MILLER: An (out)standing ovation for Gateway

The first time I met Curtis Francois was in 2015 at Iowa Speedway. The owner of Gateway Motorsports Park and his general manager, Chris Blair, were interested in bringing Indy cars back to the oval outside St. Louis but were having trouble getting an audience with IndyCar.

They both seemed sane, so I didn't want to question their mentality of trying to promote an IndyCar race on an oval in this day and age – but I wanted to say "run away and save your money".

"Early on a lot of people thought that maybe I was out of my mind," Francois admitted with a laugh.

But I knew Blair from Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Curtis just seemed to have this enthusiasm and conviction to make it happen, so I introduced them to Jay Frye, who at that time was IndyCar's chief revenue officer. Right away, Jay got that they were serious, and that opened the lines of communication and a meeting between Francois and IndyCar boss Mark Miles that "got things heated up," in his words.

Ed Carpenter tested at the track, and a year ago it was announced the 1.25-mile oval would be back on the schedule following a 14-year absence.

What we saw Saturday night was a roaring success and proof that if you have a great title sponsor, the right people working the trenches, good ideas and a passionate owner, an oval can still be a winner. It was also the template for anybody thinking about promoting an IndyCar race.

There were 40,000 people at Gateway, the largest turnout on an oval (besides Indy) in many years, and they were treated to a full menu of open-wheel racing that climaxed with Josef Newgarden making the pass of the year to win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

"I don't think I'd be bold enough to predict the kind of outcome we had on Saturday night but I was proud of my people and I think we were all thrilled," Francois said.

"I know this community and St. Louis is very supportive of its sports, so it was up to us to make sure we got the word out that the stars and cars of the Indy 500 were coming to town. And that resonated."

But there were several reasons this native of St. Louis pulled off this pleasant surprise. He had Blair and veteran PR man John Bisci using their experience to garner press and come up with extras for the paying customers.

He made ticket prices reasonable ($55 for a grandstand seat and kids under 15 were admitted free).

He paid to have Indy Lights and Pro Mazda races so the paying customers got to watch non-stop racing from 4-11 p.m.

And, most importantly, he had the Bommarito Automotive Group as his title sponsor. It was one of the most impressive promotional campaigns since Andy Granatelli started putting STP decals on little kids' foreheads.

John Bommarito Vice President Chuck Wallis is a huge race fan, and he "was the spark that lit John's fire for IndyCar racing," recalled Francois. "The six weeks leading up to the race were an all-out radio, TV and media blitz and you would have had to be asleep at the wheel not to know there was a race going on."

Bisci added: "John wasn't in with two feet; he was in with three and at all his dealerships he had jumbo-trons with IndyCar race videos playing non-stop. There were billboards and TV commercials and he gave people tickets to the race for buying a new or used car. I think he went to every IndyCar race this season except Pocono. He was really committed."

Bommarito's heavy presence on the four television channels in St. Louis also persuaded them to cover something they wouldn't usually mention all year. "It wasn't just his checkbook, it was his reach," Bisci said. And he also had radio ads in Indianapolis the past few months.

"Economically it doesn't make sense to have a race without a title sponsor and we had the best one I've ever seen," said Francois.

The crowd began arriving at 1:30 p.m. to line up for the autograph sessions, and many were sporting IndyCar shirts or hats. Several fan buses from Indianapolis made the three-hour trip along with lots of Indiana license plates.

"I'd say four or five out of 10 people were from Indiana or Indianapolis and I felt from the beginning if we do a night race that the IndyCar fans would want another bite of the apple in the fall," said Francois.

"It was Blair's idea to do the three-abreast parade lap in honor of the Indy 500 and it was just such a cool, electric environment."

We're about to go GREEN! Watch the#Bommarito500athttps://t.co/1I2Xejdij6#INDYCARpic.twitter.com/8BhPIZwmAs— IndyCar Series (@IndyCar)August 27, 2017

On a night when the St. Louis Cardinals drew 41,000 by honoring Mark McGwire 15 minutes away from Gateway and bars packed 'em in for the Mayweather/McGregor fight, a sport that had been dormant in St. Louis for almost 15 years sold almost every seat.

And that's why it's a no-brainer for IndyCar to end its season at Gateway. It's an oval, it's unpredictable (and should be even better with equal aero kits), it's in the middle of IndyCar country and it's got the atmosphere of a big-time event. Most importantly, it's got a committed, passionate owner that spent a couple million dollars to repave the track a few weeks ago and will do whatever is necessary for the show.

Oh, and did I mention it had a big, vibrant crowd that stood up for the pit stop contest, restarts and went wild when JoNew stuffed it under Simon Pagenaud?

It was a fun walk back in time Saturday night. Reminded me of when IndyCar was a big deal on an oval outside of Indianapolis.