Gateway CEO had their first site visit to World Wide Technology Raceway on Thursday with special thanks to Anela Abdijanovic, Special Productions Coordinator. As part of the Operations team, she is very involved with the 300 events that come to our region between March and October each year. She self describes herself as a race fan, a motor head and loves the opportunity to do what she loves every day.

Anela shared some details about the property with over 600 acres, a drag strip, an oval 1.25 super speedway, 2 mile road track, the Gateway Kart Plex, adjacent Gateway National Golf Links and plenty of parking with options to camp as well! This venue brings in over 1.6 million visitors locally and from across the country with capacity for 70k fans at the track on race day. Their team of 25-30 full time staff runs a huge operation.

WWT Raceway has a long history in the community, opening in 1967 as St. Louis International Raceway, operating as a drag strip only at that time. Don Garlits, considered the Godfather of drag racing had 12 wins at this strip and was a visitor for many years. Fun fact - Evel Knievel also has history at the track performing stunts in the 1970s. When the track fell on hard times, Curtis Francois, business developer and former racer, took a leap of faith and purchased this property in 2012 after one successful NHRA event to test the market. Under his leadership, this is an anchor in our community, providing entertainment and regional revenue for the entire area. This is the only venue in the world that currently hosts NHRA, NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NTT Indycar Series.

Anela, just a few years older than our students is on her own fast track. As a 2024 high school graduate and St. Louis CAPS alumni, she is working full time at the Raceway while finishing up her degree in Business and Mechanical Engineering at St. Louis University. She already has several race cars she works on with dreams of one day being part of the team that builds professional race cars. She was such an inspiration to our students to go after the things you love. Be passionate, work hard and don't be afraid to take bold steps.

Thank you for the hospitality. It was an amazing visit at WWT Raceway!