This weekend features two of the top NASCAR series at World Wide Technology Raceway, formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park. It is being reported that the inaugural NASCAR Cup series race at the track is a sell out crowd along with all camping sold out as well. The NASCAR Truck Series has run at WWT Raceway since 2014 after a brief three year break where the track changed ownership.
The NASCAR Cup Series will be the first series hitting the track at WWT Raceway this weekend with a practice session running between 4:00 and 4:50 PM Central time. Normally this practice session is compounded with a qualifying session immediately following the practice; however, this is the first time the Cup Series will run at WWT Raceway. The Cup Series will hold their qualifying session tomorrow, Saturday June 4, at 10 AM Central time allowing all teams to make changes following today's practice session. All cars will be impounded immediately following the single car qualifying session. As with other oval tracks of this size, qualifying will follow the A/B group format and the top 5 fastest cars will transfer to the final round to determine the starting positions. No cars will be sent home following qualifying since there are currently 36 entries for the 40 car field.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will be the other series at WWT Raceway with the Cup Series this weekend. The Truck Series will hold their practice session today, Friday June 3, from 5:05 PM Central time with their qualifying session immediately following. This of course will have all trucks impounded until the race tomorrow, June 4, at 12:30 PM Central. One thing of note this weekend, there are 40 trucks entered for the Toyota 200, so four trucks will be sent home following today's qualifying session.
As previously mentioned, the Truck Series has been running at WWT Raceway since 2014. The last race at the track for the series was August 2021 which saw Sheldon Creed as the winner after he led 142 of the 163 lap race. The Toyota 200 will begin at 12:30 PM Central time with three stages on FS1 or you can listen on MRN.
(Photo: NASCAR.com/ Jeff Curry Getty Images {link})
While this weekend is the inaugural race for the NASCAR Cup Series at WWT Raceway, there are several drivers who have found victory at the 1.25 mile egg-shaped track. Sunday's Enjoy Illinois 350 is a sellout crowd according to WWT Raceway with around 57,000 grandstand seats, and 1,200 camping sites sold making it the first sell out crowd for the venue. The race will begin at 2:30 PM Central time on FS1 or you can listen on MRN. After practice and qualifying today we will have a better idea of who to keep an eye on for Sunday's race.
There are a few things of note for the Cup Series at WWT Raceway. Chris Buescher has tested positive for COVID, so he will be replaced by Zane Smith. Also of note, Ben Rhodes will be filling in for AJ Allmendinger for practice and qualifying while AJ is in Portland for the Xfinity Race. Due to this, AJ Allmendinger will start from the back of the field for Sunday's race.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series will be on their own this weekend at Portland International Raceway with the ARCA series as the support series. This is the first time the Xfinity Series has run at Portland International Raceway, so it will be interesting to see how the field handles it. The entry list for the event is loaded with road course ringers alongside the Xfinity regulars.
The Xfinity Series held their first practice session at the track this morning which featured Sheldon Creed as the fastest car followed by Ty Gibbs, Myatt Snider, AJ Allmendinger, and Brett Moffit. Noah Gragson, Joe Graf Jr., and Sam Mayer had incidents during the 20 minute practice session.
Qualifying will be held tonight following the A/B group format; however this will be a multi-vehicle style with two rounds to determine the starting order. The Xfinity Series will race tomorrow, June 4, at 1:30 PM Pacific.
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