Nashville, TN (Wednesday, July 14, 2021) – After a successful five weeks of racing, the superstars of the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) end their inaugural journey at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. A dozen of the world’s best drivers will come together at America’s Favorite Short Track for a chance to make a trip to Visit Music City Winner Circle.
So far this season, only Tony Stewart has grabbed multiple wins with SRX, collecting the checkers at Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway during the second and third races of the season. At Knoxville, Stewart rolled from the pole position en route to the win. At Eldora, Stewart elected to start from the tail and drove his way to the front, passing Kody Swanson for the win. Prior to that, Doug Coby, a Local Superstar, grabbed the season-opening win at Stafford Speedway after a classic battle with Greg Biffle. On July 3rd, Ernie Francis, Jr put on an impressive Performance Lucas Oil Raceway Indianapolis coming from sixth to collect the win. Finally, Marco Andretti collected his first SRX win last Saturday at Slinger Super Speedway after a thrilling race.
Coming into Nashville, drivers who are most familiar with the track find NASCAR racing in their roots. One of the SRX masterminds, Tony Stewart, raced at NFS back in 1998 during a NASCAR Xfinity (then Busch) Series race, finishing 17th in the BellSouth/Opryland USA 320. Two years prior to that, Bobby Labonte won the race of the same name in Nashville, putting him on the shortlist of SRX drivers who have won at NFS. Michael Waltrip also has experience around Nashville but the results don’t show well for Waltrip in two finishes. Others on the list include a Superstar ringer, Chase Elliott. Chase’s success in Nashville is more recent than his retired cup predecessors, with his win coming just eight years ago during the 2013 All American 400. As for Chase’s dad, Bill Elliott, his experience at Nashville came in the form of NASCAR Cup Series racing. Two times Bill finished a career-best 7th at NFS in the Cup Series, including in their final appearance in 1984.
As for the other Superstars, they’ve heard the stories and will have plenty of practice time to find a groove around Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway that they hope will propel them to victory on Saturday night. Surprise Superstar driver for Saturday, Hailie Deegan will join drivers like Paul Tracy, Helio Castroneves, Willy T. Ribbs, and Tony Kanaan as they all look for their first SRX win.
Racing on Saturday starts with the Rackley Roofing Masters of the Pros 150 at 5:00 PM. The SRX Series Championship race will take place at 7:00PM CT. Gates open Saturday at 12:00 PM for fans to take in Pro Late Model Qualifying, Last Chance Races and more. For advanced tickets, gate times and more information, log onto www.NashvilleFairgroundsSpeedway.Racing and follow Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Story – Zach Hiser, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway
Photo – John Lund