World Wide Technology Raceway earned its spot on the Cup Series schedule in 2022, and Sunday’s 240-lap event will mark the fourth Cup race at the facility. Cody Ware, a veteran with 133 Cup Series starts, recently detailed the unique challenges Gateway poses for drivers who are used to NASCAR’s oval-heavy calendar.
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The track’s egg-shaped design forces drivers to handle two dramatically different corners, a tight, 11-degree banked turn between one and two, followed by a long, sweeping arc through turns three and four with only nine degrees of banking. Linking them are lengthy straightaways, with the frontstretch stretching 1,922 feet and the backstretch measuring 1,976 feet.
Ware, set to wheel the No. 51 Parts Plus Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing on Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT, compared the 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Illinois, nestled on the east side of the Mississippi River beneath the Gateway Arch, to a road course.
He said, “Gateway is like a road course on an oval. You have a lot of downshifting going on. You’re in fifth gear down the frontstretch, and turn one is a really heavy braking zone. You have banking there, but it’s still a very tight corner. So, you’re downshifting from fifth to third, which is something we don’t do anywhere else, at least on an oval.”
He went on to explain how Gateway stands apart when compared to Martinsville or Pocono. “At Martinsville, we’re going between fourth and third (gear), and at Pocono, we’re going between fifth and fourth. To be downshifting twice into a corner on an oval is definitely unique.”
For Ware, the key at Gateway lies in rhythm and consistency. Drivers can’t attack each end of the track the same way because of the stark differences in the corners, making it a one-of-a-kind challenge in the Cup Series.
Gateway is now the sixth different track to host the second race of the NASCAR Cup Playoffs, joining Dover Motor Speedway, which hosted races between 2004 and 2010, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, which hosted between 2011 and 2017, Richmond Raceway from 2018 to 2021, Kansas Speedway in 2022 and 2023, and Watkins Glen International in 2024.
Sixteen different drivers have won the second playoff race, with Jimmie Johnson leading the list with three victories in 2005, 2009, and 2010. Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Martin Truex Jr. each have two, while RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher is the most recent to claim the win.
