MADISON, Ill. — Well the first foray of the NASCAR Cup Series to Gateway left us with much to discuss.
After 245 laps, I’m perplexed as to why Joey Logano is so polarizing to fans. Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin put on some fun dumb on-track bickering. Furthermore, World Wide Technology Raceway demonstrated it’s an excellent venue for the Cup Series.
Without further adieu, let’s dive into the Three Big Stories of Gateway.
Three Big Stories: Gateway
What do fans not like about Joey Logano
Following the Enjoy Illinois 300, long after the cameras shut off, Logano hung around on pit road to sign autographs and pose for pictures with race fans.
Just to give you an idea of @joeylogano off camera, until about two minutes ago, he was signing autographs for fans who stuck around for the after-party at @WWTRaceway.#NASCAR #EnjoyIllinois300 pic.twitter.com/GBoNirOClS
— Tucker White (@TuckerWhite94) June 6, 2022
After the kid in the Kyle Busch shirt took a picture with him, I chimed in and said, “See, he’s not so scary.”
Everyone cracked up.
To this day, I’ll never understand why Logano’s so polarizing.
For as much as fans worship at the alter of the late Dale Earnhardt, they don’t hesitate to boo the driver who’s most like him, on-track.
Case in point.
.@joeylogano is there! pic.twitter.com/PYDJhq0xl0
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 5, 2022
Logano pushed Busch up the track in Turn 1 to break his momentum. It’s a textbook example of the aggressive driving fans claim to want.
Yet he’s booed week in and week out.
What more do you want, people?
Three Big Stories: Gateway
The fun kind of dumb
I asked The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck during the race what he’d rate the several lap cat and mouse routine between Chastain and Denny Hamlin, on a scale of 1-10 on the Dumb NASCAR Scale.
Ten being it’s the fun kind of dumb and one being “What are we doing, guys?”
He rated it a 7-8.
Chastain bumped Hamlin and put him in the Turn 2 wall on Lap 65. On Lap 80, Hamlin made him use all of the real estate possible on the backstretch to overtake him.
"Here we go!"
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ https://t.co/RTld4Mjau6 pic.twitter.com/xq8omT1gYm
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 5, 2022
But one driver wasn’t enough.
The No. 9 spins coming off of Turn 4. pic.twitter.com/UREj4vSLlk
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 5, 2022
In Chastain’s defense, it was just a case of three drivers going for the same spot. Naturally, Elliott wasn’t pleased.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 5, 2022
What put this altercation over the top was not only Elliott, but Hamlin got another swipe at Chastain, too!
What followed was some of the dumbest back-and-forth by drivers I’ve ever seen in NASCAR.
And I loved every second of it!
It only came to an end when the Tower told both of them they were a lap away from being parked for not maintaining minimum speed.
It’s the kind of fun dumb NASCAR that makes this league so much fun to cover.
Three Big Stories: Gateway
Gateway proved its worth
I strolled down pit lane, over towards the after-party in Turn 1.
Have a taste of the after-party at @WWTRaceway.#NASCAR #EnjoyIllinois300 pic.twitter.com/a2JBT6U9eF
— Tucker White (@TuckerWhite94) June 6, 2022
A good chunk of fans came onto the track to drink beer, smoke and party. One fan, whose name I forgot to get, said it was his first Cup Series race. I asked him if he’d consider coming back.
“Oh, absolutely,” he exclaimed.
Safe to say, Gateway passed with flying colors.
Ingress and egress were a non-issue and the track did great work taking care of the race fans on the property.
More importantly, the racing was good.
Sure, it could’ve used more tire falloff and the field got strung out at times, but there plenty of storylines and action to keep everyone engaged.
For a major metropolitan area like St. Louis, Sunday and the weekend as a whole was a rousing success.
You better believe I’ll drive seven 1/2 hours from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Madison, Illinois, again!
TOP IMAGE: Jeff Curry/Getty Images
