It’s taken decades, but the NASCAR Cup Series is finally visiting World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway this weekend, the inaugural race for the series at a track well known for its hosting of racing over the years, from stock cars to open-wheel events.
That doesn’t mean the 36-car Cup field doesn’t have its share of past experience at the track, with some drivers gaining experience via the NASCAR Xfinity, NASCAR Camping World Truck and/or ARCA Menards series ranks.
But does that matter one bit? Can anyone profess to having a leg up on the rest of the field come Sunday, June 5?
Doubtful. But let’s look at the evidence to the contrary.
A total of 24 of the 36 entered drivers have made at least one start in either the Xfinity, Truck or ARCA series at Gateway. Some did so in the past few years, a byproduct of the Truck Series running at the track since 2014 (and from 1998 to 2010 before that). Others have been to the track, albeit a decade or more ago, whether it was in their early days as a Truck competitor or when the Xfinity Series went there from 1998 to 2010. Two more — Harrison Burton and Michael McDowell — raced there during ARCA’s various stints at the speedway, which most recently occurred in 2018.
There’s quite the share of former winners entered Sunday as a result — nine in all, a fourth of the field.
Kevin Harvick leads the pack. He’s the only entered driver to boast wins in two different series; he visited victory lane in 2000 and 2001 during his full-time Xfinity exploits for Richard Childress Racing, and he won the Truck Series’ 2010 event while driving for his own team.
The other eight have one win in each series. Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were victorious in Xfinity before the series departed the track in 2010. And in Trucks, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer and Justin Haley have all scored victories, each coming since the series returned to Gateway starting in…
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