Gateway International Raceway

New management has turned Gateway on its heels for the local drag strip crowd. GIR announced the hiring of Rich Schaefer as the drag strip manager toward the end of drag season last year. He came highly recommended according to GIR's press release at that time. Mr. Schaefer has 20 years experience in the sports industry and maintains the position as Director of Communications for MTRA (Monster Truck Racing Association). He certainly appears young to have been in the business for so long. The first changes recognized by local drag racers was a change in venue .. previous years, street tires raced on Tuesday nights and the Slicks raced on Wednesday nights. Mr. Schaefer has combined Tuesday Street Tires Test-and-Tune and Wednesday Slick Tires and Motorcycles Test-and-Tune program into one weekly event to take place every Tuesday night .. if rain out occurs, the event will take place the following evening. The press release seems to hint at a guaranteed three runs, "to ensure an equal number of run attempts for all competitors", by using a 'punch card'. There is still concern being voiced that many drivers will be bumped once the time runs out for that particular program .. 300 cars with slicks staged to make a pass in a 30 minute window seems daunting for a success, but it will be interesting to see how it goes.