NEW YORK — The Superstar Racing Experience has added five open-wheel drivers to their lineup for the upcoming season, including defending champion Marco Andretti, the series announced Tuesday.
Andretti will look to defend his title, racing full time in the summer series. He is joined by NTT IndyCar Series legend and SRX veteran Paul Tracy, and Indianapolis 500 champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is back with SRX for the full slate after making his debut last year.
“My Thursday nights are a lot more interesting this year,” Andretti said. “Looking forward to driving against even more of my fast friends this season. SRX keeps getting bigger and better. Pumped to put on a fun show for the fans.
“(I) can’t wait to have a shot at trying to win it again. I’m feeling more and more comfortable in the Cup guy’s sandbox. A lot more talent this year to continue to learn from.”
The trio will be joined by Tony Kanaan and Josef Newgarden, who will be racing part-time this season. Kanaan, an IndyCar series champion, and Indy 500 winner, will race in SRX three times this summer. Those three events include:
Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, Thunder Road (Vt.) Speedbowl, Eldora Speedway
Josef Newgarden, two-time IndyCar Series champion and current driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske, will return to SRX for his second race, joining the field at Motor Mile (Va.) Speedway on July 27.
“One of the most appealing things to me about competing in SRX is the ability to run at some of these historic short tracks where some of the legends of motorsports have competed, ” Newgarden said. “Last year’s race at the Nashville Fairgrounds was a perfect introduction to the series at an iconic facility that is working to make it back to big time racing.
“Motor Mile Speedway is another historic track that has hosted racing for decades. I’ve heard it’s a true short track with demanding racing and lots of paint swapping. It should be a great race.”
The five drivers join an already large list of competitors, that include Hailie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Helio Castroneves, Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace and Tony Stewart.