SRX Preview: I-55 Raceway

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t find a lot of history online on I-55 Raceway.

But like a lot of dirt racing, I-55 (sometimes known as Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55) doesn’t really need a history lesson in order to fully appreciate it. The track itself is one of the most popular stops on the World of Outlaws tour, and its popularity was cemented earlier this year when it was added to the popular iRacing service. Very few short tracks get the honor of going up on iRacing, let alone the still-somewhat-new-to-the-service dirt racing venues. So it’s definitely a badge of honor for the track to be represented on there.

The pride of Pevely, Missouri, I-55 is a 1/3-mile clay oval with 19 degrees of banking in the turns and 10 degrees on the straights. It’s a far cry from Knoxville Raceway’s seven degrees, and the shorter distance should make the track much faster than Eldora Speedway last year, in spite of Eldora having 24 degrees of banking. The track’s nickname, the “Ironman track”, is due in part to hosting the Ironman 55, the last big World of Outlaws event prior to the Knoxville Nationals next month in August.

Here is the entry list for Saturday night, with the guest drivers in bold:

The Camping World SRX Series revealed the starting lineup earlier today on Friday, July 15. Andretti will start on pole for the first heat, with Schrader starting beside him in second.

Here’s the Starting Lineup for Heat 1 presented by @RacingOptics .

Per the random draw, @MarcoAndretti will start P1 in Heat 1 for Saturday night at @I55Raceway .

Ken Schrader will roll off alongside Andretti in P2. #CampingWorldSRX pic.twitter.com/tbzZsqsUJE

— Superstar Racing Experience (@SRXracing) July 15, 2022

Here’s a look at three notable superstars competing this upcoming Saturday night:

Time is starting to run out on Tony Stewart’s bid for second straight championship in his own series. It’s not impossible to make up 31 points on the leader in two races in SRX, but he’s essentially left himself with little room for error.

Thankfully for Stewart, he’s heading into the two tracks where he is an overwhelming favorite. Last year, Stewart was effectively untouchable at dirt tracks, and almost embarrassingly immortal at Eldora in particular. It was bad enough to where a take I had prior to the second season announcement was that either SRX should stick only to pavement racing or get Kyle Larson in to give Stewart a fight. Nonetheless, there is dirt…