicycle race and a 5k foot race. They established the Founders Club, where local businesses buy a sponsorship in exchange for track perks. Best of all, they partnered with a major sponsor, local car dealer John Bommarito, whose ads are as common in St. Louis as the high humidity — and every ad featured an Indy car.

By the time of the race, they’d sold ever seat (all reserved) and every suite in the place – around 40,000 in all. “The crowd was amazing," Simon Pagenaud said. “A really amazing event. I think the track did a phenomenal job at, you know, repaving the place. It was really a proper track for IndyCar, I have to say. A lot of fun to drive."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Josef Newgarden was even more enthusiastic: “Yeah, it was a great night. We had first off an awesome crowd. It was amazing actually what was out here tonight. I felt like the energy for this event, it really spurred everyone on. You should have seen all the drivers. I felt like everyone was a little extra nervous tonight because of the energy in this place," Newgarden said. “A lot of that is down to St. Louis, all the promoters here at Gateway, everything at the track, the sponsors at the track have done to try to get people out here and come back to this race. It’s fun to see it back here."

So where are they with this process? Well, after 4 years, they were breaking even, something that CoTA would envy. Last weekend wasn’t perfect – but as imperfections go, a traffic jam and a long line at the will-call ticket office are about the best to have. And we’re betting that next year those will be fixed too.