(Press release from Camping World SRX Series)
Shorter Heat Races, Revised Procedure for Starting Grid, Adjusted Feature Length and More Driver Identification on Racecars Starting at Knoxville
The season-opening race of the inaugural Camping World SRX Series last Saturday night at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway was an unabashed success with local all-star Doug Coby taking the victory over NASCAR legends Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart.
Response to the first event of the six-race short-track series airing live at 8 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network with streaming live on Paramount+ Premium was overwhelmingly positive, and fan feedback has already been implemented to make the next Camping World SRX Series event this Saturday night at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway even better.
The two timed heat races have been shortened from 15 minutes to 12 minutes. Drivers will still line up for the first heat race via a random draw, and the lineup for the second heat race will still be an invert of the results from the first heat. The shorter timeframe of the heats is designed to create a greater sense of urgency and, starting at Knoxville, drivers are incentivized to race for the win in both heats because their average finish in the heats will determine their starting spot in the feature race.
The feature race at Knoxville has been cut to 50 laps. Only green flag laps will count, and there will be unlimited attempts at a green-white-checkered finish if a caution comes out near the end of the race. Similar to the shortened heat races, the reduced feature length is designed to create heightened urgency and allow for the race to finish under green flag conditions. This also provides CBS with the necessary time to interview the race winner, second place and any other compelling storylines.
Lastly, driver identification on the racecars will be more prevalent. Each drivers’ name will be larger and, more importantly, the driver will carry the same color throughout the remainder of the Camping World SRX Series season. For instance, the orange so many fans identify with Stewart will remain with the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion through the season finale July 17 at the Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway.
“As good as we felt our first race was, there are always things that can be improved,” said Ray Evernham, co-founder of the Camping World SRX Series. “I lived by this mantra as a crew chief and team owner and I still live by it today.
“There were things we saw that we immediately knew we could make better for the next Camping World SRX Series race at Knoxville, but we also received real-time feedback from fans. Their insights were spot on and we’ve worked hard to implement them in time for Saturday night.
“The Camping World SRX Series was created for the fans, and our quest to deliver exciting races with engaging personalities will never end. We want Knoxville to be better than Stafford, and when we go to Eldora in two weeks, we want that event to be better than Knoxville. We heard from our fans after Stafford and we’ll continue to listen to make the Camping World SRX Series the best it can be.”
The Camping World SRX Series features world-class drivers from an array of motorsports backgrounds competing in identically prepared racecars on some of the most iconic short tracks in America. Stewart, Paul Tracy, Bobby Labonte, Willy T. Ribbs, Bill Elliott, Ernie Francis Jr., Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Michael Waltrip are the fulltime drivers in the Camping World SRX Series, and after Saturday night’s race at Knoxville, they’ll have four more events – June 26 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, July 3 at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis, July 10 at Slinger (Wis.) Speedway and then July 17 at Nashville where the inaugural Camping World SRX Series champion will be crowned.
Local all-stars will join the series regulars, with four-time Knoxville track champion Brian Brown at Knoxville, five-time USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson at Eldora, prolific USAC and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour winner Bobby Santos III at Lucas Oil Raceway, and the winner of the July 6 Slinger Nationals – one of the most prestigious short-track races in the country – competing in the Camping World SRX Series race at Slinger. A handful of racing “ringers” will also race with the Camping World SRX Series at select events, with Biffle returning at Slinger, five-time Rallycross champion and former Formula One driver Scott Speed racing at Eldora and Lucas Oil Raceway, and Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist in his element at Knoxville.
I agree with all the changes JMO
Definitely needed bigger names on car , guy next to me must have asked me 10 times who was in this color or that color car , not sure why I was supposed to know
Doug Coby EARNED THE RIGHT to be in the next event, after all he is the Current Defending Winner of the Series,
Also, is SRX too cheap to replace the tires ? Hard to pass with tires having 150 or laps on a tight half mile track. ( that would be about 25 laps left in the feature. )
They should of started 2nd heat with fresh tires, and Feature with fresh tires.
GET RID of that FUN FLAG, it is the same as NASCAR’s Phantom Caution which gives an advantage to certain drivers and a disadvantage to other drivers, it is not fair, it is CHEATING !
Biffle was given one heck of an advantage, a car with about 40 fewer laps on them
Why wasn’t Bill Elliott put in a replacement car, his car quit before the start of the green, It was never properly checked out, given a few hot laps to make sure car was up to snuff. Didn’t that car fizzle out and DNF ?
The SRX cars need to painted in different brilliant colors , not grey with a trim color.
The Rear wing must be eliminated as it could be a potential hazard. If it comes loose like Waltrips did, the wing, the supports even the decklid could fly into the stands.
Even large fiberglass body parts could break off and cause a hazard.
If one is advertising a series with lots of bumping and banging one would think they would use a metal body with exception for a fiberglass roof and plastic nose piece. Fiberglass is not conducive to grass roots racing.
Round One was as Yahoo Sports Nick Bromberg stated, fun, novelty race to watch… if you have NOTHING ELSE TO DO on a Sat night this summer.
SRX needs to start a full field of cars and not with just retired over the hill drivers in their 60’s and older.
After watching the Knoxville Race, hoping changes would improve the product, the problem I had is that the drivers draw for positions in first heat which gives those drivers a huge advantage. Inverting the finish for the second heat is not all that bad for the top finishers from the first heat as some cars has fallen out, some have been damaged and some never did run right ( Elliotts) so, with only 10 to 12 cars starting double file, a driver in the back row with a fast car can easily be in 6th place in a matter of laps.
Tony Stewarts car seems to have a stronger motor as it seemed he could out run any car at any time.
It also makes me wonder just how much practice time had Stewart had in these cars as they were developing them ?
I really thought the drivers would draw for car at each venue, but it seems the drivers got the same cars as the race before.
It was announced the there are 4 crew chiefs, so each one is responsible for 4 cars, geez, I want the best Crew Chief and I want more of his time than the others. Why not allow drivers to choose their own crew chief if desired ?
* I have an idea, start the first event inverted by Series points, those with no points will start on pole.
( Continue to * Invert heat 2 , and then average the points for feature start )
Did anyone notice there was no FUN FLAG as Tony took a big lead at the finish of the feature ?
.It was also revealed that these cars are not built with left side weight, what idiot thought of that ? How in the world can you expect anyone to pass on the outside ? ( unless they have a much faster car, or better tires, or superior set up by the better crew chief ? )
Who decided to use fiberglass bodies in a series that was promoting fender bending action ? Fiberglass doesn’t bend, it breaks off !
How about total weight, do all these cars weigh the same with the driver in the car ? If so, the lighter driver would have to add weight to the car, that extra weight should be added directly under the seat.
If SRX wants better racing switch the wing to a conventional rear spoiler with side panel supports, add left side weight, change all 4 tires after each event, even at the feature breaks on 100 lap events and add rev limiters to all the motors.
While they are at it, dyno test each motor and then the HP on the top of top of the front fenders or side of hood like Nascar used to. Then add weight under the driver for cars that have more HP then the least one.
If anyone thinks all these engines put out the exact same amount of HP then they know nothing about racing. I would venture that between all the motors SRX has that the variance is most likely plus or minus at least 3% meaning the difference between the highest and lowest motors would be 6%.
Doesn’t sound like much but in a V-8 motor each cylinder is worth 12.5 % ( 8 x 12.5 =100% )
Thus 6 % would be significant amount.
There must be a weight penalty added to level the playing field and be added to the right frame rail across from the driver or else it would be more left loaded than the others.
***** I state the Concept is a GREAT IDEA, but the devil is in the details ********************
1) Biggest issue, not enough cars, there needs to be at least 30 cars for a half mile track feature, asphalt or dirt.
2) Starting 30 cars could host two 15 car heat races.
3) Allow drivers to have their own crew chief if desired and allow more chassis adjustments, as not all drivers prefer the same set-up. Some like a loose car, other prefer a tight car and many drivers like a neutral set-up.
4) Allow quick change rear gears, ability to change rear gear ration, as some drivers like to drive off the corner while others like to drive deep ( as in passing on the outside ) . A rev limiter would even out the total RPMS.
5 ) Limit left side weight to 55%
Hey Tony Stewart. Can you bring Camping World SRX to our Sandusky Ohio Speedway. Many Nascar drivers have practiced there on the way to the Michigan races. Thor Sports is also here who have several drivers in the truck races. I’d luv your new SRX racing to come here. Thank you.
I feel grateful that my posted my suggestions: I do believe this series has a great future as short track racing has a large following.
I also suggest that the drivers that will be competing be allowed to furnish their own car using the SRX rules. For Instance Michael Waltrip was always complaining he was never comfortable in his car and the first than a crew chief should deal with is making the driver comfortable in the car. A driver loses confidence in a ill fitting car.
The body sides and decklid should be made of aluminum of a thickness that will not tear like a piece of paper. I like the nose, the hood and the roof, and open rear panel.
These motors all need to be dyno tested with HP listed on side of hood or top of fender, a throw back to the Nascar days, and weight penalty applied to the cars that have more HP.
May I also suggest using two four barrel carbs to increase the POWER of the engines.
I do believe that in the future, Ford, Dodge. GM and Toyota should get involved with SRX offering each brand two 2 car teams ( 16 cars ) and all guaranteed a feature starting position. This would be a great driver development program, while at the same time be a great incentive to bring in NAME drivers at the factories expense.
The rolling chassis and car body will still be under SRX rules
With SRX having 16 guaranteed starting positions as well, that gives SRX a field of 32 cars. . Four 8 car heats, two 16 Car Qualifiers, with 32 car feature with provision for SRX to surprise Guest driver that must start on the tail of the field and win an additional $100,000 if they win.
That and SRX needs to be lengthened to a 10 race series.
This way, the bonus could reach as high as 1 million dollars.
If no Winner, bonus goes to charity.
These ideas, I freely offer To Tony and Ray.
Best wishes,
Danny Ray Bennett
Please contact me.
Far out man!
That has to be one of the most detailed flights of fancy changing just about every element of a race series with absolutely zero chance of seeing any of it happening. Unless of course it’s “The Game” version.
It’s a made for TV reality series that’s all. Limited scope and goals and near as I can see we’re lucky to see it returning for a second year.