With his NASCAR career ending in October 2016, Tony Stewart outlined his plans for retirement.
“People ask, ‘What are you going to do next year?’ and I say, “Whatever I want.” It is the first time in 20 years that I will not be on the NASCAR calendar, “he said. “You look at all the things I’m going through.”
Since then, Stewart has serviced his NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing, and has continued to run on smaller dirt tracks across the country. But on Monday, his retirement shifted to a different gear, so to speak, with the news that he is starting a new auto racing circuit alongside fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham, Agent Sandy Montag and the former NASCAR chief operating officer George Pyne.
The new company, as reported by John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, will be called the Superstar Racing Experience (or SRX) and will consist of six short track races starting next summer, with all races televised live on Saturday nights. by CBS. Unlike NASCAR, SRX races will be designed to keep viewer interest in part by fitting within a two-hour window, with two 45-minute series and no pit stops.
“It is enough time to showcase personalities in a fun, engaging and exciting way,” Pyne told Ourand. “With a close competitive career, you will get 20 or 30 leadership changes in one race.”
There will only be 12 drivers per race, and they will drive identical Evernham-designed cars with identical equipment. Additionally, each driver will be randomly paired with a team leader for each race.
The races will be held on smaller tracks in what Ourand describes as “the heart of the United States”, and the cars will be designed to compete on a number of surfaces and styles (dirt, paved ovals, road circuits, etc. .) to further differentiate NASCAR product. Eldora Speedway, Stewart’s short track in western Ohio, will likely be one of the locations.
Evernham, who won three Cup Series titles as Jeff Gordon’s crew chief, expressed his anticipation for the new venture after the news broke Monday morning:
The former crew chief told The Associated Press that he hopes to design a safe and affordable car that “the racing public can relate to.”
“We envision a hybrid of all the different series, we don’t see it look like a crazy dunebuggy-type car,” Evernham said. “For me, it has to be a really attractive car that also puts it back in the drivers’ hands, mechanically and allows it to be more affected by the pedals.”
SRX has yet to announce its driver roster, but the circuit’s newly created Twitter account follows only seven people, including retired NASCAR drivers Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson ( who is in his final year of full-time racing) and former IndyCar driver Paul Tracy. Ourand says SRX “hopes to have its selection of well-known crew chiefs and drivers, both active and retired.”
“You know, pilots who retire and are out of the sport so young, we think there are guys who still want to run, can still run, but just don’t want to run 200 mph,” Evernham told the AP.
Race watchers noted similarities between SRX and the IROC series, which was created in the 1970s and featured 12 star drivers from all auto races competing in identical cars. Stewart, who was also an IndyCar champion during his career, won the IROC final title in 2006 before the circuit fell apart for lack of sponsorship.
