It’s Tuesday. Hot damn tamale, baby! Tony Stewart has a new racing series launching next year that will try to do what NASCAR hasn’t—put the fun back into racing. Stewart is teaming up with NASCAR Hall of Famer and former crew chief Ray Evernham, former NASCAR COO George Pyne, and agent Sandy Montag. They are the series’ sole investors.
It will take place on short tracks in the “heartland of America” and run on dirt and pavement, with 12 drivers all using the same car. The series will be called Superstar Racing Experience, or SRX, and already has a deal with CBS to air the races primetime on Saturday nights. They’re going after the areas where they feel NASCAR has fallen short:
A television strategy that will fit races into two-hour prime-time windows, presenting a contrast to NASCAR’s races that can run twice that long.
A focus on driver performance, rather than auto technology. Evernham will design the cars so that everyone races with the same equipment.
It will include racers and crew chiefs who are well known. Each race will have 12 drivers randomly matched with a crew chief.
It will feature racing under the lights at short tracks in the American heartland.
It is being positioned as an easier sale for sponsors that want to buy time on TV and at the event. “They make one phone call to be integrated in all aspects of the broadcast and the event,” Pyne said.
Some of the tracks currently being considered are Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut, Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, Eldora in Ohio, Knoxville Raceway in Iowa and Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana. Evernham would also like a road course and a modified oval on the schedule.
Will they be able to pull it off? I certainly hope so. I love NASCAR but this sounds pretty cool. I look forward to checking it out next year!
New Racing Series in 2021: SRX
It’s Tuesday. Hot damn tamale, baby! Tony Stewart has a new racing series launching next year that will try to do what NASCAR hasn’t—put the fun back into racing. Stewart is teaming up with NASCAR Hall of Famer and former crew chief Ray Evernham, former NASCAR COO George Pyne, and agent Sandy Montag. They are the series’ sole investors.
It will take place on short tracks in the “heartland of America” and run on dirt and pavement, with 12 drivers all using the same car. The series will be called Superstar Racing Experience, or SRX, and already has a deal with CBS to air the races primetime on Saturday nights. They’re going after the areas where they feel NASCAR has fallen short:
A television strategy that will fit races into two-hour prime-time windows, presenting a contrast to NASCAR’s races that can run twice that long.
A focus on driver performance, rather than auto technology. Evernham will design the cars so that everyone races with the same equipment.
It will include racers and crew chiefs who are well known. Each race will have 12 drivers randomly matched with a crew chief.
It will feature racing under the lights at short tracks in the American heartland.
It is being positioned as an easier sale for sponsors that want to buy time on TV and at the event. “They make one phone call to be integrated in all aspects of the broadcast and the event,” Pyne said.
Some of the tracks currently being considered are Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut, Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, New Smyrna Speedway in Florida, Eldora in Ohio, Knoxville Raceway in Iowa and Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana. Evernham would also like a road course and a modified oval on the schedule.
Will they be able to pull it off? I certainly hope so. I love NASCAR but this sounds pretty cool. I look forward to checking it out next year!
-keep