The Dome at America's Center
Fast Facts: Fourth annual Gateway Dirt Nationals
By Robert Holman
DirtonDirt.com weekend editor
Dates: Dec. 19-21 (Two $5,000-to-win preliminary features Friday and $30,000-to-win finale Saturday)
Track: The Dome at America’s Center (fifth-mile temporary clay oval)
Sanction: None
Purse: $30,000-to-win
Tickets: Adult general admission is $25 on Thursday; Reserved seating $25-$35-$45 Friday and $35-$45-$55 Saturday.
On the web: www.gatewaydirt.com
Event phone: (314) 786-2636
Last year’s winner: Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill., his second Gateway Dirt Nationals triumph
Video: DirtonDirt.com is providing live pay-per-view video from the Arizona Sport Shirts Gateway Dirt Nationals with Late Models, modifieds and midgets in action. Live productions each night available at DirtonDirt.com, with multiple announcers, multiple cameras, on-screen race lineups and a live timing and scoring feed. Prices are $24.99 Thursday, $29.99 Friday and $34.99 Saturday or $89.99 for a three-day package. Follow this link for complete information.
Notes: The Arizona Sport Shirts Gateway Dirt Nationals returns to the Dome at America’s Center for the fourth straight year. … O'Reilly Auto Parts is the presenting sponsor. ... Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., won the inaugural event, outrunning Don O’Neal and Brandon Sheppard for a $20,000 payday. … Bobby Pierce and Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., won last year’s preliminary features and Rusty Schlenk of McClure, Ohio, won the Race of Champions. … Eight drivers — Bloomquist, Pierce, Sheppard, Shannon Babb, Joey Coulter, Gordy Gundaker, Don O’Neal and Chad Zobrist — have qualified for all three main events. … Of last year’s 22 starters, seven were from neighboring Illinois, while three were from Tennessee. Arkansas and Missouri produced two starters each, while Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia had a lone representative. … For the fourth year in a row, event promoter Cody Sommer enlisted Kevin Gundaker to construct the dirt oval inside the Dome. … Gundaker and his wife Tammy promote Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., about 15 miles from The Dome. … The Dome, which will seat up to 70,000, was home to the St. Louis Rams NFL football team from 1995-2015. … Along with NFL football, The Dome has hosted NCAA basketball tournament games, college football, Monster Jam trucks, AMA Supercross and concerts including U2, the Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses, Taylor Swift and ‘N Sync. … The event’s date each year is based on the Dome’s availability. … The Late Model field is set to be split into two preliminary programs before Thursday’s time trials. ... A pair of Friday Late Model programs include heats, consolations and 20-lap features. ... The top three finishers from each of Friday’s $5,000-to-win Late Model preliminary features are locked into the first three rows of Saturday’s $30,000-to-win event (those six drivers will redraw for position) ... The Late Model purse for the weekend is more than $150,000. … Modifieds and midgets are also in action. Both will contest time trials and heat races and compete in feature events all three nights, with a $10,000-to-win finale set for each on Saturday. ... Find an unofficial roster of Gateway entries.
Gateway Dirt Nationals winners
Year: Winner, hometown
2018: Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill.
2017: Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill.
2016: Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, Tenn.
(Complete race history)
Weekend purses
Friday’s preliminary features
1. $5,000
2. $2,500
3. $1,800
4. $1,500
5. $1,200
6. $1,000
7. $900
8. $800
9. $700
10. $600
11-20. $500
Saturday’s main event
1. $30,000
2. $15,000
3. $10,000
4. $5,000
5. $3,000
6. $2,500
7. $2,400
8. $2,300
9. $2,200
10. $2,100
11-18. $2,000
Event schedule
Wednesday
10 a.m. - Registration and credential office opens
10 a.m. - Fuel storage and check-in opens
1 p.m. - Competitor parking begins
3 p.m. - Vendor row move-in begins
7 p.m. - DirtonDirt.com’s Late Model Live live from the Dome
9 p.m. - Registration office closes
11 p.m. - Competitor parking and vendor move-in closes
11 p.m. - Pit area cleared and closed
Thursday
8 a.m. - Competitor parking for late arrivals opens
10 a.m. - Registration and credential office opens
10 a.m. - Fuel storage and check-in opens
10:30 a.m. - Vendor row early access
11 a.m. - Pit area, vendor row and VIP Club opens
1 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
2 p.m. - Spectator doors open
3 p.m. - On-track activity for Late Models, modifieds and midgets
- Hot laps
- Time trials
7 p.m. - Opening ceremonies
- Modified heat races (8 laps)
- Midget heat races (8 laps)
- Modified consolation (12 laps)
- Midget consolation (12 laps)
- Modified feature (20 laps)
- Midget feature (20 laps)
9 p.m. - Registration and credential office closes
(Pits close one hour after final checkered flag)
Friday
10 a.m. - Registration and credential office opens
10 a.m. - Fuel storage and fueling lane opens
10:30 a.m. - Vendor row early access
11 a.m. - Pit area, vendor’s row, VIP Club opens
Noon - VIP Club meet and greet
1 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
2 p.m. - Spectator doors open
2 p.m. - Midget engine heat
3 p.m. - On-track activity for Late Models, modifieds and midgets
- Hot laps
- Time trials
7 p.m. - Opening ceremonies
- Late Model Prelim 1 heat races (8 laps)
- Late Model Prelim 2 heat races (8 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Midget heats (8 laps)
- Late Model C-mains (10 laps)
- Modified consolation races (12 laps)
- Midget consolation races (12 laps)
- Late Model B-mains (12 laps)
- National anthem and invocation
- Modified feature (20 laps)
- Midget feature (20 laps)
- First Late Model feature (20 laps)
- Second Late Model feature (20 laps)
(Pits close one hour after final checkered flag)
Saturday
10 a.m. - Registration and credential office opens
10:30 a.m. - Vendor row early access
11 a.m. - Pit area, vendor’s row, VIP Club opens
Noon - VIP Club meet and greet
1 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
2 p.m. - Spectator doors open
2 p.m. - Midget engine heat
3 p.m. - On-track activity for Late Models, modifieds and midgets
- Late Model consolation races (10 laps)
- Late Model hot laps (top six locked in teams)
- Midget consolation races (10 laps)
- Midget hot laps (top six locked in teams)
- Modified consolation races (10 laps)
- Modified hot laps (top six locked in teams)
7 p.m. - Opening ceremonies
- Late Model feature (40 laps)
- Midget feature (30 laps)
- Modified feature (30 laps)
(Pits close one hour after final checkered flag)
Tickets
Thursday
General admission only: $25
Pit pass: $40 (children under 10, $20)
Friday
Reserved seating only: $25-$35-$45
Pit pass: $50 (children under 10, $20)
Saturday
Reserved seating only: $35-$45-$55
Pit pass: $60 (children under 10, $20)
Camping
St. Louis RV Park: www.StLouisRvPark.com or (314) 241-3330
