Tony Stewart‘s brainchild, Super Star Racing (SRX) made a shocking announcement on Thursday, January 11 that they will be postponing their latest season. Having laid down the entire schedule for the event, it was indeed a shock for the community to hear the news about the series being put on hold. A lot of factors led to this decision with one being the suitability of the series and viewership.

Ray Evernham stepping down and breathing a new life into the IROC series certainly would have weighed in. However, out of all, the community singled out Paul Tracy, who ignited a wreck fest last year that cost the series half of its inventory. With the co-founder, Tony Stewart’s time spread thin with his NHRA schedule and Cup Series commitments on the back of the rebirth of IROC, the revival of the series is improbable.

Factors that pushed out an untimely halt to SRX Series 2024

Having been founded in 2020, SRX was touted to be the next big thing, more so a series that brought back the IROC vibes. This vision and plan were in motion with Stewart adding his expertise in bringing back a series that featured racers from different disciplines. Although coming in the fourth iteration, the numbers didn’t add up and the viewership count was on a downward trajectory.

According to a report by Sports Business Journal, the SRX was able to attract some three million views a race in their inaugural season. They did seem to have cracked the code with 1.3 million views on CBS for six races, but this was their only high point. Moving to ESPN last year, the series could only average 436,000 views a race on average and this was the tipping point for them.

The official statement said, “Our expectations, however, have been tempered by market factors that have proven too much to overcome.” Although this was a shocking revelation at the time, as the dust has settled now, the community is now able to wrap their heads around the fact the series was not sustainable. Despite featuring the likes of Chase Elliot, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin, the series was not able to make that connection with the fans. Ultimately, they lost touch and relevancy with the motorsport fans.

Read More: With SRX Taking a Step Back, How Will It Impact iRacing’s 2024 Plans With the Exclusive Series?

Taking all factors into consideration, the fans blamed Paul Tracy’s exploits of the 2023 wreck fest as one of the major reasons that closed the curtains for SRX in 2024.

Fans call out Paul Tracy for SRX’s untimely cessation of the series’ 4th edition

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Paul Tracy has been a regular competitor in SRX races since its inaugural season. Co-founded by Tony Stewart, the series saw one of its fatal accidents in the 2023 season at Pulaski County Motorsports Park. It was Tracy who sparked the wreck fest when he was battling with Josef Newgarden as he squeezed the driver on the outside wall with 12 laps to go. Taking firm action, the series announced the suspension of Tracy from the tracks. With the news of rising costs that were beyond the sustainable level for SRX, the fans were quick to point out what led to this situation.

Commenting on Adam Stern’s post on X, fans did not shy away from blaming the downfall of the SRX on Paul Tracy’s shoulders while a few others had different opinions on the topic. As soon as the post was live, a user expressed his rage against Tracy by stating, “Best option would be to PERMANENTLY sever ties with Paul Tracy”.

Another user explained that it was Tracy who wrecked the entire inventory of the SRX series car which added to their economic woes. “Paul Tracy wrecked all their inventory and bankrupted them”.

A seeming expert on running a race car series was quick to point out the changes that could have repelled SRX’s downfall. He wrote, “SRX should have listened to me, they should have added playoffs and stages”.

There were a few who saw the bigger picture and one of them underlined the behind-the-scenes play by Ray Evernham who brought IROC back to life after 18 years. “No, no, no, Evernham. All you need to know, Ray doesn’t want competition”.

What do you think, it is fair to paint Paul Tracy as the villain, or did other factors outweigh his accident debacle?