SRX reduces race lengths ahead of Knoxville
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RACER Staff | June 16, 2021 2:53 PM ET
SRX has taken the lessons learned from last weekend’s inaugural event at Stafford and implemented changes to the race format ahead of this weekend’s visit to Knoxville.
In what the series described as a response to fan feedback, the two timed heat races will be reduced from 15 minutes to 12 minutes. The starting order for the opening timed heat will continue to be set by random draw, and the results from that heat will be inverted to determine the starting grid for heat two. Starting from Knoxville, the drivers’ average finish across both heats will determine the starting order for the feature; a change intended to inject additional incentive for drivers to push their way towards the front.
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The feature race at Knoxville has been cut to 50 laps. Only green flag laps will count, and there will be unlimited attempts at a green-white-checkered finish if a caution comes out near the end of the race. As with the shortened heat races, the change is aimed at creating additional urgency, and also to allow the race to finish under green. It also allows more time for broadcast partner CBS to conduct post-race interviews.
Finally, visual changes will be made to the cars so that drivers can be more easily identified. Drivers’ names will now be larger, and drivers will carry the same color throughout the remainder of the season.
“As good as we felt our first race was, there are always things that can be improved,” said Ray Evernham, co-founder of the Camping World SRX Series, said in a statement. “I lived by this mantra as a crew chief and team owner, and I still live by it today.
“There were things we saw that we immediately knew we could make better for the next Camping World SRX Series race at Knoxville, but we also received real-time feedback from fans. Their insights were spot-on, and we’ve worked hard to implement them in time for Saturday night.
“The Camping World SRX Series was created for the fans, and our quest to deliver exciting races with engaging personalities will never end. We want Knoxville to be better than Stafford, and when we go to Eldora in two weeks, we want that event to be better than Knoxville. We heard from our fans after Stafford and we’ll continue to listen to make the Camping World SRX Series the best it can be.”
Doug Coby won the inaugural event ahead of Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart.