Tony Stewart is a man who has proven time and time again that he shouldn’t be doubted.
A proven winner in USAC, IndyCar, NASCAR and team ownership, the Superstar Racing Experience is Smoke’s latest successful endeavor.
After taking care of business last Saturday at Eldora, the track Stewart owns both literally and figuratively, his and Ray Evernham’s first year series is halfway over. Admittedly, the pair both admitted that they didn’t know what to expect out of their series’ freshman year.
“I think the hard part is none of us really knew what to expect at the beginning,” Stewart said after his latest win. “To be able to have three races on two different surfaces and have really good racing… I’m super satisfied with what’s going on in the series right now.”
“I think it’s great,” Evernham added. “I’ve got to wait and see what the ratings are.”
While one may think that it’s easy for Stewart to be satisfied with the series given his two wins, the numbers back up the team’s satisfaction. The third race at Eldora had the highest ratings yet; earning 1.38 million viewers on CBS. This comes after the inaugural race at Stafford saw 1.33 million, and Knoxville saw 1.23 million fans.
There’s more to the success of the SRX than just the ratings, as the on-track product has lived up to expectations. The variety of drivers in terms of ethnicity, background and experience has created such fascinating moments. In a world of Indy 500 and Daytona 500 champions, it was a virtually unknown modified champion, Doug Coby, who stole the show at Stafford, winning the first race in series history. Then when the series moved to dirt, Hailie Deegan and Kody Swanson both gave Stewart all he could handle at Knoxville and Eldora respectively. Trans-Am driver Ernie Francis Jr. came into the series with next-to-no dirt experience, only to run third at Knoxville and sit third in standings.
Francis spoke about the honor of getting selected to compete in the series.
“When Ray called me in the offseason last year, I thought he was joking at first,” Francis said. “Knoxville really solidified it for me, standing on the podium next to Tony… it’s just been an honor and I’ve just been having so much fun.”
Having fun is the central theme of the SRX, as all of the series regulars are running no more than a partial schedule in any division. While the series is all fun and games, professional race car drivers will always get competitive, which showed on Saturday when Paul Tracy and Bobby Labonte had an incident late and a rather intense discussion ensued afterward.
Evernham called the drivers out without naming names.
“I wish some of them would respect our equipment a little more,” Evernham said. “I’ve got a couple phone calls to make to people this week and say, ‘Look, this is for fun.’”
Even with some intense moments, drivers seem to unanimously agree that this series has some serious long-term potential.
“I think it’s been very successful,” Labonte said. “We’re getting a lot of good feedback, and I feel good about it.”
“I would be happy to run a few more years,” Michael Waltrip added. “A lot of people will watch what we’ve done this year… and are going to say ‘Well, that was pretty cool. Those guys seem to have a good time. I want to do that.’”
There are several recently retired drivers just from NASCAR alone who may have interest in the series full time. While Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer have television obligations, drivers like Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and maybe even Carl Edwards could be on Stewart’s short list of new drivers.
However, with these potential new faces, Stewart says they will not increase neither the lineup nor the schedule, citing a former series as a good standard.
“I don’t think you’re going to see more than 12 cars, that’s what IROC was always based on,” Stewart said. “I think six races is the right deal for us, but I think you’ll see different race tracks and maybe even a road course next year.”
There are obviously many things to sort out before next year, and that’s not even to mention the last three races this year; but one thing is for sure: the SRX will not be a one-and-done series. This series could remain strong for years to come. Never doubt Smoke.
Comments