- NASCAR star Denny Hamlin was crowned the winner of the shortened season-opening event, dominating the event, leading more than 50 of the 56 laps.
- Had it not been for the approaching bad weather, hard-charging Ryan Newman may have been able to overtake Hamlin in the 19 laps that were never contested.
- Thursday night’s season debut saw a sold-out crowd at Stafford Motor Speedway.
The third season of the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) kicked off with a new network and new broadcast night, and ended up with a weather-shortened main event.
ESPN takes over for the 2023 season after the first two seasons of SRX racing being televised on CBS. And after first two years of races being held in primetime on Saturday nights, ESPN brought back its former popular “Thursday Night Thunder” moniker from the 1990s and into the 2000s.
Thursday night’s season debut saw a sold-out crowd at Stafford Motor Speedway’s semi-banked, paved half-mile in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. But spectators were sent scurrying for their cars with just under 20 laps to go in the scheduled 75-lap main event when lightning quickly approached, followed by a torrential downpour.
NASCAR star Denny Hamlin was crowned the winner of the shortened event, dominating the event, leading more than 50 of the 56 laps before the race was called. Hamlin also won the first of the evening’s two of two 20-lap heat races (Ryan Newman won the second heat race).
Hamlin becomes the third driver to win an SRX event in his series debut.
“Obviously, it was a lot of fun and there was some pressure on us,” Hamlin said, referring to Newman, who was charging hard to try and take the lead before the weather made his effort fall short. “I saw Newman coming, but we held on.”
Of note, Newman’s car developed a water leak after winning the second heat, causing him to be moved to a substitute car for the main event, yet he just barely missed winning.
Had it not been for the approaching bad weather, he may have been able to overtake Hamlin in the 19 laps that were never contested.
As for the first heat, here’s the finishing order: Hamlin (winner), Tracy, Andretti, Labonte, Kanaan, Stewart, Schrader, Bowyer, Newman, Deegan, Harvick and Keselowski.
As for the second heat finishing order: Newman (winner), Bowyer, Keselowski, Harvick, Tracy, Stewart, Hamlin, Kanaan, Andretti, Labonte, Schrader and Deegan.
Main Event Final Results
- Denny Hamlin
- Ryan Newman
- Clint Bowyer
- Paul Tracy
- Hailie Deegan
- Marco Andretti
- Ken Schrader
- Bobby Labonte
- Brad Keselowski
- Tony Kanaan
- Tony Stewart
- Kevin Harvick
Championship Contenders
In somewhat of a twist from the first two seasons, eight drivers will compete full-time in the six-race series for the season championship: Newman, Bowyer, Tracy, Andretti, Labonte, Stewart, Deegan and Kanaan.
Other drivers who are expected to make select starts include NASCAR’s Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle, Austin Dillon, Ernie Francis Jr., Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez, Kenny Wallace, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and fellow IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden, and three-time NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps.
Smoke Struggles
Early in the main event, Tony Stewart took his car to the pits with a fuel pressure issue.
Stewart, who won the inaugural SRX season championship in 2021, failed to finish Thursday’s race, putting him last in the points of the eight full-time drivers who are slated to compete in all six of this season’s races.
That will definitely not help in Stewart’s quest to win a second SRX championship in three seasons, but if anyone can bounce back from such a setback, it’s the NASCAR Hall of Famer.
Also failing to finish the main event was Kevin Harvick, whose car was damaged in an early wreck.
Second Race of Season Relocated
Flooding has devastated much of Vermont, including the state capital of Barre – also the location of Thunder Road Speedbowl, which was slated to host the second race of the SRX season next Thursday (July 20).
After consulting with both state and track officials, SRX has decided to relocate the race and will run for a second straight week at Thursday’s season-opening site, Stafford Motor Speedway.
There will be a special guest in the TV booth, as NASCAR Hall of Famer and former NASCAR on Fox analyst Darrell Waltrip—he of “Boogity, boogity, boogity” fame—will serve as color analyst alongside play-by-play host Allen Bestwick.
The race will be televised in a two-hour window starting at 9 pm ET.
The rest of the six-race SRX season:
- July 20 — Stafford Motor Speedway; Stafford, Conn.
- July 27 — Motor Mile Speedway; Fairlawn, Va.
- August 3 — Berlin Raceway; Marne, Mi. (sold out)
- August 10 — Eldora Speedway; New Weston, Ohio
- August 17 — Lucas Oil Speedway; Wheatland, Mo.
New Broadcast Network, New Team
Joey Logano joined the ESPN broadcast from Stafford.
After the first two seasons of SRX being televised on Saturday nights on CBS, this year’s schedule shifted to ESPN and moved to Thursdays, resurrecting the old Thursday Night Thunder that the network utilized in the 1990s and into the 2000s.
ESPN’s broadcast team consisted of play-by-play host Allen Bestwick, analyst and NASCAR Cup driver (and Connecticut native) Joey Logano, and pit reporters Nicole Briscoe and Matt Yocum.
Bestwick and Logano worked well off each other and Briscoe and Yocum did a credible job getting driver interviews.
The telecast had a few minor glitches and slight momentary screen freeze-ups but nothing of major note. Ratings of Thursday’s ESPN debut telecast should be available by early next week.
Notes
Dan Hurley, head coach of the defending NCAA Div. 1 men’s national championship UConn Huskies, was guest of honor and gave the command to start engines. … Camping World returns once again as the series’ primary entitlement sponsor for the season.
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
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