If you needed any more proof that the deal to resurrect the Gateway Motorsports Park (formerly the Gateway International Raceway) jut across the mighty Mississippi from St. Louis is legit, this latest video should be all that you need to show how serious the new ownership is about the future of this popular facility.

The Gateway quarter mile, which has hosted the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, the NMCA, World Ford Challenge, Monster Mopar, and countless other major drag racing events, has long been a record-setter, and when the gates swing back open in 2012, its status as one of the finest race tracks in America will continue. Just this week, the first 1,000 feet of the dragstrip was repaved, delivering a brand spankin’ new racing surface for the first time since the tracks’ opening in 1997.

The new Gateway Motorsports Park is already slated to host the NHRA Midwest Nationals – part of the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship – on September 28-30, along with the ADRL Gateway Drags IV, to be held on June 1-2. The new ownership of the Gateway facility is busy piecing together a schedule and racing program for the new year, with expectation of its release over the next couple of months. Those in the doorslammer-crazed midwest are certainly hoping for big things in 2012, and with the enthusiasm of the new team behind the facility, there could well be some surprises.