It’s Thursday, time for the third, of six, rounds of the 2023 Camping World SRX Racing Series season. On Thursday, July 27 ESPN Thursday Night Thunder visits Pulaski County Motorsports Park — formerly known as Motor Mile Speedway — in Pulaski County, Virginia.
After the SRX Series featured an extra car in last week’s race at Stafford Speedway, to bring the field size to a total of 13, the grid will shrink back to the usual 12 cars for this week’s event.
Here is the Full SRX TV Schedule for Thursday, July 27th
| Time | Series | Event | TV / Streaming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 PM ET | Camping World SRX Series | Round 3 at Pulaski County Motorsports Park (Motor Mile) | ESPN ESPN App |
Which Drivers Will Compete Tonight?
As always, it’s a true “who’s who” list of drivers that will mix it up in the SRX Racing event. Here’s a breakdown of the drivers that will race on Thursday night at Pulaski County Motorsports Park (listed in the randomly selected starting order of Heat Race 1)
- Josef Newgarden (NTT IndyCar champion)
- Marco Andretti (NTT IndyCar winner, 2022 SRX Racing champion)
- Bobby Labonte (2000 NASCAR Cup Series champion)
- Tony Stewart (Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, 1997 NTT IndyCar Series champion)
- Kyle Busch (Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, 229 NASCAR National Series wins)
- Brad Keselowski (2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion)
- Paul Tracy (2003 CART champion)
- Hailie Deegan (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor)
- Ryan Newman (18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner)
- Ken Schrader (4-time NASCAR Cup Series winner)
- Clint Bowyer (10-time NASCAR Cup Series winner)
- Helio Castroneves (4-time Indianapolis 500 winner)
Race Format
Thursday Night Thunder will consist of two Heat Races, which will determine the starting lineup for the Main Event.
Both Heat Races will consist of 20 laps or will run for 12 minutes, whichever comes first. The starting lineup for Heat Race 2 will be the inverse of the finishing order from Heat Race 1.
The field will line up in the Main Event by best average finish in the two Heat Races. The Main Event will be a 100-lap race.
Storylines
Schrader Vs Tracy
Watch out for Ken Schrader and Paul Tracy. The two racing veterans have found each other numerous times on the track in the opening two races of the season, and last week at Stafford Speedway, Schrader had enough of Tracy’s antics and exacted some revenge.
Will the feud spark back up this week? We’ll find out.
Ryan Newman Looking to Pad Point Lead
After scoring a runner-up finish in the weather-shortened opening race of the season at Stafford Speedway, and then following that up with a win at Stafford Speedway last week, Ryan Newman holds a 15-point lead over 2022 SRX Racing champion Marco Andretti.
RELATED: 2023 Camping World SRX Series Point Standings
While Newman has never seen Motor Mile, much less raced on it before, the cagey veteran racer has been preparing the old-fashioned way, and he feels he’ll be able to adapt come race day.
“I pulled up good old YouTube and watched a video of a CARS [Tour] race,” Newman detailed on this week’s episode of Racing America’s The Bullring. “That’ll show me just a little bit, but really being an experienced driver and racing multiple series at different race tracks — not to the extent of Kyle Larson, but a high percentage of what he’s done. It’s usually pretty easy to adapt.
“In the end, it’s two straightaways and two ends of a race track that make four corners. Having a limited amount of practice — I assume we’ll have either five laps or 10 laps of practice, but either way, it’s pretty fair, pretty equal amongst all of us. I don’t know of the 12 drivers who will actually have had laps at Motor Mile in the past.”
