The thirteenth race of the season finds us here at Gateway International Raceway, the ‘paper clip’ shaped track that has paid host to IRL races since 2001. This 1.25 mile oval has been described as more akin to a road course without any right hand turns than a true oval speedway. Turns one and two, despite having an eleven degree banking are very tight and this is one of the few places on IRL tracks where drivers have to brake and down-shift. A long back straightaway follows these tight turns, leading into the sweeping, full speed corners of turns three and four. The entire track, while being wide and fast has a narrow groove, so passing is practically impossible in the first two corners. This is a track where handling and driver skills take precedence over horsepower, so you are going to have to devote your full attention if you want to be well placed here. Cars at Gateway run the high downforce short oval wing configuration.