Rounds 8 & 9: revised calendar. Bommarito Automotive Group 500, World Wide Technology

[bjohnsonsmith]

Rounds 8 & 9: revised calendar. Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Race, World Wide Technology Raceway. Madison, Illinois. Aug 29-30.

This weekend's event will be the fourth running of the race, since it was added to the IndyCar calendar in 2017 and because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this will be the third double-header this season. It will consist of two races of 250 miles each, or 200 laps, to be run on Saturday and Sunday, instead of one 500 km race. Takuma Sato won here last year, so can he do it again and on the back of last weekend's second win at the 104th running of the Indy 500?

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 American (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 Inaugural 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 Raciing. Spectator attendance continued to be an issue and 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 a 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 the World Wide Technology Raceway.

At the 2017 St. Louis Auto Show, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 was announced and and added to the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series calendar. The partnership was renewed through 2021.

Some Trivia:
The team with the most wins. Team Penske, 1997, 2002, 2003 and 2017

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. Today, the venue has undergone an $11.5 million revitalization project.

1985-95 full course layout:


1997 to date:


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...Bvalue%5D=2243

Pole position:
Josef Newgarden. Combined time 00:48.2554 sec. Average speed 186.508 mph (300.155 km/h)
Team Penske,
Dallara IR18-Chevy IndyCar V6

Last year's winner:
Takuma Sato
Rahal, Letterman, Lanigan, Racing.
Dallara IR18-Honda HI19R Indy V6

Laps: 248
Distance: 310 Miles (498.897 km)
Race Time: 2:15:53.
Average Speed: 136.874 mph (220.277 km/h)
Fastest lap: Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, lap 10. 24.9164 sec, 180.604 mph (290.653 km/h)

Cautions 5
Laps 49: 2-5, 54-68, 121-129, 133-140, 192-204.

TV Broadcast:
NBCSN,
Race 1: August 29, 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC
Race 2: August 30, 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC