Here’s the fourth installment of Gateway International Raceway’s countdown to the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 on July 19 at Gateway.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

A Star is Born at Gateway
By Josh Weinrich

The unique layout at Gateway International Raceway is one that challenges all drivers. At 1.25 miles, it is the only track on the circuit of that length. The flat egg-shaped oval with two distinctly different corners provides a monumental task for teams over the course of 250 miles. For these reasons, veterans of the NASCR Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series have found success at Gateway, and first-time winners are a rarity. In July of 2000, GIR fans witnessed one of those rare occurrences.

Leading up to 2000, the three previous Nationwide Series events at Gateway had seen just three Rookie of the Year contenders finish inside the top ten. Those finishes were all in 1998 (Andy Santarre fourth, Tony Stewart fifth, Dave Blaney sixth). Kevin Harvick came to Gateway with two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts but no experience at GIR in Nationwide Series competition. Harvick dismissed rookies’ past history at Gateway and set his focus to deliver one of the most dominating performances in track history.

Two early caution flags slowed the field at the outset of the 250-miler, but the rest of the race was clean and green. Harvick moved up from his fourth-place starting position and made his presence felt early and often. His most formidable opposition came from Todd Bodine, a nine-time series race winner at the time.

As the event wore on, Harvick began to stretch out his lead and his Richard Childress Racing machine flexed its muscle. When all 200 laps were completed, Harvick had led 111 of them and claimed his first career series victory by 1.33 seconds over the second-place finisher, Jeff Purvis.

The most successful short track racer in America made his final Gateway start in 2000. Dick Trickle started his last of three career starts at Gateway in 2000 with a 16th-place finish driving the #5 car for Jimmy Spencer. Trickle, the 1989 NASCAR Sprint (then Winston) Cup Rookie of the Year, scored two career wins in the Busch Series at Hickory Motor Speedway in 1997 and Darlington Raceway in 1998 and has over 1200 documented short-track feature wins across the country.

Like most times at Gateway, the Wallaces made an impact on the evening. Not only did Mike Wallace make his first start at Gateway driving for Tony Hall, but Kenny Wallace scored his 100th career top-ten finish in the Nationwide Series by finishing ninth.

More history will be made at Gateway International Raceway on July 19th when the NASCAR Nationwide Series returns for the 12th year for the running of the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. Fans can order tickets by calling 866-35-SPEED, or logging on to GatewayRaceway.com.

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