Tony Stewart’s SRX series ‘postpones’ its fourth season

The Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) racing series made quite the splash with its 2021 debut. The short-track series, initially owned by NASCAR Hall of Fame members Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham, as well as former NASCAR executive George Pyne and sports agent Sandy Montag, initially aired on CBS that summer, and it made plenty of waves at first. But its second season on CBS and its third on ESPN last summer drew less attention.

And the format change after the first season to go more towards current stars rather than the racing legends and local figures often seen in the first season drew some criticism. And the series announced Thursday that its fourth season will now be “postponed”:

Official Statement from SRX. pic.twitter.com/yyb2Ovh6RN

— Superstar Racing Experience (@SRXracing) January 11, 2024

SRX had already seen some notable changes since that first season. Evernham left day-to-day operations ahead of the second season, following the hire of Don Hawk as CEO. And while the move to ESPN ahead of the third season was touted as a revival of the network’s racing history and Thursday Night Thunder brand in particular, the viewership numbers (an average of 436,000, a 56 percent drop from 2022 on broadcast CBS) weren’t great. And as Jeff Gluck wrote at The Athletic, this may well be the end of SRX:

Is this the end of SRX?

It certainly appears that way. While the announcement was careful to only announce the postponement of the season and said the series will provide “updates on future plans for SRX when they’re available,” closures like this are difficult to overcome.

Think about the difficulty in reviving the series for 2025. Who would build the cars and staff the at-track crews? Would drivers and tracks be willing to return in full force for the six-race schedule?

And would ESPN still be willing to air the races after a previously announced “multi-year” partnership ended after one season? (The network gave a statement to The Athletic that said, “We enjoyed our relationship with SRX and wish them all the best.”)

Also, with co-founder Stewart seemingly clearing items off of his plate to focus on NHRA (he’ll run full-time in Top Fuel drag racing this season) and starting a family (he also sold his sprint car series to Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet), it seems unlikely he’d participate in the future as well.

Another notable element here is that this series was often linked to the old International Race of Champions, or IROC. And Evernham (along with former NASCAR team owner Rob Kauffman) just acquired branding rights to that series this week. So that may incorporate some of what was seen in SRX.

In any case, though, SRX as we know it seems gone for now. And that’s unfortunate for those who enjoyed what that series brought. We’ll see if it is able to return after this “postponement,” or if this is really the end.

[The Athletic]