Round 15: Bommarito Automotive Group 500. World Wide Technology Raceway. Aug 19-20.
After another caution filled race at Nashville, IndyCar goes to the World Wide Technology Raceway, the fourth oval race of the season This Saturday will be the sixth running of the race, since it was added to the IndyCar calendar in 2017.
History:
World Wide Technology Raceway, previously Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park, was originally called St. Louis Raceway. In 1967 it was developed by Wayne Meinert as a 1/8 mile drag strip. Four years later and With the purchase of more land, St. Louis Raceway over the next four years, expanded into a full quarter-mile drag strip and renamed St. Louis International Raceway. Drag racing was the main form of motorsport throughout the '70s and '80s but with increasing demand from road racers, a new 2.6-mile course was built and opened in 1985, incorporating the drag strip. The venue was renamed Gateway International Raceway and hosted Can-Am, Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and Trans Am events.
In 1995, the venue was purchased by former Long Beach Grand Prix promoter Chris Pook, who had plans to create a new oval track, to host Indycar and NASCAR races. The original track was demolished and a new oval and infield road course were built and opened in 1997.
The venue's inaugural race was the Motorola 300, the sixth round of the 1997 CART season. It was held on Saturday May 24 and was won by Paul Tracy, driving for Marlboro Team Penske, in a Penske PC-26 - Mercedes-Benz IC108C. Rather than holding a race that conflicted with the Indy Racing League's Indy 500, as had been the case in 1996 with the U.S. 500, CART scheduled the race the day before the Indy 500 to serve as their Memorial Day weekend race.
After a couple of years track management grew increasingly dissatisfied with its use, which was seen by some, as a political pawn or statement by CART. The event also had poor attendance, as fans generally chose to travel to the Indy 500 for the weekend instead. In 2000, the race was moved to the Fall, Autumn, but with spectator attendance of only 25,000, it was dropped from the CART series calendar at the end of 2001 and switched to the Indy Racing League.
The Gateway Indy 250, was the Indy Racing League's inaugural race at the venue and was won by Al Unser, Jr. driving a G-Force GF05B Oldsmobile Aurora V8, for Galles Racing. With continuing poor attendance the event was dropped after 2003.
In 2010 Dover Motorsports, Inc., who had purchased the venue from Pook, hosted two Nationwide Series races at Gateway However, following their closure of Memphis Motorsports Park. Attendance figures were disappointing and the Dover group, citing their inability to run the operations with acceptable returns, officially announced Gateway was officially closing and ceasing operations as of November 3, 2010.
Less than a year later Curtis Francois, a retired racing driver who raced in Indy Lights at Gateway in 2002 and now real estate developer, purchased the 160-acre venue investing $20 million and re-opened it in 2012. Key to reopening Gateway was the commitment to drag racing and the partnership with the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). Francois signed a long-term deal with the NHRA starting with a signature event in September 2012 and subsequently adding NASCAR truck events.
In 2015, the track was approved as a test facility for the Verizon IndyCar series and in January 2017, a multi-year agreement was signed with Gateway Motorsports Park and the Bommarito Automotive Group.
Subsequently, on April 17, World Wide Technology announced it had acquired naming rights for the track, renaming it to World Wide Technology Raceway.
At the 2017 St. Louis Auto Show, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was announced and added to the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series calendar, with the partnership subsequently renewed through to 2021.
On August 21, 2021, due to the 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.
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Some Trivia:
The team with the most wins: Team Penske. 1997, 2002, 2003, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021
The driver with the most wins: Josef Newgarden, 2017, 2020, 2021
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Track Layout:
The 1.25-mile (2.01 km) oval has a unique egg shape, with different degrees of banking. Turns 1 and 2 have characteristics similar to New Hampshire Motor Speedway, while Turns 3 and 4 are similar to Phoenix
International Raceway, while the track's egg shape mimics the legendary Darlington Raceway. There is also a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) infield road course. Alongside would be a separate NHRA-sanctioned drag strip.
Around $40 million worth of upgrades will be dedicated to the facility. One of the first will be extending the Steel And Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers down a large part of the oval track's backstretch.
Original 1985-95 layout:
Current layout:
Track length: 1.25-mile (2.01 km)
Turns: 4
Lap record:
Will Power, May 25, 2017. 23.721, 189.642 mph (224.447 km/h).
Team Penske
Dallara DW12-Chevrolet IndyCar V6
Verizon IndyCar Series.
Last year's race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...651698/?nrt=86
Pole position:
Will Power. Time 00:49.8289 sec. Average speed 180.618 mph (290.6764946 km/h). 2 lap average
Team Penske,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6
Winner:
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske.
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6
Laps: 200
Distance: 310.686 Miles (500 km)
Race Time: 2:24:10.9404
Average Speed: 135.245 mph (217.658 km/h)
Fastest lap: Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Lap 195. 25.7998 sec, 174.420 mph (280.702 km/h)
Cautions: 6
Laps: 3 - 14, 17 - 20, 21 - 25, 56 - 63, 65 - 75, 201 - 209.
Laps 5: 1-1, 197-200.
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Practice and Qualifications
Practice 1
Friday, Aug 19
1:00 PM
Qualifications
Friday, Aug 19
4:15 PM - 5:15 PM ET
Practice 2
Friday, Aug 19
7:00 PM ET
Final Practice
Friday, Aug 19
7:45 PM ET
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Race Broadcast:
USA: August 20, 6:30 PM ET, 10:30 PM UTC, 11:30PM BST
Sky Sports F1: 11:00PM BST