Former tracks St. Louis International Raceway was built in 1967 as a drag racing facility by Wayne and Ruth Meinert on property originally purchased by David Bergfield. Initially conceived as a drag strip, the track was extended to a full in 1971. Having been developed on dormant swampland that was long ago buried by the
Mississippi River, the track soon adapted the nickname "The Swamp". Throughout the 1970s, the raceway primarily held regional drag racing events. However, entering the early 1980s, the interest of adding a road racing circuit to the grounds began to mount, and in 1985 a road course was constructed by then-owner Jody Trover, featuring and configurations. The asphalt circuit had a track width, 55 pit boxes within the pit lane, and could officially hold 52,000 spectators. Parts of the existing drag strip were incorporated into the road course build. Coming into Turn 4 was a slight left-hander onto the drag strip's shutdown portion, and after snaking around the back half of the dragway, Turn 12 turned left onto the drag strip back towards the starting line to complete the lap. The course would welcome
ARCA,
IMSA, and the
Trans-Am Series in its inaugural year. Also in 1985, a quarter midget dirt track was established at the back right corner of the property when pulling into the facility. In 1994,
Chris Pook, promoter of the
Grand Prix of Long Beach, acquired the facility for $21.5 million. The existing tracks were demolished over the course of 1995–1996 and a new oval speedway and drag strip were constructed at a cost of $25 million.
Current tracks The oval is a favorite for many fans and racers alike due to the unique shape and different degrees of banking in each corner. The backstretch is confined to run parallel with
Illinois Route 203, making Turns 1 & 2 a tighter radius than Turns 3 & 4. Turns 1 & 2 have similar characteristics to
New Hampshire Motor Speedway while Turns 3 & 4 are similar to
Phoenix Raceway. The track's egg shape mimics the legendary
Darlington Raceway and
Mobility Resort Motegi race tracks. The infield of the oval track includes a road course that features a configuration.
Timeline of notable events • On June 24 and June 25, 1972,
Evel Knievel made a stop at the then-named St. Louis International Raceway for two motorcycle jumps. Arriving via his private plane that used the drag strip as a runway, he successfully jumped his
Harley-Davidson XR-750 over 10 cars on both days. • One of the last major events held on the original road course was Round 8 of the AMA Superbike Championship in 1995. Canadian
Miguel Duhamel won the class in blistering hot conditions. The near triple-digit heat wave triggered local heat advisories which majorly impacted attendance. • In 1997,
CART, the
NASCAR Busch Series, and the
NHRA would all be newcomers to the revitalized Gateway International Raceway. • Before the 1999 racing season, Gateway installed the now-named Wallace Grandstand in turns 1 & 2 of the oval track to increase seating capacity. The grandstand is named in honor of the Wallace family's trio of racing brothers who were born and raised in the St. Louis region—
Rusty,
Mike, and
Kenny. •
Metallica's
Summer Sanitarium Tour made a stop at Gateway on July 3, 2000. Other artists featured at the concert were
Korn,
Kid Rock,
Powerman 5000 &
System of a Down. • The 2004 NHRA event was marked by tragedy as Top Fuel driver
Darrell Russell was killed in a second round crash. Russell had qualified at the No. 1 position for the second time in his career just the day before. One of the drag strip grandstands is named "The Darrell Russell Stand" in his memory. • In early January 2008, it was announced that the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers would move their sponsorship from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck race to the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, and was called the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. At the 2008 event,
Carl Edwards became the fourth driver to win two NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Gateway. • 2008 marked a big year for the
NHRA Midwest Nationals event at Gateway as legendary 16-time Funny Car Champion
John Force secured his 1,000th competitive round win by defeating
Ron Capps in the first round. Force accomplished the feat on his 59th birthday, making the milestone doubly special. • The 2008
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway was sponsored by
Camping World, becoming the Camping World 200. Coincidentally, the race was won by defending Truck Series champion
Ron Hornaday Jr. driving the No. 33 Camping World-sponsored truck for
Kevin Harvick Inc. • On the last lap of the July installment of the 2010 Nationwide Series race, during the height of their rivalry,
Carl Edwards turned
Brad Keselowski coming out of Turn 4 onto the front-stretch to take the checkered flag. Edwards was penalized 60 points and fined $25,000. • In 2010, Gateway received a second Nationwide Series race due to the closure of
Memphis Motorsports Park. The date was the former late fall event at Memphis. This was the last NASCAR event held at Gateway until 2014, as
Dover Motorsports announced it would not seek sanctioning for the three events held at the track in 2010. The former Nashville Superspeedway received Gateway's place on the schedule in July, while the race date for October would still be vacant. The NHRA also did not schedule any races at Gateway for its 2011 season. • On November 3, 2010,
Dover Motorsports announced that Gateway was officially closing and ceasing all racing operations. On September 8, 2011, it was officially announced that Gateway would re-open in 2012 and host the 15th AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals from September 28–30, under the leadership of Curtis Francois. On December 6, 2012,
USAC announced that the track would have a
USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series date in 2013 on June 1. • In February 2013, Francois announced the hiring of Chris Blair as executive vice president and general manager. Plans were announced for the addition of a world class karting facility (which opened as the Gateway Kartplex in June 2014), an off-road venue (which opened in May 2015 with a TORC Series event) and a revitalization plan for the track's road course. • On May 1, 2013, Curtis Francois finalized the purchase of Gateway Motorsports Park, officially making the facility locally owned and operated. • On October 25, 2013, it was announced that the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series would be returning to Gateway on June 14, 2014, for the first time since 2010.
Bubba Wallace won the first NASCAR event under the track's new ownership. • In October 2016, for the first time since the 2003 season, it was announced that the
NTT IndyCar Series would be returning to Gateway on August 26, 2017, for the
Bommarito Automotive Group 500. After IndyCar Series teams experienced issues with the surface during a May 2, 2017 open test on the oval, track officials undertook a multimillion-dollar renovation of the racing surface. The repaving project began June 19 and was completed in late July 2017. • On April 17, 2019,
World Wide Technology announced it had acquired naming rights for the track, renaming it to World Wide Technology Raceway. • On June 26, 2019, a configuration of the road course was completed that utilizes Turns 1 & 2 of the oval track. This added stretch of track was constructed directly in front of the Wallace Grandstand and its inception was partially created as a new course for
Formula Drift and the SpeedTour TransAm Series. • In late December 2019, WWT Raceway purchased the adjacent Gateway National Golf Links, a 7,178-yard links-style golf course. • 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. The 2021 edition also saw former
F1 competitor
Romain Grosjean make his first ever career oval track start. His debut attempt would result in a 14th-place finish in the
Dale Coyne Racing w/
Rick Ware Racing #51 Honda, respectively. • On September 15, 2021, it was announced WWT Raceway would be added to the
NASCAR Cup Series schedule for the very first time for the 2022 season. Five thousand ticket deposits were placed within the first 24 hours of the announcement. The inaugural event was secured into the NASCAR Cup Series schedule for June 5, 2022. On March 14, 2022, the Illinois Office of Tourism was announced as the official sponsor of the event, naming the race the
Enjoy Illinois 300. On June 1, 2022, WWT Raceway officially announced a capacity crowd sellout for the event, a first in track history. • Soon after being awarded a NASCAR Cup Series date for the 2022 season, another $40 million worth of upgrades will be dedicated to the facility. One of the first enhancements was extending the
Steel And Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers down a large length of the oval track's backstretch wall. A request by NASCAR, this improvement meant the originally constructed "bump out" fencing down the back straightaway would be replaced with a swing gate, making the backstretch wall continuous. Other upgrades include a complete modernization of the oval track tower's rooftop and suites, addition of infield camping sites, rejuvenated team areas, and remodeling of concession and midway spaces. The projects will occur in phases and are scheduled for completion by early 2025. • At the conclusion of qualifying for the 2022 edition of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500,
Will Power earned his 67th IndyCar pole position, tying him for most all-time with
Mario Andretti.
Josef Newgarden won the main event for a third time in a row—fourth time overall. • On April 20, 2023, the Gateway Garage Experience was announced as the latest infield enhancement before the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series event. Directly located in-between the pit road and garage area, the Gateway Garage Experience provides fans an up-close look at teams with their drivers both in preparation and during the race. • At the conclusion of the 2023 Bommarito Automotive Group 500,
Scott Dixon won the race by a 22.2256 second margin of victory, shattering the previous record held by
Juan Pablo Montoya with an 11.804 second margin of victory in 2000. • During round 1 of the
2024 Enjoy Illinois 300 qualifying session on June 1, 2024,
Michael McDowell set a new
NASCAR Cup Series track record with a 32.318s (139.241 mph) lap time. • On August 29, 2024, it was announced that the track's NASCAR date would move from June to September and now be in the Round of 16 for the
NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The
NASCAR Xfinity Series will also make its return to the track in 2025 for the first time since 2010. == Track records ==