Fans Are Left Reminiscing as They Mourn the Absence of Tony Stewart’s Brainchild One Year After Its Untimely End

Think of an all-star cast of drivers from the world of motorsports competing against each other. What could possibly go wrong? As Tony Stewart found the hard way, everything—the Superstar Racing Experience, better known as SRX—was forced to shut down due to “market factors,” despite the considerable buzz surrounding it and its high-profile owners.

Co-owned by Tony Stewart, Sandy Montag, George Pyne, and NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief Ray Evernham, the series got off to a strong start but couldn’t live up to its promise by the time its third season ended. One year on, and fans are mourning what could have been. While the series has been officially “postponed,” it’s hard to see a way the series can be brought back, especially in its current format.

The downfall of Tony Stewart’s ambitious venture

The SRX couldn’t have started on a stronger note, featuring a blockbuster list of drivers in its first season such as Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Chase Elliott, and Bill Elliott, as well as Indy 500 winners Tony Kanaan and the 49-year-old Helio Castroneves. Where else would fans be able to see Chase Elliott go wheel-to-wheel against his father, Bill Elliott, at the Nashville Fairgrounds? Or be able to witness modified racer Doug Coby take on established superstars and emerge victorious in the inaugural race at Stafford Speedway.

However, what started as a fusion of drivers young and old with racing experience from different eras competing on the same track failed to keep its momentum in its second and third years. By the 2023 season, Superstar Racing Experience didn’t deliver on what they promised, having fewer drivers from yesteryear and relying on active drivers such as Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Kevin Harvick to bring in the entertainment value. In the process, what made the series unique was lost.

Co-founder Ray Evernham, who designed the cars used in the SRX series, shared his insights with Forbes on what went wrong with the SRX. He said, “It still didn’t rate the way that it needed to on the weeknight. Everybody thought it was a great idea, but you’ve got to raise the kind of money that it takes to do a program like that; it’s got to have a pretty big viewing audience.” The 66-year-old went on to say, “On a Wednesday or Thursday night, I just don’t know how many people are going to watch a two-hour show, especially when you’ve got that East Coast versus West Coast and all those things. TV’s a tricky business.”

When the series shifted from CBS to ESPN, it also shifted the schedule from running on Saturdays to Thursdays, to not interfere with NASCAR races during the weekend. Considering that their biggest names were competing in the Cup Series, the decision was not a ‘choice’ as much as a necessity.

The changes resulted in a steady decline in TV ratings and severely hampered their growth and international expansion plans. According to the SportsBusiness Journal, SRX averaged just 436,000 viewers in 2023, a staggering 56% decline from their 2022 season.

Fans mourn the absence of the Superstar Racing Experience

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Considering that the fourth SRX season would have been underway if it hadn’t been “postponed”, fans took to social media to express their sadness about not being able to see their favorite drivers in action on Thursday nights. For many motorsport fans, the Tony Stewart co-owned SRX had become a summer staple, which is exactly what an X user wrote, “Definitely gonna miss tuning in, was one of my favorite things to look forward to in the summer.”

Skip Barber Racing School acquired Superstar Racing Experience earlier in 2024. The organization had been serving as the official logistics partner for the series since its inception, and the acquisition gave fans newfound hope that the SRX would be revived soon. Echoing the sentiment, one fan wrote on X, “I thought someone purchased the SRX equipment and rights? I would have hoped it would be back by now.”

The SRX was scheduled to race on the high-banked Slinger Oval on July 25 and Cedar Lake, a three-eighths-mile dirt track located in New Richmond, on August 8th. With the indefinite postponement of the 2024 season, one fan expressed his disappointment by saying, “I was so looking forward to seeing them at both Slinger and Cedar Lake, even had tickets purchased for both.”

Ray Evernham, along with former NASCAR team co-owner Robb Kauffman, recently purchased the naming rights for the International Race of Champions, the series that inspired the creation of Superstar Racing Experience. With IROC making a comeback with its first event since 2006, one fan expressed their disappointment at SRX’s postponement, while feeling consoled that IROC has returned. The fan wrote on X, “I mean while this is VERY VERY disappointing the first event of the Returning IROC is going to be at Lime Rock on the 19th and 20th.”

Reminiscing about Thursday Night Thunder events that were broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2, one fan expressed their disappointment at not being able to see short track events on dirt and oval tracks by simply saying, “Damn, I miss Thursday night thunder.”

Do you think the SRX will be back in 2025? Let us know in the comments!