Superstars Racing Experience Brings New Life to 'Thursday Night Thunder'

• Superstars Racing Experience is a six-week IROC-style race series featuring drivers from NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA

• Drivers race on short tracks in series-prepared cars.

• Opening night is at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Conn. (ESPN, 9 p.m. EST)

The Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series returns on July 13, and past series champ and co-founder Tony Stewart says the goal for Season 3 is not all that different from what it was when the series first came off the drawing board.

The recipe for success is still fairly simple: Condense an entire night of short-track racing into a two-hour TV window, bring racing superstars from different disciplines, and keep things entertaining for the fans.

This year's action can be found on six consecutive Thursdays on ESPN. Opening night will be from Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Springs, Conn. (ESPN, 9 p.m. EST)

As part of ESPN's first-year coverage of SRX, the network is bringing back its Thursday Night Thunder branding that was previously used for the network's popular short-track racing coverage that dates back to the 1980s. In fact, Tony Stewart won the last Thursday Night Thunder event that closed the door to that Thursday night showcase on the network in 2002.

"That’s one thing that I feel like has been super impressive to watch is how we keep trying to evolve and find ways to make things better," 2021 SRX champion Stewart said. "And it’s that way across the entire two-hour program is how do we make this better for the drivers, how do we make it better for the fans, how do we make it better for TV?

"We’re always constantly trying to figure out what we’ve already done and make it better, and that’s something that’s really important to us."

Stewart and event organizers have had no trouble selling the idea to tracks and drivers. No fewer than 44 tracks checked in to see if they could be on this year's schedule.

It's also a popular series for drivers. Regulars running for the championship include 2022 champion Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Paul Tracy from IndyCar; Hailie Deegan, Brad Keselowski, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman and Ken Schrader from NASCAR; and Stewart (NASCAR/IndyCar/NHRA).

Part-time SRX drivers this year are Ron Capps from NHRA, Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden and Tony Kanaan from IndyCar; and Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Daniel Suarez from NASCAR.

And, no, Stewart hasn't been able to convince everyone he's asked to join the SRX.