World Wide Technology buys naming rights at Gateway Motorsports Park
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A track outside St. Louis that hosts IndyCar, NASCAR and NHRA events is getting not only a new name, but a promise to become a proving ground for tech innovations aimed at enhancing the fan experience.
Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois, will be renamed World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Terms of the naming rights agreement announced Wednesday were not disclosed.
Suburban St. Louis-based World Wide Technology has some 5,000 employees. Founder and chairman David Steward said he envisions using the partnership to develop innovative experiences for fans.
"If you could not go down to the pits but you could put on some goggles and be able to experience that, like you're actually there — guess what? That enhances the fan experience dramatically," said Steward, who believes that sort of technology is in the near future.
A tech issue dogging some sports venues, including tracks, is more mundane — a lack of connectivity for cellphone users.
Ben Kennedy, NASCAR's managing director of racing operations and international development, said the stock car series aims "more and more each and every day to be more of a technology-driven sport, and to have partners like World Wide Technology involved adds more credibility to that point."
World Wide Technology has been involved in racing for some time. It is the official technology and analytics partner of Richard Petty Motorsports and the primary sponsor of Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr.'s No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team.
