Post Race Notes: Camping World SRX Series Event Two At Stafford

Race Recap: Ryan Newman, a winner in the 2022 SRX Series event at Stafford, got his second series victory at the paved half-mile. Former Stafford Speedway regular Ryan Preece started on the pole and dominated out front for much of the first half of the 80-lap main event. A brake issue for Preece allowed Tony Kanaan to move to the front and Kanaan built a 1.3 second lead on the field before Ryan Newman got to his bumper. On lap 72 restart Kanaan lost his brakes and ended up in the turn one wall. A lap later Daniel Suarez got by Newman before caution flew. On the restart Suarez and Newman battled side-by-side for a lap before Newman took the lead for good on lap 74. 

Main Event Result 

1. Ryan Newman 
2. Daniel Suarez
3. Marco Andretti 
4. Ken Schrader 
5. Greg Biffle 
6. Bobby Labonte 
7. Tony Stewart 
8. Hallie Deegan 
9. Kenny Wallace
10. Brad Keselowski
11. Paul Tracy 
12. Tony Kanaan
13. Ryan Preece 

Post-Race Quotes:

Ryan Newman (Winner): “Just have to thank everyone that is involved. Camping World for support the series. Bass Pro Shops and South Point Casinos for jumping on the board with not just me but with the whole program. There are so many people that are a part of it. It’s just fun. It’s high profile short track racing. Everybody that loves racing has some kind of love for short track racing. … Stafford Speedway here, the Arute family, they put on a great show and they keep the fans happy. And the race track is fun to drive. It’s good racing. That’s what it’s supposed to be all about. Not holding a car wide open to see who has the fastest race car. I’m glad to be a part of it and even happier to be in victory lane.”

Daniel Suarez (Second place in the main event): “It was great. I had a lot of fun. [Ryan Newman] did a hell of a job. I don’t know where he was coming from, but he was very quick. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can do it again. That was a lot of fun. … I was very happy to be here. It was a good run, it was fun. I wasn’t having issues with the brakes. Maybe it was my lack of experience. I was just happy with some brakes. The back of the car was fine but the front was just not turning as good as Newman and Tony Kanaan.”

Marco Andretti (Third place in the main event): “I learned my lesson last week and took care of myself this week. The brakes were going long, but they didn’t go today. I think it cost me a shot at winning last week, but it helped me got a podium today.” 

Ken Schrader (Fourth in the main event): “It’s fun, but boy they’re brutal. Boy they just bounce off one another. You can tell they don’t own these things that’s for sure.”

[On contact with Paul Tracy]: “He did it because he got three-wide and just expected me to give him the bottom and I didn’t give him the bottom. … Whatever.” 

Greg Biffle (Fifth in the main event after going to a backup car following a heat race crash]: “It was a pretty hard hit in the heat race. That kind of set the tone for the rest of the night. Drove a bit cautious after that. The backup car was a handful, not nearly as good as the primary car was. I had worked my way up and I was third when that last caution came out. Unfortunately they moved me back to fourth. I had made the pass on Stewart, but then the caution came out and it reverted. When they put me on the outside I was cooked. This car wouldn’t drive on the outside at all. But had a good night, ended up fifth, wasn’t terrible.” 

Tony Stewart (Seventh in the main event): “We were pretty good in the first heat in clean air. Second heat we made some progress. In the main event we took a swing at it, I just don’t think we made the right adjustment on the brakes. I never was a good crew chief. I was a lot better driver than a crew chief. I think we learned something from it.” 

[On the competition in the first two events] “It’s fun from my perspective to watch Tony Kanaan be fast and [Ryan] Preece be fast and [Daniel] Suarez and [Ryan] Newman. Different guys fast at different points in the race. Last week was the same with Denny [Hamlin] and Clint [Bowyer] and Ryan [Newman] coming at the end of the race. I think we’ve got a good year going. It’s aggressive out there. It’s aggressive racing. But aside from that, it’s entertaining to watch and it’s fun to be in the seat watching it. You’ve got to be on your toes.” 

Hallie Deegan (Eighth in the main event): [On contact on lap 72 that sent Paul Tracy spinning when they battled for sixth place] “He just turned down on me. I was on the bottom. I was under him. There’s two ways to go about it. Either you are there and if they want to turn down and bounce off you, so be it. You can’t do anything about that. There’s so many times when I’m the one checking up to let someone come back down. Paul races pretty hard so I don’t mind doing it. I didn’t really do anything to be honest, he turned down on me.” 

Tony Kanaan (12th in the main event after crashing on a restart while leading): “I lost my brakes. I had them and all of the sudden we restarted and when I went into turn one, I think you guys can see how quick that was. And it was not pleasant having no brakes and heading straight into that wall.” 

Heat Race One: Hallie Deegan started on the pole with Tony Stewart to her outside. Caution flew on lap four when Brad Keselowski spun on the frontstretch. On the restart it was Stewart and Deegan battling side-by-side with Stewart moving to the lead. Caution flew once again on lap seven after contact from Daniel Suarez sent Greg Biffle hard into the turn three wall in a battle for fourth place. Ryan Preece was up to seventh from his 11th starting spot when the caution flew. On the restart it was it was Paul Tracy going by Deegan for second and attacking Stewart out front. Stewart fought off the challenge from Tracy. Behind them Saurez, Deegan and Preece put on a fight over the closing laps for third fourth and fifth. 

Heat One Result 

1. Tony Stewart 
2. Paul Tracy 
3. Daniel Suarez 
4. Hallie Deegan
5. Ryan Preece
6. Tony Kanaan
7. Bobby Labonte
8. Ken Schrader
9. Marco Andretti
10. Ryan Newman
11. Brad Keselowski
12. Kenny Wallace
13. Greg Biffle 

Heat Race Two: Kenny Wallace started on the pole for heat race two with Brad Keselowski to his outside. On lap four Keselowski found the lane by Wallace to take over the lead. Ryan Newman moved past Wallace for second a lap later. On lap nine Preece took over third from Wallace. On a lap 12 restart it was Preece moving under Newman off of turn four to take over second . Caution flew on lap 13 after Paul Tracy spun after contact from Ken Schrader. On the restart Preece challenged Keselowski out front. Coming to the white flag Preece peeked under Keselowski in turn three, but Keselowski held him off over the final lap. 

Heat Two Result

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Ryan Preece
3. Ryan Newman
4. Marco Andretti
5. Tony Kanaan
6. Ken Schrader
7. Daniel Suarez
8. Bobby Labonte
9. Kenny Wallace
10. Tony Stewart 
11. Greg Biffle
12. Paul Tracy 
13. Hallie Deegan 

Point Standings After Race Two Of Six Events

1. Ryan Newman 76
2. Marco Andretti 61
3. Paul Tracy 53
4. Ken Schrader 50
5. Bobby Labonte 47
6. Tony Stewart 45
7. Denny Hamlin 43 
8. Hallie Deegan 40
9. Brad Keselowski 39
10. Daniel Suarez 38
11. Clint Bowyer 36
12. Tony Kanaan 36
13. Ryan Preece 21
14. Greg Biffle 19
15. Kenny Wallace 13
16. Kevin Harvick 13 

Next Race: Motor Mile Speedway, Thursday July 27, 2023. Action kicks off at 9 pm EST on ESPN Thursday Night Thunder. The field will include SRX full-time drivers Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski, Ken Schrader, Marco Andretti, Hallie Deegan, Bobby Labonte and Paul Tracy and part-time drivers Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Hello Castroneves and Josef Newgarden.