First Superstar Racing Experience win for veteran Bobby Labonte, who prevails at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway
In the inaugural SRX season of 2021, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway had hosted the season finale including the crowning of champion Tony Stewart. In the current 2022 SRX season, the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway was now the fourth of six season stops.
Located in the middle of Nashville, the short track with a lap length of just under 0.6 miles and a corner banking of 18 degrees set the stage for Bobby Labonte’s first win on Saturday night. The now 58-year-old 2000 NASCAR champion has been racing in SRX from the start. Now it worked out for him with his first triumph.
Labonte started the main race of the evening (feature race) directly from the pole after he had finished the two preliminary heats (heat races) in the top 4. Next to him on the front row he had the pole setter of the past two weeks: Marco Andretti.
There were 75 laps on the programme in Nashville. In the end, Labonte did not relinquish the lead once. He took the win after a commanding drive. Andretti finished second for the second time in a row.
58-year-old Bobby Labonte takes the checkered flag in Nashville! pic.twitter.com/wDUnMREOI6
– CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 10, 2022
Matt Kenseth made his SRX debut. The 2003 NASCAR champion drove consistently in the midfield at first and turned up the heat at the end. Behind Labonte and Andretti, Kenseth finished third and thus directly on the podium in his debut.
Tony Stewart was a different story. The SRX co-founder, who had secured the first maiden title in the history of the racing series in Nashville in 2021, disappointed all along the line this time. “Smoke” was never to be found in the top group at any time.
Josef Newgarden with two crashes after strong SRX debut
Josef Newgarden was the prominent guest starter this time. The two-time IndyCar champion hails from Nashville, but had never raced at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway until Saturday
In his debut at both “his” track and behind the wheel of an SRX car, Newgarden turned in a strong performance. He won a heat race and also drove in the leading group in the main race.
However, with a good 25 laps to go, Newgarden crashed into the wall with oversteer without the involvement of another driver. Later there was a crash with Tony Kanaan. The bottom line was 13th place for the IndyCar star in his SRX debut.
Heat races: guest entrants Josef Newgarden and Cole Williams in front
In the first of the two short heat races that preceded the main race, Josef Newgarden promptly started from the front thanks to a drawn grid. And that’s where the SRX debutant stayed for the entire twelve minutes. Newgarden won Heat 1 ahead of Helio Castroneves and Bobby Labonte.
In Heat 2, as usual, the driver who had finished Heat 1 in last place started from the front. It was Cole Williams, the second guest starter this weekend. The driver, who comes from the Late Model scene, prevailed and won Heat 2, with Marco Andretti second and Greg Biffle third.
However, Bobby Labonte secured the pole for the feature race thanks to P3 and P4 in the two heat races. And it was in this feature race over 75 laps that Labonte was unbeatable.
The penultimate stop on the 2022 SRX calendar is a dirt track next Saturday evening, namely I-55 Raceway in Pevely (Missouri). And the season finale will also take place on a dirt track the following Saturday night, namely Sharon Speedway in Hartford (Ohio).
