MADISON — NASCAR’s top racing series is set to return to the St. Louis region this weekend for the second Enjoy Illinois 300 race, after last year’s inaugural event.
The NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway offers the region the chance to solidify the Metro East track as a perennial destination for top racing, especially after last year’s race sold out, said the track’s owner, Curtis Francois.
“It definitely goes down as one of the largest motor sports events in the history of St. Louis,” he said. “We expect, with everything that is going on in NASCAR, it to be equally exciting in 2023.”
Last year’s success set high expectations on Francois and his team this year, he added, since many fans were already making plans to return even before the race began last year.
“We have a lot to do this year,” he said. “Have to make sure when people come back they see we didn’t just rest on our laurels. We are pushing forward.”
It means doubling down on the elements that worked well, while retooling some of the pressure points from last year, Francois said. One area of improvement is the traffic and pedestrian flows around the track’s facility to help people get in and out more easily, he said.
“We had a lot of people here last year, so we’ve doubled the amount of concessions for this year,” Francois said.
Last year’s event drew around 102,000 people over the course of the weekend, and nearly 60,000 for Sunday's main event. That’s comparable to a major playoff game in any other major sport, Francois said.
Turnout for this year’s event could be at that same level, said Kristin Richards, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which paid $700,000 to sponsor and name the race. That kind of influx gives the Metro East a chance to flex to visitors, she said.
“This just is the type of event, where we hope people are traveling through the region, they’re stopping at those restaurants in neighboring towns,” Richards said. “They’re going to be checking out some of the locally owned businesses that help provide southwestern Illinois with such a terrific identity.”
The weekend’s race coincides with Collinsville’s annual international horseradish festival, which Richards encourages travelers to the race to visit, she said.
“There’s so many awesome things to do in the area, lots of outdoor recreational activities, wonderful festivals,” she said. “It’s a beautiful area of the state, and this race gives us an opportunity to show it off.”
Last year’s race brought in around $60 million in economic impact for the region, and this weekend's event could match that figure, Richards said.
Francois, the raceway owner, said ticket sales are on par with last year, though the race isn’t as novel. He declined to provide any specifics until the final tallies this weekend.
“Second year is always more difficult than the first year,” he said. “It’s just part of the way the industry works in outdoor entertainment.”
A second consecutive successful year would add to the significant turnaround for the Metro East’s racetrack, which was almost demolished a little more than ten years ago. It could also put World Wide Technology Raceway in a position to secure more of NASCAR’s top racing as the sport's initial three-year agreement with the track is up after next year, Francois added.
“We are a good long-term partner with a vision towards the future,” Francois said. “And that really, I think, is important as we’re laying the groundwork.”
