Dale Earnhardt Jr. expresses shock at NASCAR feeling threatened by SRX Series, ESPN

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that he was “shocked” and “surprised” that NASCAR had concerns about Superstar Racing Experience (SRX). SRX, founded by Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham, was a startup stock car racing circuit which debuted in June 2021. 

NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell testified last Thursday that the sanctioning body had concerns about Superstar Racing Experience (SRX). Specifically, how much SRX was beginning to resemble NASCAR. Earnhardt, personally, didn’t see the issue with SRX’s existence.

“I gotta be honest, this shocked me,” Earnhardt said on Tuesday’s Dale Jr. Download. “I want to say that I’m a big fan, and I think I’m a good friend with Ray Evernham. When he started talking about SRX and what he wanted to do, in his mind, he wanted to re-create IROC. The initial idea of SRX as a series that would go into these local markets, and you would bring out these retired guys and some unique personalities, different forms of racing and offer up a car to the local hero. The original idea of SRX, in my mind, was a good idea. I will say, though, I wasn’t interested in it, personally. Out of the gate, I just didn’t have the bandwidth to get into it. I wasn’t a fan; I didn’t really watch too much of it. … No offense to anybody out there that was SRX fans or anybody that worked in the series… but I wasn’t into it.

“To hear that they [NASCAR] were even remotely the least bit threatened is so surprising to me because they’re this giant that’s NASCAR and SRX is just this little thing. They were like 12 cars just barely getting by financially. They’re tearing up so much sh*t, they had no idea they were gonna tear up so much sh*t. In the end, they couldn’t make the money work. SRX went away because it’s expensive to operate and the viewership numbers didn’t justify the TV contract and the TV contract couldn’t afford the series, so it just financially didn’t really work.”

23XI, FRM lawsuit: Steve O’Donnell admits NASCAR felt threatened by SRX Series

Before the start of the 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports versus NASCAR antitrust lawsuit trial, a series of text messages came to light in which NASCAR executives voiced displeasure of their drivers and team owners competing in the series.

“Oh great, another owner racing in SRX,” a person said in the thread, whose name was redacted on the document. O’Donnell and NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps replied.

“This is NASCAR,” O’Donnell replied. “Pure and simple. Enough. We need legal to take a shot at this.”

“These guys are just plain stupid,” Phelps responded. “Need to put a knife in this trash series.”

23XI and FRM lead attorney Jeffrey Kessler questioned O’Donnell about his concerns of SRX. O’Donnell testified, according to Kelly Crandall of RACER, “I was concerned with what was happening on the racetrack.”

Kessler further questioned O’Donnell about his comment that he wanted NASCAR’s legal to look at SRX. Included in the exhibits of text messages was a screenshot Phelps shared of a fan comment on an SRX social media page, Crandall reported. The fan said that SRX was beginning to resemble NASCAR, the same way LIV Golf resembled the PGA Tour.

Steve O’Donnell: ‘I thought this looked more and more like NASCAR’

Many NASCAR drivers competed in SRX until it folded. Those drivers included Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin among others.

“I thought this looked more and more like NASCAR,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell’s comments surprised Earnhardt. He thought it was obvious why certain Cup drivers started competing in the series.

“I am surprised by the some of the comments I read from O’Donnell and a couple people of, ‘Man we gotta put an end to this or we gotta go take a look at this.’ Why are we worried? I don’t care [about the ratings], people were gonna be curious. … I’m not alarmed by that. … I was really surprised by that,” Earnhardt said. “I never saw, no disrespect, but I never would’ve worried or considered SRX a problem.

“I would’ve looked at what they were doing… why do people like it and can we work together? It was interesting because it did morph. You had drivers like Denny, Chase, and Blaney, but Chase goes over there to race with his dad, have a little fun. Blaney with his dad. They were getting paid to go out there and do it for a little bit of money.”

NASCAR even blocked SRX from racing at a Speedway Motorsports track by invoking its exclusivity clause. O’Donnell said this was done because “we were in a major negotiation” for a new media rights deal and “we wanted to retain as much revenue as possible for the teams,” per a report from The Athletic.