Superstar Racing Experience

Last updated

Superstar Racing Experience (SRX Racing)
SRX Logo - High Res.png
Category Auto racing
Country United States
Inaugural season2021
Drivers12–13 (per race)
Engine suppliers Ilmor
Tire suppliers Goodyear
Drivers' champion Ryan Newman (2023)
Official website SRXracing.com

Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne. [1] The formation of the series was announced on July 13, 2020, and debuted on June 12, 2021, televised on CBS on Saturday nights.

Contents

On January 31, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season that premiered on June 18, 2022 and was also aired on Saturday nights. [2] Its third season aired on July 13, 2023, on ESPN with the series moving races to Thursday nights.

On January 11, 2024, with 5 of 6 races scheduled, it was announced that the 2024 season was postponed due to market factors. [3] Evernham later stated in an interview with Forbes that the poor television ratings for the third season was the primary market factor for the cancellation of the series. [4]

On March 22, 2024, the Skip Barber Racing School announced that it had acquired the series and is forming a plan for a 2024 season. [5] The sale was reported to have fallen through in August, resulting in SRX management filing a lawsuit. [6]

History

On July 13, 2020, it was reported that SRX was in preparation for a 2021 debut season. The series' founders included former NASCAR driver and current team owner Tony Stewart, former NASCAR team owner and crew chief Ray Evernham as well as former NASCAR executive George Pyne and sports agent Sandy Montag. [1] Initially, series management was split between New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina. [1]

Camping World acquired the naming rights to the series on June 1, 2021, dubbing it the Camping World SRX Series. [7]

On January 20, 2022, Don Hawk was named CEO of SRX. [8] On March 30, Evernham announced via Twitter that he was no longer in charge of SRX, but has kept his role as an investor of the sport. [9] [10]

Championship

SRX draws direct contrast from NASCAR when aiming for shorter races at shorter tracks, and also with the random pairing of driver and crew chief for each race. [11] Founder Tony Stewart compared it to IROC by comparing the aspects of identical cars and an all-star cast of drivers. [12]

Cars

SRX cars were completely designed by founder Ray Evernham and were in concept stage when the series was founded in July 2020. [13] Teaser photos of the car showed it has a high rear spoiler and is said to have high horsepower and low downforce. [14] Fury Race Cars serves as the cars' chassis designer and builder. [15] The cars use naturally aspirated Ilmor V8 396 cui engines, which are primarily featured in the ARCA Menards Series, with components from Edelbrock, [16] while brakes are provided by Performance Friction Corporation (PFC). [17]

Drivers receive their cars before each race via random draw. [18] A driver's car retains its color for the full season for easy identification. [19]

Drivers

The series' lineup is made up of younger up and coming drivers looking for exposure in addition to the older and retired drivers. [20] In addition to those running the full schedule, the series provides a "Rocky Balboa" car for a local champion at each track and a "ringer" entry for notable drivers making cameo appearances. [21] [22]

The drivers for the inaugural SRX season included Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Hélio Castroneves, Ernie Francis Jr., Paul Tracy, Bill Elliott, Willy T. Ribbs, Michael Waltrip and Marco Andretti for all six races.

Part-time drivers and Local Legend drivers include: Tony Kanaan, Hailie Deegan, Greg Biffle, Scott Speed, Doug Coby, Brian Brown, Scott Bloomquist, Kody Swanson, Luke Fenhaus, Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch

Tracks

Races are primarily held on half-mile dirt and asphalt short tracks. [23] The six tracks from the series' first season was Stafford Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Lucas Oil Raceway, Slinger Speedway, and Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. The 2022 schedule featured Five Flags Speedway, South Boston Speedway, Stafford Motor Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, I-55 Raceway and Sharon Speedway. The 2023 schedule featured Stafford and Eldora, but also featured new tracks Motor Mile Speedway, Berlin Raceway and Lucas Oil Speedway. Thunder Road SpeedBowl was originally part of the 2023 schedule but due to flooding in the area the track was given a 2024 date, and was joined by Berlin, Stafford, Slinger and new track Cedar Lake Speedway.

Race format

Races last 90 minutes without pit stops, though there is also a "halftime" for adjustments to be made to the car. [24]

Two 12-minute heat races take place before the feature; the final lap begins when time runs out and the leader crosses the start/finish line. [19] A random draw sets the starting lineup for the first heat, while the second is determined by an inversion of the first race's finishing results. [18] The duration of the heats was originally set to 15 minutes before being changed following the inaugural race. [19]

The feature race is 100 laps long at all paved ovals but Slinger, where the distance is 150 laps, while the dirt tracks have 50-lap features. [19] The starting order is based on average finishing position between the two heats. There are also unlimited attempts at a green–white–checker finish. [18]

PointsPosition
1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th9th10th11th12th
Heat121110987654321
Feature25222018161412108642

Statistics

Updated August 10, 2023

DriverStartsWinsPodiumsHeat WinsMost Laps LedDNFs
Tony Stewart 18510640
Ernie Francis Jr. 1012010
Bobby Labonte 1813211
Marco Andretti 1815210
Hélio Castroneves 1212400
Paul Tracy 1501015
Michael Waltrip 1200002
Bill Elliott 801112
Willy T. Ribbs 600001
Tony Kanaan 1200010
Hailie Deegan 1102000
Scott Speed 201100
Greg Biffle 902200
Doug Coby 111110
Chase Elliott 222000
Luke Fenhaus 101110
Kody Swanson 101000
Bobby Santos III 100000
Scott Bloomquist 100100
Brian Brown 100000
Ken Schrader 702011
Matt Kenseth 402000
Ryan Newman 1226200
Cole Williams 100100
Ryan Blaney 100000
Dave Blaney 100000
Peyton Sellers 100000
Bubba Pollard 101100
Josef Newgarden 100100
Matt Hirschman 100000
Justin Marks 100000
Ryan Hunter-Reay 600100
Denny Hamlin 111110
Kyle Busch 222010
Daniel Suárez 101000
Brad Keselowski 602310
Clint Bowyer 201100
Kenny Wallace 200000
Kevin Harvick 200000
Ryan Preece 100010
Kasey Kahne 100000
Johnny Benson Jr. 100000
Austin Dillon 100000
Ron Capps 100000
Chase Briscoe 100000
Jonathan Davenport 111110

Series champions

Drivers

YearCar No.DriverPoint Spread
2021 14 Tony Stewart +45
2022 98 Marco Andretti [a] +2
2023 39 Ryan Newman +45

Media

CBS Sports aired the 2021 and 2022 six-race season in two-hour primetime Saturday night television windows on the main CBS network. [26]

On April 14, 2021, CBS announced their broadcast team for the inaugural season. Veteran motorsports announcer Allen Bestwick served as lead announcer, with Lindsay Czarniak as host, Brad Daugherty as roaming reporter, and Matt Yocum on pit road. Three driver analysts, Danica Patrick (Stafford and Knoxville), James Hinchcliffe (Eldora, Slinger and Nashville Fairgrounds), and Dario Franchitti (Lucas Oil) were the color analysts for the inaugural season. [27]

Bestwick, Yocum, Daugherty, and Czarniak returned for the 2022 season, while 2021 driver Willy T. Ribbs joined the broadcast team as an analyst. Conor Daly was signed as a driver analyst. [28]

A video game based on the series, titled SRX: The Game and developed by Monster Games, was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam on May 28, 2021. [29]

For the 2023 season, races were held on Thursday nights and televised on ESPN, reviving its former Thursday Night Thunder branding, which had been used from 1989 to 2002 for primetime broadcasts of short track races. [30] [31]

Notes

  1. ↑ During the first race of the 2022 SRX Series Season at Five Flags Speedway, Marco Andretti was given a late order to pit. Due to this, Andretti started 12th in Heat #2, instead of 9th. Andretti was awarded 3 additional points, to make up the three positions and address this late call. This issue ended up playing a major part in deciding who won the 2022 SRX Series Season Championship without this solution, Marco Andretti would've finished with 192 points, 1 behind Ryan Newman who finished with 193 points. [25]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Ourand, John (July 13, 2020). "Off To The Races: Powerful group launching new auto racing circuit to debut next year on CBS". Sports Business Journal . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Superstar Racing Experience Returns to Primetime Saturdays This Summer for Second Season on CBS". Speedway Digest. January 31, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  3. ↑ "SRX Racing will not compete this year". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media. January 11, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  4. ↑ Engle, Greg. "NASCAR Hall Of Famer Ray Evernham On Demise Of SRX And Future Of IROC". Forbes. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  5. ↑ "SKIP BARBER RACING SCHOOL ACQUIRES SUPERSTAR RACING EXPERIENCE". Skip Barber Racing School. March 22, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  6. ↑ Blount, Rob (August 26, 2024). "SRX Suing Skip Barber Racing Following Proposed Sale". FloRacing. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  7. ↑ Hopkins, Dalton (June 1, 2021). "SRX Adds Camping World As Title Sponsor". Frontstretch. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Don Hawk Named Chief Executive of SRX". Jayski's Silly Season Site . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  9. ↑ Segal, Davey (April 1, 2022). "NASCAR Mailbox: How Will Ray Evernham's Absence Impact SRX?". Frontstretch. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  10. ↑ Bonkowski, Jerry (June 14, 2022). "Tony Stewart's SRX Season 2 Brings New Names, New Leadership". Autoweek . Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  11. ↑ Martinelli, Michelle (July 13, 2020). "What we know so far about Tony Stewart's new 'Superstar' short-track racing circuit". For The Win . USA Today . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Fenwick, Adam (July 13, 2020). "Stewart & Evernham Launching Superstar Racing Experience". Speed Sport . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  13. ↑ Wolkin, Joseph (July 19, 2020). "Superstar Racing Experience Is Creating A Fresh Take On IROC". Forbes . Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Tony Stewart comments on SRX tracks". Racing News. August 30, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  15. ↑ "FURY to design, build SRX race cars". Racer . October 2, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Ilmor V8s to power SRX cars". Racer . February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  17. ↑ Evans, Zach (March 19, 2021). "SRX Cars Will Be Equipped With PFC Brakes in 2021". Speed51. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  18. 1 2 3 "SRX reveals race format". Racer . May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "SRX reduces race lengths ahead of Knoxville". Racer . June 16, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  20. ↑ Smith, Steve Cole (November 9, 2020). "Update: The New IROC Series Is Still On for 2021". The Drive. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Which Short Track Racers Should Join SRX in 2021?". Speed51. January 8, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  22. ↑ Nguyen, Justin (January 4, 2021). "Six-race 2021 Superstar Racing Experience schedule revealed". The Checkered Flag. Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  23. ↑ "INSIGHT: Why Evernham feels the time is right for a modern reimagining of IROC". Racer . September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Stewart, Evernham to re-create IROC as SRX". ESPN . July 13, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Marco Andretti Called in to pits" . Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  26. ↑ Mayer, Ryan (July 13, 2020). "'Shorter Races, More Exciting Formats, Bring To Life Driver Personalities': CBS To Air Superstar Racing Experience In 2021". WBZ-TV . CBS . Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  27. ↑ "CBS Sports reveals all-star announce team for Superstar Racing Experience inaugural season". ViacomCBS (Press release). April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  28. ↑ "CBS Sports unveils all-star announce team for second season of Superstar Racing Experience". ViacomCBS (Press release). April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  29. ↑ Pryson, Mike (May 21, 2021). "Tony Stewart's SRX Has Had No Races Yet, But It's Already Got a Video Game". Autoweek . Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  30. ↑ Rutherford, Kevin (December 12, 2022). "SRX Returning In 2023, Moving To ESPN". Frontstretch. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  31. ↑ Kerschbaumer, Ken (July 13, 2023). "Thursday Night Thunder Returns to ESPN via SRX; SMT, Plucky Revamp Graphics, Data". Sports Video Group. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
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