2022 SRX Series
The 2022 Camping World SRX Series was the second season of the Superstar Racing Experience. The six-race season began at Five Flags Speedway on June 18 and ended at Sharon Speedway on July 23. Tony Stewart entered the season as the defending series champion, having won the inaugural season in 2021. Marco Andretti won the championship by two points over Ryan Newman despite having no wins on the season.[1]
Drivers
Full-time drivers
Part-time drivers
Guest drivers
| No. | Driver | Primary series | Track | Accomplishments | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |  Dave Blaney
|
USAC World of Outlaws NASCAR Cup Series |
Sharon Speedway | 1984 USAC champion 1995 World of Outlaws champion 1 NASCAR national series win |
[6] |
| 26 | Bubba Pollard
|
Deep South Crane Blizzard Series | Five Flags Speedway | Best average finish in the PepperJack Kennels Twins on April 8–9 | [8][9] |
| Peyton Sellers
|
NASCAR Weekly Series | South Boston Speedway | 6 South Boston track championships 2005 and 2021 NASCAR Weekly Series national champion 36 NASCAR Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series starts (2006–2015) |
[10] | |
| 46 | Cole Williams
|
Late model racing | Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway | Winner of a fan vote among six track regulars (the other drivers in the vote were Dylan Fetcho, Michael House, Stephen Nasse, Bubba Pollard and Brittney Zamora)[11] | [12] |
| 52 | Ken Schrader
|
NASCAR Cup Series | I-55 Raceway | 7 NASCAR national series wins | [13] |
| 60 | Matt Hirschman
|
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour | Stafford Motor Speedway | Winner of the Spring Sizzler (April 23–24) | [11][14] |
Schedule
The 2022 schedule was announced on January 31, 2022. It features a return to Stafford Motor Speedway and Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway after visiting those tracks in 2021, along with the addition of four new tracks to the series.[15]
| No. | Track | Location | Type | Date | TV | Ratings (Mil) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five Flags Speedway | Pensacola, Florida | 0.5 mile, paved | June 18 | CBS | 0.95 |
| 2 | South Boston Speedway | South Boston, Virginia | 0.4 mile, paved | June 25 | CBS | 0.98 |
| 3 | Stafford Motor Speedway | Stafford Springs, Connecticut | 0.5 mile, paved | July 2 | CBS | 0.98 |
| 4 | Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway | Nashville, Tennessee | 0.596 mile, paved | July 9 | CBS | 0.98 |
| 5 | I-55 Raceway | Pevely, Missouri | 0.333 mile, dirt | July 16 | CBS | 1.06 |
| 6 | Sharon Speedway | Hartford Township, Ohio | 0.375 mile, dirt | July 23 | CBS | 1.06 |
Broadcasting
All six races were broadcast live in the United States on CBS and Paramount+.
Allen Bestwick returned as the play-by-play announcer, Lindsay Czarniak returned as the host, and Matt Yocum returned as a pit reporter. After competing in the series as a driver in 2021, Willy T. Ribbs joined the SRX broadcast team in 2022 as the roving reporter, replacing Brad Daugherty. However, for the races at Stafford and I-55, Ribbs was instead a color commentator. As was the case in 2021, there was a rotating color commentator in the booth with Bestwick, with Ribbs at Stafford and I–55[16] and IndyCar Series driver Conor Daly at Five Flags, South Boston and the Nashville Fairgrounds. NASCAR Cup Series driver Joey Logano was the color commentator for the season-finale at Sharon Speedway.[17]
Season summary
Race reports
All events consist of two heat races, 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.[18][19] The average finish of both heats is used to determine the lineup for the feature race.
The heat races are 12 minutes each in length. At Five Flags, the feature length was 75 laps with the final 10 laps having to be run under green flag conditions.
Five Flags Speedway
Prior to the event, Hélio Castroneves was announced as a last minute entrant after not being originally scheduled to compete.[20] Bubba Pollard was awarded pole for Heat 1 based on a random draw. Paul Tracy snatched the lead at the start until Pollard retook it with slightly over eight minutes remaining. With under a minute left, Castroneves spun Ernie Francis Jr. while making a pass attempt but the race stayed green. Pollard proceeded to hold off Tony Kanaan to win the heat. Francis was the polesitter for Heat 2 because of the inversion, however the damage he sustained in the previous heat caused him to drop backwards immediately and forced him into a backup car for the feature. Second place starter Castroneves would win after leading the entire heat.
Due to their successful heat performances, Pollard and Kanaan would bring the field to green for the feature, with Pollard gaining the initial advantage and leading until being passed on lap 7 by Ryan Newman. Pollard retook the lead on lap 12, however it would be short lived as Kanaan surpassed him for first on lap 17. Under the first fun flag caution on lap 21, Pollard was forced to pit due to a flat left rear tire, relegating him to the rear of the field from third position. Kanaan would maintain the lead on the restart and held it after the second fun flag yellow on lap 38. When the feature restarted after the final fun flag with 15 laps remaining, Kanaan and Castroneves would remain side by side for multiple laps before Castroneves eventually prevailed. Castroneves finished first, with Pollard moving Newman for second position on the last lap. In a post race interview, it was revealed that SRX chief executive Don Hawk promised Castroneves a NASCAR ride at Daytona if he won an event.
|
Heat 1 Top 5 Results:
|
Heat 2 Top 5 Results:
|
Feature Top 5 Results:
|
Results and standings
Race results
| No. | Track | Heat 1 winner | Heat 2 winner | Most laps led (feature) |
Feature race winner | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five Flags Speedway | Bubba Pollard | Hélio Castroneves | Tony Kanaan | Hélio Castroneves | Report |
| 2 | South Boston Speedway | Greg Biffle | Hélio Castroneves | Tony Stewart | Tony Stewart | Report |
| 3 | Stafford Motor Speedway | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Bobby Labonte | Marco Andretti | Ryan Newman | Report |
| 4 | Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway | Josef Newgarden | Cole Williams | Bobby Labonte | Bobby Labonte | Report |
| 5 | I-55 Raceway | Ken Schrader | Tony Stewart | Tony Stewart | Tony Stewart | Report |
| 6 | Sharon Speedway | Ryan Newman | Chase Elliott | Chase Elliott | Chase Elliott | Report |
Points are awarded for both heat races as well as the feature:
| Points | Position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | ||||||||||||||||
| Heat | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Feature | 25 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
Drivers' championship
(key) * – Most laps led (feature). 1 – Heat 1 winner. 2 – Heat 2 winner. † – Driver was ineligible for points in this race.
| Pos. | Driver | FIF | SBO | STA | NSV | I55 | SHA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco Andretti[a]
|
7 | 8 | 2* | 2 | 2 | 9 | 195 |
| 2 | Ryan Newman[a]
|
3 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 81 | 193 |
| 3 | Bobby Labonte
|
5 | 3 | 52 | 1* | 11 | 5 | 190 |
| 4 | Tony Stewart
|
10 | 1* | 4 | 11 | 1*2 | 2 | 188 |
| 5 | Greg Biffle
|
6 | 21 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 150 |
| 6 |  Paul Tracy
|
12 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 118 |
| 7 | Ryan Hunter-Reay
|
8 | 9 | 71 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 118 |
| 8 |  Tony Kanaan
|
4* | 6 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 113 | |
| 9 | Michael Waltrip
|
13 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 95 |
| 10 | Matt Kenseth
|
3 | 12 | 3 | 61 | |||
| 11 | Ernie Francis Jr.
|
11 | 7 | 6 | 58 | |||
| 12 | Hélio Castroneves
|
12† | 52 | 5 | 45 | |||
| 13 | Chase Elliott
|
1*2 | 43 | |||||
| 14 | Ken Schrader
|
31 | 36 | |||||
| 15 | Bill Elliott
|
9 | 11 | 31 | ||||
| 16 | Hailie Deegan
|
6† | 9 | 22 | ||||
| 17 | Cole Williams
|
122 | 15 | |||||
| 18 | Ryan Blaney
|
7 | 14 | |||||
| 19 | Dave Blaney
|
12 | 13 | |||||
| 20 | Peyton Sellers
|
10 | 10 | |||||
| Drivers Ineligible for points | ||||||||
| Bubba Pollard
|
21 | |||||||
| Josef Newgarden
|
71 | |||||||
| Matt Hirschman
|
8 | |||||||
| Justin Marks
|
9 | |||||||
Notes
- ^ a b During the first race of the year at Five Flags Speedway, Marco Andretti was given a late order to pit. Due to this, Andretti started 12th in Heat #2, instead of 9th. Andretti was awarded 3 additional points, to make up the three positions and address this late call. This issue ended up playing a major part in deciding who won the 2022 SRX Series Season Championship without this solution, Marco Andretti would've finished with 192 points, 1 behind Ryan Newman who finished with 193 points. [21]
See also
- 2022 NASCAR Cup Series
- 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series
- 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
- 2022 IndyCar Series
- 2022 Indy Lights
- 2022 ARCA Menards Series
- 2022 ARCA Menards Series East
- 2022 ARCA Menards Series West
- 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
- 2022 NASCAR Pinty's Series
- 2022 NASCAR Mexico Series
- 2022 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series
- 2022 SMART Modified Tour
References
- ^ Taranto, Steven (July 23, 2022). "SRX at Sharon Speedway results: Marco Andretti wins championship as Chase Elliott takes race". cbssports.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Taranto, Steven (February 24, 2022). "Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle among NASCAR drivers joining full-time SRX driver lineup for 2022". CBS Sports. CBS.
- ^ a b c Christie, Toby (March 2, 2022). "SRX: Tony Stewart Returns For Full 2022 Season, Deegan, Kenseth Among Part-Timers". TobyChristie.com.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (April 22, 2022). "NASCAR legend Bill Elliott to return to SRX for two races in 2022". CBS Sports. CBS.
- ^ "Chase Elliott Running SRX Season Finale". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. May 9, 2022.
- ^ a b Glover, Luken (March 8, 2022). "SRX Sets Up Dave Vs. Ryan Blaney Finale at Sharon". Frontstretch.
- ^ Tomlinson, Joy (June 25, 2022). "Justin Marks Filling in for Helio Castroneves at Stafford in SRX". Frontstretch. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (February 25, 2022). "Five Flags Speedway puts spot in track's SRX race up for grabs during upcoming race weekend". CBS Sports. CBS. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
- ^ Finley, Michael (April 9, 2022). "Bubba Pollard Wins SRX Seat For Five Flags at Five Flags". Frontstretch. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
- ^ Nebbia, Michael (April 2, 2022). "SRX Signs Former NASCAR Weekly Series Champ Peyton Sellers". Frontstretch.
- ^ a b Taranto, Steven (March 23, 2022). "Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway will hold fan vote to put late model driver in SRX race". CBS Sports. CBS. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
- ^ Kristl, Mark (May 7, 2022). "Cole Williams Wins Nashville SRX Fan Vote Berth". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
- ^ Hopkins, Dalton (May 3, 2022). "Ken Schrader to Compete in SRX Race at I-55". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
- ^ Finley, Michael (April 24, 2022). "Matt Hirschman Wins Spring Sizzler, Earns SRX Ride at Stafford Speedway". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Schedule". Superstar Racing Experience. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ Hopkins, Dalton (April 26, 2022). "Willy T. Ribbs, Conor Daly Join SRX Broadcast Team". Frontstretch. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
- ^ "(Twitter post)". Twitter. Joey Logano. July 7, 2022.
- ^ "Stewart, Evernham to re-create IROC as SRX". ESPN. July 13, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
- ^ "SRX reveals race format". Racer. WordPress. May 6, 2021.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (June 19, 2022). "Helio Castroneves Makes Last-Minute Entry, Wins SRX Opener at Five Flags Speedway". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ "Marco Andretti Called in to pits". Retrieved 1 August 2023.