Remember “Thursday Night Thunder”, ESPN’s orgy of mostly short-track racing that hit the air waves to give racing fans a mid-week fix for so many years? That show, created by the great Dave Despain, was beloved by those who worshipped grassroots motorsports and wanted to see more coverage.
Now the Superstar Racing Experience, created by Sandy Montag and the Montag Group, by former NASCAR COO George Pyne, NASCAR Hall of Fame racer Tony Stewart and former crew chief and fellow NASCAR Hall of Fame Ray Evernham, is coming to ESPN this summer, albeit on six consecutive Thursday nights, rather than the Saturday night slots it occupied in the first two seasons. Thursday Night Thunder for all six SRX races will air at 9PM ET on ESPN and on the ESPN app.
The original Thursday Night Thunder broadcast during the 1980s and brought a variety of short-track action to television. It was one of the reasons Stewart began his rise to stardom, and now Stewart is delighted to be able to recreate his rise with this series, which has stars of NASCAR, INDYCAR and other forms of racing in spec cars and in prime time.
“Thursday Night Thunder is where guys like me, who were just starting our careers in USAC, got the chance to make a name for ourselves because of its presence on ESPN,’ Stewart said. “It’s great to see Thursday Night Thunder return, but to also be a part of it all over again with SRX,” said the inaugural SRX 2021 series champion. Marco Andretti earned the 2022 championship.
This multiyear media rights agreement allows the move from CBS to ESPN. As Don Hawk, SRX CEO noted, “When we had the opportunity to pitch the concept of Thursday Night Thunder on ESPN, it was my firm belief this would be another disruptive and monumental moment in SRX and racing history – reuniting race fans with ESPN on short tracks with superstar drivers all across the U.S. for years to come.
“Thursday Night Thunder is where I met Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart,” Hawk reminisced. “A relationship between SRX and ESPN seemed like the right fit at the perfect time, and I couldn’t be more excited for this summer.”
SRX on CBS was a great property but Sandy Montag, SRX co-founder believes this move will make it even better. “Seeing the overwhelming positive fan reception to the launch and growth of SRX has been especially rewarding. I have worked with Jimmy [Pitaro] and Burke [Magnus] for years. We are incredibly excited to be in business with ESPN, and can’t wait to see SRX on the ‘Worldwide Leader.’”
ESPN’s president of programming and original content, Burke Magnus noted, “SRX has been an impressive property in its first two seasons and has produced competitive and exciting action. We look forward to bringing live racing back to summertime Thursday nights on ESPN with SRX.”
While race locations will be revealed at a later date, the six-race SRX broadcast schedule for ESPN is set for 2023:
Thursday, July 13
Thursday, July 20
Thursday, July 27
Thursday, August 3
Thursday, August 10
Thursday, August 17
All events are broadcast live at 9PM ET
That totally sucks ! Now you have to subscribe to a cable channel and pay more to get a lot of junk Woke programming you have no interest in, bad move SRX.