Mike Marlar and Kyle Strickler at Eldora Speedway (Photo: Mike Ruefer)
Superstar Racing Experience adds second track to 2021 schedule
Shane Walters
The new short track racing series is taking shape with drivers and tracks
In July 2020, Ray Evernham and Tony Stewart teamed up to form the Superstar Racing Experience. The new racing series is set debut in 2021.
The cars are designed to take the aerodynamic issues of racing, away. Big horsepower is expected to put car control back in the hands of the drivers.
The car is drawn with the help of Ray Evernham. He took the car back to the drawing board after initial renderings featured a front splitter that was detested by the fans. A day later, a new rendering was released, minus a front splitter.
The chassis is being created by Fury Race Cars. They specialize in short track oval machines.
The drivers are invite only. Tony Stewart was of course the first driver announced.
We’re expected to see 12 drivers in each 90 minute race. 8 or so of them are expected to be full-time in the mini-series. Others seats are expected to be filled by celebrity guests and such.
As for the celebrity guests, Evernham stated, “Some can drive. Others might just be the caution we need.”
The series itself isn’t designed to compete with other national forms of motorsports. Instead, the new series is designed to add to motorsports as a whole and help it reach a larger audience.
Thus, the series isn’t expected to pull drivers from other series if they are already running full-time at a high level of the sport. Though, we may see a Chase Elliott or Kyle Busch (for example) run in a single event. Just don’t expect those guys to run for SRX points.
Drivers: So far, the confirmed drivers are Tony Stewart (NASCAR), Tony Kanaan (Indycar), Paul Tracy (Indycar), Bobby Labonte (NASCAR), Helio Castroneves (Indycar), Willy T Ribbs (Trans-Am), Mark Webber (F1), Bill Elliott (NASCAR) and Earnie Francis (Trans-Am).
Additionally, short tracks also take away the aero dependence. Most of these events will be run on half-mile or smaller asphalt and dirt tracks. Officials intend to run on road courses in the future as well, however they are still unsure if a road course will be added for the debut season.
Eldora Speedway, a dirt track owned by Tony Stewart was the first track onboard with the new series. Yesterday, the second track was announced, another dirt track.
SRX will head for Lucas Oil Raceway for 2021. The 0.686-mile asphalt track is located in Brownsburg, Indiana.
Tracks: Eldora Speedway (Dirt) and Lucas Oil Raceway (Asphalt).
Each of the six races will be run on Saturday night. CBS is set to air all the events, live.
Correction: An earlier version of this story listed Lucas Oil Speedway as the second track. That is incorrect as it’s Lucas Oil Raceway that has recently been added.