Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He i ...

, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and

George Pyne George Pyne may refer to: * George Pyne (Medal of Honor) (1841–?), English Medal of Honor recipient * George Pyne II (1909–1974), American football player * George Pyne III (1941–2015), American football player * George Pyne (business executi ...

. The formation of the series was announced on July 13, 2020, and debuted on June 12, 2021, televised on CBS. On January 31, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season due to premiere on June 18, 2022.

History

On July 13, 2020, it was reported that SRX was in preparation for a 2021 debut season. The series' founders included former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

driver and current team owner

, former

team owner and crew chief Ray Evernham as well as former NASCAR executive George Pyne and sports agent Sandy Montag. Initially, series management was split between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

Camping World Camping World Holdings, Inc. is an American corporation specializing in selling recreational vehicles (RVs), recreational vehicle parts, and recreational vehicle service. They also sell supplies for camping. The company has its headquarters in ...

acquired the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

to the series on June 1, 2021, dubbing it the Camping World SRX Series. On January 20, 2022, Don Hawk was named

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of SRX. On March 30, Evernham announced via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he was no longer in charge of SRX, but has kept his role as an investor of the sport.

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. Founder

compared it to

IROC International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was pr ...

by comparing the aspects of identical cars and an all-star cast of drivers.

Cars

SRX cars were completely designed by founder Ray Evernham and were in concept stage when the series was founded in July 2020. Teaser photos of the car showed it has a high rear spoiler and is said to have high horsepower and low downforce. Fury Race Cars serves as the cars' chassis designer and builder. The cars use naturally aspirated

Ilmor Ilmor is a British independent high-performance auto racing, motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan (engineer), Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and ...

V8 396 cui engines, which are primarily featured in the

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nationa ...

, with components from Edelbrock, while brakes are provided by Performance Friction Corporation (PFC). Drivers receive their cars before each race via random draw. A driver's car retains its color for the full season for easy identification.

Drivers

The series' lineup is made up of younger up and coming drivers looking for exposure in addition to the older and retired drivers. In addition to those running the full schedule, the series provides a "

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all e ...

" car for a local champion at each track and a "ringer" entry for notable drivers making cameo appearances. The drivers for the inaugural SRX season included

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. ...

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona with W ...

Ernie Francis Jr. Ernie Francis Jr. (born January 23, 1998) is an American sports car racing and stock car racing driver who currently competes in Indy NXT driving for Force Indy. He previously ran full time in the Trans-Am Series, running the 98 car for Breathles ...

Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hil ...

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Raci ...

Willy T. Ribbs William Theodore Ribbs Jr. (born January 3, 1955) is a retired American race car driver, racing owner, and sport shooter known for being the first African-American man to have tested a Formula One car (he did so in 1986) and to compete in the ...

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother ...

, and

Marco Andretti Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 98 car for Andretti Herta Autosport part-time in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racing family. He is the 20 ...

for all six races. Part-time drivers and Local Legend drivers include:

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...

, Hailie Deegan,

Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...

Scott Speed Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver who has competed in numerous disciplines, including open-wheel, stock car, and rallycross racing. In , Speed became the first American driver to race in Formula One sin ...

, Doug Coby, Brian Brown,

Scott Bloomquist Scott Bloomquist (born November 14, 1963) is a nationally touring Dirt Super Late Model race car driver in the United States. Bloomquist was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa.Kody Swanson, Luke Fenhaus and Chase Elliott.

Tracks

Races are primarily held on half-mile dirt and asphalt short tracks. The six tracks from the series' first season was Stafford Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway,

Eldora Speedway Eldora Speedway (nicknamed "The Big E", "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954," and "The World's Greatest Dirt Track") is a high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, it features permanent and ...

, Lucas Oil Raceway, Slinger Speedway, and Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. The 2022 schedule featured Five Flags Speedway,

South Boston Speedway South Boston Speedway, or "SoBo", is a short track located just outside South Boston, Virginia. SoBo is located approximately east of another area familiar to most NASCAR fans, Martinsville. It is owned by Mattco, Inc., the Mattioli family tr ...

, Stafford Motor Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway,

I-55 Raceway 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. The formation of the series was announced on July 13, ...

and Sharon Speedway. The 2023 schedule will feature Stafford and Eldora, but will also feature new tracks Thunder Road SpeedBowl, Motor Mile Speedway,

Berlin Raceway Berlin Raceway is a 7/16 mile long paved oval race track in Marne, Michigan, United States, near Grand Rapids. The track races weekly as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. It has also held touring series events on the ARCA Menar ...

and

Lucas Oil Speedway Lucas Oil Speedway is a motorsports racing facility located at the intersection of U.S. Route 54 and Missouri Route 83, in Wheatland, Missouri, United States. Its primary circuit is a dirt track banked oval motorsport race track. Co-loca ...

Race format

Races last 90 minutes without

pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit l ...

s, though there is also a "halftime" for adjustments to be made to the car. Two 12-minute

heat race Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s ...

s take place before the feature; the final lap begins when time runs out and the leader crosses the start/finish line. 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. The duration of the heats was originally set to 15 minutes before being changed following the inaugural race. 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. The starting order is based on average finishing position between the two heats. There are also unlimited attempts at a

green–white–checker finish In North American auto racing, a green–white–checker finish (GWC) is a racing restart procedure one in which the race is restarted from a caution period with 2 laps remaining. When the race distance is extended to accommodate such a finish, ...

Statistics

Series champions

Drivers

Media

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...

aired the 2021 six-race season in two-hour primetime Saturday night television windows on the main CBS network. 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 Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman i ...

(Stafford and Knoxville),

James Hinchcliffe James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...

(Eldora, Slinger and Nashville Fairgrounds), and

Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the India ...

(Lucas Oil) were the

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and th ...

s for the inaugural season. Bestwick, Yocum, Daugherty, and Czarniak returned for the 2022 season, while 2021 driver

joined the broadcast team as an analyst.

Conor Daly Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American professional racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Ca ...

was signed as a driver analyst. A video game based on the series, titled ''SRX: The Game'' and developed by Monster Games, was released for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

, and

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

on May 28, 2021. The 2023 season, made up of six races like in previous years, will air on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

on Thursday nights from July 13th to August 17th.

References

External links

Official website
{{CBS Sports * 2020 establishments in the United States Auto racing organizations in the United States Stock car racing series in the United States Professional sports leagues in the United States Tony Stewart CBS Sports One-make series

History

Championship

Cars

Drivers

Tracks

Race format

Statistics

Series champions

Drivers

Media

See also

References

External links