The third season of the Superstar Racing Experience came to a dramatic conclusion Thursday night at Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway.
While dirt late model ace Jonathan Davenport swept the 90-lap feature in his first series start, fending off slide jobs from part-time driver Clint Bowyer, fourth-place finisher Ryan Newman collected enough points to secure his first SRX title.
Brad Keselowski and Marco Andretti tied for second in the standings.
Newman’s Redemption
After coming up two points shy of Andretti in the title fight last season, Newman was righted his wrongs and experienced championship glory.
The 45-year-old’s worst finish this year was fifth at Pulaski County (Va.) Motorsports Park, while his lone triumph came at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway during the second race of the season.
No other full-time driver matched his consistency over the six-week series.
“The Superstar Racing Experience, what can you say?” Newman said. “Guys like Tony Stewart and Jonathan Davenport, who’s won everything on dirt. Racing against Kenny Schrader, Kenny Wallace — it’s just a whole lot of fun. (Helio) Castroneves, an Indy Car champion and four-time Indy 500 winner. It’s very special.”
A Series Of Clean Sweeps
Several drivers are coming away from the SRX season with perfect records.
Full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin is one of them, after he opened the season with a dominant win at Stafford during his only start of the year.
Fellow Cup Series competitor Kyle Busch swept his first two career SRX races, hoisting the trophy at Pulaski County (Va.) Motorsports Park and Berlin (Mich.) Raceway.
Davenport also boasts a clean streak in SRX, with a one-for-one record in the series after his dominant performance on dirt during the season finale.
First-Timers Make Their Mark
While season three of SRX didn’t offer the strong flavor of local talent as it did in its first two seasons, there were still plenty of drivers who experienced SRX initiation.
Though retired Cup Series star Clint Bowyer went winless in his three starts, the 44-year-old was simply happy to “scratch” the racing itch. He was in the midst of several fierce, on-track battles during his trio of races, fighting drivers like Newman, Tony Stewart and Davenport for podium positions.
“It’d be a lot more fun if we were up there getting that trophy, but it was a ton of fun,” Bowyer said. “Coming to these tracks you’ve never been to before, it’s fun. That’s why I wanted to come here and be a part of it.”
The current Cup Series talent pool was also drawn from numerous times through the season, with Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick all making their first SRX starts.
The best driver out of this class was Suarez, who finished second at Stafford.
This year’s champion, Newman, defined Preece’s appearance at Stafford as the closest thing SRX had to a “local talent” this season.
“When we had Preece come in at Stafford — being a Cup guy and all is one thing, but he grew up and cut his teeth at Stafford,” Newman said. “I think he has 37 wins there. He is the local guy and he’s earned his way in over time, just indirectly that night. I think it’s cool that SRX incorporates that.”
Other first-timers included Johnny Benson Jr., who filled in for suspended full-time driver Paul Tracy, NHRA Funny Car driver Ron Capps, Wallace and Kasey Kahne. Wallace boasts the best results of these four drivers, with ninth and eighth-place finishes to his credit at Stafford and Lucas Oil Speedway, respectively.
Fans On Their Feet
As soon as the 12-car SRX field was in position for green flag laps — be it heat races or the 100-lap feature — most every crowd on the circuit rose to their feet in anticipation of seeing their racing heroes on track.
The season finale at Lucas Oil was estimated to have had 8,000 fans in attendance at the .375-mile dirt oval. The season opener at Stafford and race four at Berlin were also sold out.
To further excite the crowd, drivers delivered door-to-door action week-in and week-out — both in-person and via the “Thursday Night Thunder” ESPN broadcast — though it turned out to be the most wreck-plagued SRX season yet.
Through the six-week stretch, there were more than 15 cars involved in race-ending wrecks.
The FURY Race Cars crew, responsible for servicing the cars, certainly worked overtime this year.
To Win Or To Entertain?
As Josef Newgarden put it before his single start at Pulaski County, one of the lead purposes of SRX is to entertain the fans.
“We’re all here to entertain people — even entertain ourselves, if you will,” Newgarden said. “I’d love to win, but whether I win or finish at the back, it’s just good experience and a good opportunity.”
Bowyer shared a similar mindset.
“We’re all here to win, but I’m here to have fun. Got my family here and as long as their happy and keep coming, we’ll be here again,” Bowyer said.
Final Standings
1. Ryan Newman (212), 2. Brad Keselowski (167), 3. Marco Andretti (167), 4. Tony Stewart (164), 5. Ken Schrader (150), 6. Bobby Labonte (145), 7. Hailie Deegan (140)
The eighth full-time driver was originally Tracy, but he was suspended after an on-track incident at Pulaski Count — race three of six.