Cars and trucks line the northbound lanes of Route 203 from the Interstate 55-70 exit ramp to the entrance of Gateway International Raceway, where Illinois state troopers are directing traffic. Beyond the main gate, windshields glint in a field that has been turned into an impromptu parking lot. A horde of young people, many of them shirtless, march across the sunbaked parking area, their ranks narrowing as they cross a footbridge that spans the Cahokia Canal. These heavy-metal fans are among the thousands filling the infield of the racetrack for an earsplitting concert by Metallica. Normally, spectators who flock here are treated to another form of noise -- the sound of NASCAR competition, which the raceway's boosters say revved up the region's economic engine by about $70... More >>>