A pair of Cup Series champions feel like Camping World SRX has a good thing going and hopes it continues to grow well into the future.
Kyle Busch won both races he entered this month, at Motor Mile and Berlin Raceway, while Brad Keselowski is running the full six-race schedule and is second in the championship standings, 33 points behind Ryan Newman.
Both entries were made possible when SRX CEO Don Hawk made the decision to run the races on Thursday nights on ESPN following the first two seasons airing on CBS Saturday nights in prime time. The idea was that Superstar Racing Experience needed more superstars and they are generally busy on weekends.
Thus, Keselowski entered the full campaign alongside NASCAR Truck Series star Hailie Deegan and Busch finding time for a pair of appearances. The latter came away really impressed with what is being built with that program.
He saw, first-hand, one of the messiest and crash-filled races at Motor Mile and one of the cleanest and most professional races in Berlin and saw how both challenges the traveling crew.
“Honestly, I feel like they’ve got a pretty good program on what they’re doing,” Busch said. “I know it’s really tough on the guys and the girls who work behind the scenes and do all the stuff with preparing the cars, working on the cars.
“Fortunately, Berlin was a decent race — about the only work they really have to do is clean out the burnout rubber from my car this week.”
What would he change?
“There are 12 cars so you could probably do 16, at least,” Busch said. “It would be cool to see more cars. It think that it’s okay when you have some calamity and some crashes and stuff like that, as long as everybody is keeping safe. (David) Stremme had a throttle stick in one of the test cars the other day and he wailed the wall and he was okay. (Tony) Kanan destroyed the fence too at Stafford.
“So, the cars do have some good safety aspects to them, which is nice. We are at short tracks, so its not going 180 miles an hour, y’know? We are going 100 to 120 maybe.”
For Keselowski, the appeal of SRX is two-fold in that he doesn’t have the logistical means right now to run a bunch of Xfinity and Truck Series races so SRX gives him something to do while also allowing him to visit six grassroots tracks across the country at the same time.
“It’s a nice little piece,” Keselowsk said. “Not being able to run the Xfinity Series, I miss those reps and being able to compete in those series. With the rules changes and the lack of availability for rides for the limited races you are allowed to run, it just hasn’t been an opportunity for me. This fills a nice gap for me in my life.”
But Keselowski has especially enjoyed some of the legends he has raced against, some familiar faces he hadn’t caught up with since they stopped running mainstream races over the past decade, so the familial aspect has appealed to him too.
“I had a great time seeing some of the local short tracks that make up our sport,” Keselowski said. “That has been a blast. Seeing guys I haven’t seen in a while. I had a chance to sit down and talk to Kasey Kahne and I haven’t seen him since he stopped running in NASCAR.
“I got to meet some of the IndyCar drivers that I knew but hadn’t had a chance to really talk to. Ken Schrader and I shared some old NASCAR stories that I always had some questions about. I keep joking with people that it is like the ‘senior tour series.’ I am not sure if I should be proud to be in it or not. I don’t feel that old, but they even have this latch so you can get in and out of the door easier. That hit me pretty hard but it’s been fun.”
Busch echoed that sentiment and says the spotlight it provides grassroots facilities has been a highlight.
“It’s just cool that they have all the short tracks that they go to and there are a lot of great short tracks across the country that would be really fun to watch those cars go around at,” Busch added. “You know, Richmond might actually be too big of a racetrack to go to for those cars. You could put on a race there but I believe it would be too big of a speedway. The short track, half mile and under are a really good place for them.”
Chase Briscoe fulfills dream
The suspension of Paul Tracy left an open seat for both remaining races.
Cup Series winner Chase Briscoe will occupy that ride for Eldora, and it makes sense on multiple levels. For one, he grew up watching his dad Kevin race Sprint Cars at The Worlds Greatest Dirt Track and he has long wanted to race against Stewart, who is both his boss at Stewart-Haas Racing and his childhood idol.
“I’m super excited,” Briscoe said. “I’ve never had a race against Tony and everybody here knows that he is my absolute hero. So for me, that was the biggest draw to run SRX. I wanted to be able to say that I raced with Tony at some point in my career. Obviously knowing that the time was dwindling down, because he’s probably never going to come run a NASCAR race.”
Hawk had pursued 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz and Eldora Kings Royal winner Donny Schatz for the ride but he declined as he wanted to stay at Knoxville to watch the competition during the Knoxville Nationals — the biggest race annually in winged Sprint Car racing.
Stewart, who also owns the Sprint Car Schatz races, then pushed for Briscoe.
“Like I said, I literally found out Thursday afternoon,” Briscoe said. “I’m looking forward to it. High Point, my Cup sponsor, is going to be on it too, which is very cool. It’s at Eldora, which is super special to me in general, and racing against my boss. Hopefully, we can beat him at his own racetrack.”
The richest Dirt Late Model race winner of all-time, Jonathan Davenport, will drive the open car for the finale next week at Lucas Oil Raceway in Wheatland Missouri.
Hailie Deegan emerges at Berlin
Hailie Deegan might have enjoyed her best racing start of any kind last weekend when she finished fifth at the challenging West Michigan bullring.
At first, Deegan said she felt disappointed to have only finished fifth until she realized that she was competitive all night against the likes of Schrader, Stewart, Helio Castroneves and Bobby Labonte all finishing behind her.
“I feel like things are starting to click a little bit more for me the past few weeks and I think it’s just because of how much we’re racing right now,” Deegan said. “Like we’re in the stride of the year, the heavy months and I’m constantly in a car like two to three times a week, between SRX and NASCAR.
“I feel like I’m just getting a little more aggressive, a little more up on the wheel when I’m racing against these guys. I get frustrated because I’m like man I couldn’t move (Kevin) Harvick off the bottom, but I had to realize what I just said because these guys are the best in the world for a reason.
“They have so much experience, so much knowledge and I feel like I’m learning every night in this series. Things are starting to click more and more so maybe a Truck race will go good for us soon too.”
Eldora entry list
1 Marco Andretti
5 Hailie Deegan
6 Brad Keselowski
8 Matt Kenseth
14 Tony Stewart
18 Bobby Labonte
28 Ron Capps
33 Austin Dillon
39 Ryan Newman
52 Ken Schrader
57 Chase Briscoe
66 Tony Kanaan
SRX Standings (4/6)Â
Ryan Newman – 146 Â
Brad Keselowski – 113 (-33) Â
Marco Andretti – 112 (-34)
Tony Stewart – 95 (-51)
Ken Schrader – 92 (-53)
Hailie Deegan – 91 (-54)Â Â
Ken Schrader – 91 (-54)Â
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.