The 2021 Camping World SRX Series was the inaugural season of the

Superstar Racing Experience 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, ...

. The six-race season started at

Stafford Motor Speedway Stafford Motor Speedway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile paved oval located in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. Stafford Speedway holds weekly racing every Friday night May through September. This track is known as the home of the SK Modifieds and driv ...

on June 12 and ended at the

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Natio ...

on July 17, with

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 is a ...

being crowned the inaugural series champion.

Drivers

Full-time drivers

Part-time drivers

Guest drivers

Notes

* Nine-time

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

race winner and

2015 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). ...

champion Mark Webber was initially announced as a full-time driver, but travel restrictions and schedule changes related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

forced those plans to be cancelled. *

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 ...

was initially supposed to run all six races. However, due to scheduling conflicts with the

2021 Stock Car Brasil Championship The 2021 Stock Car Pro Series was the forty-third season of Stock Car Brasil. Gabriel Casagrande of A.Mattheis Vogel Motorsport won the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career. The 3-time champion Daniel Serra of Eurofarma RC fi ...

, he did not participate in the races at Knoxville and Slinger and was replaced by

Hailie Deegan Hailie Rochelle Deegan (born July 18, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 13 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. Deegan is currently a Ford Performan ...

in both of those races.

Schedule

Stewart's track

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 ...

was the first venue to be revealed, on November 13, 2020. Two more tracks were announced in December, with

Lucas Oil Raceway Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. I ...

in suburban Indianapolis on December 9 and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

on December 19. The full schedule was released on January 4, 2021.

Broadcasting

All six races were broadcast live by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

in the United States and were also streamed on

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

. The broadcast team consisted of former ''

NASCAR on NBC ''NASCAR on NBC'' (visually branded as ''NBC NASCAR'' in logos shown within on-air graphics and network promotions) is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on several NBCUniversal-owned ...

'' and ''

NASCAR on ESPN ''NASCAR on ESPN'' is the now-defunct former package and branding of coverage of NASCAR races on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. ABC, and later the ESPN family of networks, carried NASCAR events from the sanctioning body's top three divisions at various poi ...

'' play-by-play

Allen Bestwick Allen Bestwick (born September 24, 1961) is an American sportscaster. He is the lead play-by-play voice for University of Connecticut women’s basketball telecasts for SNY, the lead track announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the l ...

along with a rotating color commentator (

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 Indiana ...

(1 race),

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, ...

(3 races) and

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 ...

(2 races) in the booth. Former ESPN and NBC studio analyst

Brad Daugherty Brad Daugherty may refer to: * Brad Daugherty (basketball) (born 1965), American NBA player, currently a television sportscaster * Brad Daugherty (poker player) (born 1951), American poker player {{Hndis, Daugherty, Brad ...

and former ''

NASCAR on Fox ''NASCAR on Fox'', also known as ''Fox NASCAR'', is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races produced by Fox Sports and have aired on the Fox television network in the United States since 2001. Speed, a motorsports-focused cable channel ...

'' pit reporter

Matt Yocum Matthew Yocum (born April 8, 1968) is a long-standing reporter in motorsports, best known for being a NASCAR pit reporter. He works for CBS as a pit reporter to cover the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) as of 2021. He most recently worked in tha ...

were the two pit reporters. Former ''

NASCAR on TNT ''NASCAR on TNT'' was the tagname for any NASCAR series race that had been broadcast on TNT by Turner Sports between 2001 and 2014. The network continued Turner's longstanding relationship with NASCAR that dated back to its initial association with ...

'' pit reporter and ''

NASCAR Race Hub ''NASCAR Race Hub'' is a daily NASCAR news program broadcast on Fox Sports 1 Monday through Thursday. Originally broadcast on Speed, the show replaced ''NASCAR Nation'' and ''This Week in NASCAR''. ''NASCAR Race Hub'' premiered on October 12, 200 ...

'' studio host

Lindsay Czarniak Lindsay Ann Czarniak (born ) is an American sports anchor and reporter. She currently works for Fox Sports as a sideline reporter for NFL games. After spending six years with WRC-TV, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C., Czarn ...

was the host.

Season summary

Race reports

All events consist of two

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, with the lineup for Heat 1 being determined by a random draw. The results of Heat 1 are inverted to determine the lineup for Heat 2. At Stafford, the heat races were 15 minutes each, but were shortened to 12 minutes for Knoxville onwards. The results of the second heat determined the lineup for the feature race at Stafford; the average finish of both heats was used from Knoxville onwards. At Stafford, the feature face had a duration of 100 laps, including caution period laps, with 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, i ...

. For Knoxville and Eldora, the duration was changed from 100 laps to 50 green-flag-only laps. Lucas Oil had a 76-lap feature, with Slinger showcasing a 150-lap main event and Nashville's feature lasting 77 laps.

Stafford Motor Speedway

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 ...

won the pole for Heat 1 based on a random draw. He held on to win the heat over

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. ...

at the end of the 15-minute time limit, leading all 36 laps. The field was inverted for the second 15-minute heat, with

Doug Coby Frank Douglas Coby III (born August 18, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes full-time in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, driving the No. 10 Ford/ Chevrolet for his team, Doug Coby Racing, he has also competed part-time i ...

passing

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 o ...

for the win with two to go. Coby, a real estate agent who participates in Modified races in the Northeast, then led 84 laps of the 100-lap feature, winning the event ahead of Biffle and

. Heat 1 Top 5 Results: Heat 2 Top 5 Results: Feature Top 5 Results:

Knoxville Raceway

Tony Stewart started on pole for heat 1 and led for the entire 12-minute session, which consisted of 23 laps.

and

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 Ind ...

started up front for the second heat. Hélio Castroneves passed for the lead early and led until three minutes left, getting passed by

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.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 Racing ...

stalled on track during the caution and was pushed to pit road, falling eleven laps behind. Stewart held off

and Ernie Francis Jr. to win. Heat 1 Top 5 Results: Heat 2 Top 5 Results: Feature Top 5 Results:

Eldora Speedway

started at the front for the first 12-minute heat and led for the first four minutes before being passed by Tony Stewart, who went on to win the heat after holding off a late challenge from Hélio Castroneves. The second heat was marred by accidents and completed only 11 green-flag laps before the time limit.

began up front following the field inversion, leading the first three laps. While battling for second Ernie Francis Jr. spun Kanaan, also collecting Michael Waltrip and Kody Swanson and causing Stewart to spin. Francis, Waltrip, and Swanson all failed to finish the heat. The race restarted with six minutes remaining, with Marco Andretti battling

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 since ...

for the lead. Ribbs spun Paul Tracy on the backstretch, collecting himself, Kanaan, and Stewart. Speed and Andretti continued to battle on the ensuing restart with two minutes left; Andretti went on to win ahead of Tracy and Stewart, both of whom recovered from earlier spins. Stewart started on pole for the feature but elected to drop to the back during the pace laps. Second-place starter Paul Tracy led the first 25 laps of the 50-lap race. Two cautions flew in the first half of the race, including one for a spinning Tony Kanaan. Kody Swanson took over the lead on lap 26 until the third caution on lap 34. Tracy retook the lead on the restart and led two laps before relinquishing the top spot back to Swanson. Stewart took the lead on lap 44, and on lap 46 third-place Bobby Labonte was spun by Tracy in turn one, collecting Marco Andretti and Bill Elliott. Labonte and Elliott failed to finish the race. Stewart and Swanson battled on a restart with five laps left, with Stewart ultimately winning the feature. Heat 1 Top 5 Results: Heat 2 Top 5 Results: Feature Top 5 Results:

Lucas Oil Raceway

Scott Speed started on pole for the first heat alongside Michael Waltrip. Speed went on to win after leading the entire heat. Willy T. Ribbs started up front for the second heat, but Paul Tracy took the lead at the start, leading for the first two minutes. Hélio Castroneves passed for the top spot and led the remainder of the heat, followed by Bobby Labonte, who passed Tony Stewart with two laps to go. Unlike the previous two races with 50-lap features during which caution laps did not count, the feature at Lucas Oil was 76 laps, with caution laps counting except during the final six laps. Stewart started on the pole but was passed by Speed on lap 2. Ernie Francis Jr. passed Stewart for second and took over the lead from Speed on lap 13. The first caution flew on lap 27 due to the series' "green flag lap limit". After the restart on lap 34, Francis quickly pulled away from Speed, the pair leading the way until another caution flew at lap 49. Francis retained the lead on the lap 55 restart, ahead of Speed, Labonte, and Castroneves. The third caution flew on lap 67, and Speed took over the lead on the restart. With seven laps to go, Tony Kanaan spun on the backstretch, resulting in a fourth caution. Francis and Speed battled side by side for three laps before Speed slid into the wall. With two laps remaining, Tracy was spun by

Bobby Santos III Robert Santos III (born October 3, 1985) is an American professional racing driver from Franklin, Massachusetts. He graduated in 2004 from Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School. Santos, nicknamed "Bobby New England", is the grandso ...

in turn 2 and Speed was spun into the wall by Castroneves in turn 3 in retaliation for contact the lap before. On the first green-white-checker attempt, Francis cleared Labonte and went on to win. Heat 1 Top 5 Results: Heat 2 Top 5 Results: Feature Top 5 Results:

Slinger Speedway

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

drew the pole position for the first 12-minute heat. With two minutes remaining, sixth-place Paul Tracy was spun by Ernie Francis Jr. Tracy's right-front tire went flat on the restart, bringing out another caution as time expired. Andretti went on to win after holding off Tony Stewart on the ensuing restart. Willy T. Ribbs began the second heat up front, but spun about 20 seconds into the race, leaving Bill Elliott with the lead.

took the lead on the restart, but another caution quickly waved after Michael Waltrip was rear-ended by

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 wit ...

. Deegan jumped out to a large lead on the restart, leading until another caution waves with five minutes remaining.

took the lead with two minutes left and went on to win while holding off Deegan and Francis. Andretti and Luke Fenhaus made up the front row for the 150-lap feature and battled side by side for the lead until Fenhaus prevailed on lap 24. Stewart took the lead briefly on lap 32 but was held off by Fenhaus. After battling side-by-side, Fenhaus prevailed over Stewart just before a caution came out at lap 45. After the lap 54 restart, Fenhaus and Stewart swapped the lead several times before Stewart prevailed at lap 76. Fenhaus then regained the lead at lap 80, and the two continued battling side by side. A caution flew at lap 92 with Stewart gaining the edge over Fenhaus and Andretti. After the restart ten laps later, Fenhaus took the lead, and a caution waved for Michael Waltrip a few laps later. Following the restart at lap 112, Stewart and Fenhaus battled for the lead as Francis, Tracy, and Deegan made contact multiple times back in the field. The leaders continued to race side-by-side before Fenhaus again prevailed on lap 132. After a caution flew at lap 135, the race began to only count green-flag laps. Biffle and Castroneves spun on the restart with 12 laps remaining. Fenhaus and Andretti cleared Stewart with ten to go, and a caution flew with two laps left when Deegan spun Tracy while racing for fourth, with Tracy collecting Waltrip, Ribbs, and Castroneves. Tracy and Waltrip failed to finish the feature. Andretti passed Fenhaus on the green-white-checker restart and went on to win ahead of Fenhaus and Stewart. Heat 1 Top 5 Results: Heat 2 Top 5 Results: Feature Top 5 Results:

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway

Bill Elliott and

Chase Elliott William Clyde "Chase" Elliott II (born November 28, 1995) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports. He won the 2014 NAS ...

started on the front row for heat 1. Bill led for the majority off the heat, fending off a late challenge from Chase to win. For heat 2, Willy T. Ribbs and Michael Waltrip started up front. Waltrip led the first six laps before Hélio Castroneves took over the top spot. He went on to win the heat ahead of Ernie Francis Jr. Tony Stewart clinched the series championship after the second heat, maintaining a large enough points lead over Francis. For the feature, Bill Elliott again started on pole, with Labonte joining him at the front. Elliott maintained the lead over Castroneves until the first caution waved at lap 26. After the restart at lap 32, Elliott maintained the lead, with Chase Elliott moving into second. Bill held off Chase until the second caution of the race flew at lap 50. On the lap 55 restart, Bill ran high in turn two, allowing Chase and Stewart to move into the top spots. The third caution flew on lap 57 when Willy T. Ribbs spun after contact with Paul Tracy. Ribbs failed to finish the feature. Following the lap 61 restart, Chase maintained the lead over Stewart and Bill. The fourth caution flew on lap 71, and the race restarted with seven laps remaining. On lap 73, Paul Tracy spun Marco Andretti from fifth place, the fifteenth incident involving Tracy during the season. Elliott maintained the lead with five laps to go. Elliott went on to win, with Stewart clinching the championship in second, and Bill Elliott finishing third. Heat 1 Top 5 Results: Heat 2 Top 5 Results: Feature Top 5 Results:

Results and standings

Race results

Drivers' championship

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) * – Most laps led (feature). ¹ – Heat 1 winner. ² – Heat 2 winner. Points are awarded for both heat races as well as the feature:

References

External links

* {{Superstar Racing Experience SRX Series SRX Series SRX Series