Camping World SRX Series Returns to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Saturday Night
Nashville, TN (Friday, July 1, 2022) – The Superstars of the Camping World SRX Series race into Nashville, Tennessee on Saturday night, July 9th. SRX held their Championship race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway a season ago. This year, America’s Favorite Short Track hosts race number four of SRX season two.
So far, IndyCar stars have faired well in SRX competition. Four-time Indianapolis 500 Champion, Helio Castroneves won the season opener at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida and finished fifth in South Boston, Virginia. The 47-year-old Brazilian racing superstar collected a heat race win at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway last season.
Castroneves is one of six IndyCar drivers competing in the SRX race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Saturday, July 9th. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Paul Tracy, Marco Andretti, and hometown hero Josef Newgarden will all be in action, competing against stock car superstars such as Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth and more.
Two-time IndyCar Series Champion and Nashville resident, Josef Newgarden is set to make his one and only SRX start at The Fairgrounds. Newgarden won his two IndyCar titles in 2017 and 2019 and still competes full time in the IndyCar Series for Team Penske. The 31-year-old driver raced in Nashville last year, but it was two miles down the street from The Fairgrounds, on the streets of downtown, in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix where Newgarden scored a 10th place finish.
Fellow American racer Ryan Hunter-Reay has an Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series Championship trophy to his name. Hunter-Reay earned a 4th place finish in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix downtown last year and so far, an 8th and 9th place finish in SRX competition this season.
Two of IndyCar’s most well-known personalities are eager to greet the crowd in Nashville – Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy. While the sold-out crowd last year cheered for Kanaan, it was a mix of cheers and boos for Canada’s Paul Tracy. Tracy’s aggressive driving tactics that carried him to 31 open wheel wins in the 90s and 2000s are still being used on the SRX circuit. This year Tracy has had a few on-track skirmishes, one resulting in a DNF at South Boston Speedway. Kanaan, an Indy 500 and IndyCar Series Champion, has placed 4th and 6th so far this season with SRX.
Marco Andretti, grandson of the legendary Mario Andretti, is the only other IndyCar driver, besides Castroneves, to win an SRX race. Andretti won last year at the Series’ smallest course – Slinger Speedway, a quarter mile high banked oval in Wisconsin.
There are only two opportunities in 2022 to see open wheel stars race in Middle Tennessee – July 9th at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in the Camping World SRX Series and August 7th on the Streets of Downtown Nashville in IndyCar’s Music City Grand Prix.
Fairgrounds’ Grandstands open at 12:00 on July 9th with Late Model racing starting at 5:00 and the SRX racing program at 7:00. Tickets are just $40 in the Upper-Level Reserved Seating Sections and General Admission tickets are only $35. Get you tickets and more info nashvillefairgroundsspeedway.racing.
Photo Credit – Bruce Nuttleman