Vol.VIII, Issue I, Spring / Summer 2015 • 1
START YOUR
Y
ENGINES
ou don’t have to go to Charlotte, Talladega or Daytona for a great auto race. To get in gear, you need only venture across Southern Illinois, from the burgs of Madison to Highland to Flora. Of course, ladies can start their engines, too. And they don’t have to be named Danica Patrick. Gateway Motor- Highland Speedway, Photo: sports Park provides plenty of opportu- spanglersphotography.com nities for bona fide racers to neophytes— say, a kindergarten teacher or a British even on an 80-inch screen. squash team—to get behind the wheel Want to try it yourself? Try “arof a race-prepped Camaro. Many cor- rive and drive” at the new porate team-building getaways are held Kartplex, located within the here. Not including karting, 230 events oval itself. April starts the season out at most will be held this year at Gateway, within sight of I-55 and the Gateway Arch in tracks and speedways, whether you’re in the mood for off-road trucks in Baja-style St. Louis. Curtis Francois is a racer who’s contests, to every other type of racecar parlayed his time behind the wheel to competition, officially sanctioned or not. owner of the radically refurbished track There’s SCCA racing (Sports Car Club of and stands. Much more happens here America) and heart-stopping 1/8-mile than cars speeding around a 1¼-mile NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) drag races.You can thrill to a Grand Am paved oval. “The idea is to make it an entertain- or marvel at pre-1972 muscle car “nostalment,” says Francois, “and sometimes a gia” runs. Gateway only reopened a few years race breaks out.” And the karting is in a different ago and work is still going on to add fealeague than what you’d find at an amuse- tures so would-be racers can get a feel for ment park in Branson. These are built in all racing surfaces, from the classic oval to France, not by Sears. You have no idea an impossibly curvy 1½-mile road how fast these rascals go until you see and course… hold on to your stomach! Compared to new and ever-improvhear them up close and personal. Neither could you imagine what it’s like to be ing Gateway, Highland Speedway is not among as many as 75,000 roaring fans,
far from collecting Social Security. It opened in 1962… and excitement is building for its 54th season. UMP (United Midwestern Promoters) DIRTcar racing here ranges from
Route 45 Raceway - Flora, IL
Street Stocks to KidModz (12-18). Did we mention that nearly anyone can get involved with this sport? The racetrack in Clay County, 2½ miles north of Flora, has been renamed Route 45 Raceway. As many as 3,500 can enjoy all classes of UMP DIRTcar racing on the 1/3-mile high-banked dirt track. And would it be auto racing without sponsors and ads on every square inch of car, uniform or grandstand? This season 480-feet of
fence will be festooned with 8-foot billboards. In Pontoon Beach, just south of I270,Tri-City Speedway is a 3/8-mile dirt oval (as measured 20- feet from the outside wall). The track features 10 degrees banking in the corners and is 70-feet wide all the way around. Rather watch drivers bust stuff up? Keep tabs on whether a demolition derby will be scheduled somewhere, probably at Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville. At this writing, plans for the season there were still being formalized. Yes, racing is exciting, whether you’re watching or participating. But, as Francois says, you don’t have to white-knuckle yourself around tight turns at a high rate of speed. Just focus on the orange cone at the apex of each curve. As he points out, with a grin: “Racing is more of a geometry problem than guts and gonads.” For further information, visit: www.gatewaymsp.com www.highlandspeedway.com www.route45raceway.com www.tricityspeedway.net
Gateway Motorsports Park
www.belleclairspeedway.com