Backstretch Motorsports

MADISON, Ill. – The racing at Gateway International Raceway began under clear blue skies Saturday, a marked difference from Friday, when the first day of the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Presented by Castrol was rained out after only one round of NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying.

Cool temps provided great racing as defending GIR PSM winner Andrew Hines broke the national ET record with a 6.860 and Greg Stanfield earned the top qualifier in Pro Stock for Sunday’s eliminations with a Gateway speed record of 210.37 mph. Morgan Lucas, two weeks removed from his first-ever Top Fuel win, took the pole for Sunday’s finals with a top speed of 307.02 and an ET of 3.881. Funny Car points leader

“It feels great to keep the momentum going. You never want to have something really big happen and then just fail the next week miserably, you always want to do the best you can,” said Lucas. “Its not making big changes, not doing anything radical and getting ourselves lost, staying down the path we’ve been going down.”

Ron Capps, who earned his first FC win at GIR in 1997, topped the qualifying charts in that class with a speed of 298.80 and an ET of 4.111

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MADISON, Ill. – The NHRA Full Throttle Series officials and the staff of Gateway International Raceway put up a valiant fight, but in the end, Mother Nature won out. After on-and-off raining at the track, the first day of the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals Presented by Castrol was called after heavy rains hit the area during the first round of Pro Stock qualifying.

“Like our fans, we’re disappointed that we couldn’t see a full day of great NHRA Full Throttle Series racing,” said GIR Vice President and General Manager Lenny Batycki. “However, the great thing about this sport is the fact we still have two days of NHRA stars and hotrods at Gateway.” [read more...]

By Tim Tuttle

MADISON, Ill. — Ron Hornaday Jr. was the class of the field Saturday in the Camping World 200 at Gateway International Raceway, winning his fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the season and 37th of his career.

Hornaday led 113 of 160 laps on the 1.25-mile track and finished .646 seconds ahead of runner-up Dennis Setzer. Johnny Benson was third and had his lead in the points standings over Hornaday cut to 94. Todd Bodine was fourth and Jack Sprague fifth.

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By Reid Spencer

MADISON, Ill. (July 19, 2008) – It took three days for Carl Edwards to get to Gateway International Raceway from his home in Columbia, Mo. – on a bicycle.

Once at the track, however, Edwards picked up his pace considerably for Saturday night’s Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race. In the final 55-lap green-flag run, Edwards’ No. 60 Ford streaked away from the No. 20 Toyota of Joey Logano, taking the checkered flag 6.877 seconds ahead of the 18-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing phenom.

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WILKERSON, FULLER, K. JOHNSON AND HINES WIN; FORCE EARNS 1,000TH ROUND WIN

MADISON, Ill. - Tim Wilkerson denied John Force Racing’s Mike Neff his first career win on the same day Neff’s boss made history at the 12th annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol.

Rod Fuller, Kurt Johnson and Andrew Hines also were winners in their respective categories Sunday at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis.

Wilkerson earned his first win at his hometown track, his second of the season and seventh of his career when he drove his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a 4.874-second finish at 317.27 mph to Neff’s 4.886 at 321.58 in his Old Spice Ford Mustang.

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Anderson, Ellis also lead on first day of quals

MADISON, Ill. – Melanie Troxel’s black clouds lifted literally and figuratively during Friday qualifying at Gateway International Raceway.

Troxel drove her ProCare Rx Dodge Charger to a 4.802-second pass at 327.59 mph to lead the NHRA POWERade Series Funny Car field into the second day of qualifying at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol after early morning thunderstorms.

Her Dodge started to skate on the track but Troxel never lifted off the throttle for her best run of the year, after making the field only twice in six races so far this season.

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WORSHAM SEEKS A MONUMENT TO TROPHY-CASE EXPANSION

ST. LOUIS — It sits at the foot of the Mississippi River, a mammoth 630-foot inverted catenary curve made of stainless steel, and has become one of the most iconic National Monuments in the United States. It is, of course, the Gateway Arch in downtown St. Louis, and it can be easily seen from the staging lanes at Gateway International Raceway, in nearby Madison, Ill., where the NHRA tour heads this weekend for the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals. Though most simply call it “the Arch” it is more officially part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which commemorates rapid westward expansion during the early history of the United States. With most pioneers setting off from St. Louis, the last great western outpost, the city became known as the “Gateway To The West” and the Gateway Arch symbolizes that history to this day.

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INDEPENDENT TEAMS FARE WELL IN OPENING EVENTS AS POWERade SERIES MOVES ON TO ST. LOUIS

ST. LOUIS – Some teams don’t know they’re hot.

When Alan Bradshaw (above) qualified No. 1 in Gainesville, his crew didn’t believe it. It took a visit from an NHRA official, a trip to the media center for Bradshaw and a run sheet before they finally did – and then the Vegas Fuel Top Fuel dragster team followed it up with another No. 1, in Houston, proving they weren’t just lucky.

The 2008 season has been good to the one-car teams.

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