The most anticipated race of the SRX season kept fans entertained for hours. Guest drivers for this week were Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Ron Capps, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Kanaan. Briscoe won at Eldora in trucks in 2018 and is a multi-generational Indiana-born driver. Fans were excited to watch him race against his boss, Tony Stewart, at the great dirt oval. In only 10 laps of practice at the track that Stewart owns, Briscoe posted the second fastest time, only 2/10ths of a second behind Smoke. The track was just what drivers wanted it to be and things were looking great for an exciting night of racing. Stewart was the favorite for the win based on a few factors: winner of 3/4 of the previous SRX dirt track races, owner of Eldora Speedway, and previous Eldora wins. Briscoe stood a strong chance of defeating The Old Goat for the win. Thursday Night Thunder promised to be eventful.
Back to their dirt roots at @EldoraSpeedway. pic.twitter.com/KgETm4MhUg
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) August 11, 2023
Leah Pruett, 11-time NHRA top fuel winner, gave the starting command to the field of 11 drivers and her husband. Ron Capps (NHRA 3-time funny car champion) led the field to the green flag, turning the steering wheel of a racecar for the first time in 11 years. With the random draw, the field lined up for Heat 1 as follows: Ron Capps and Bobby Labonte Row 1, Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski Row 2, Ken Schrader and Ryan Newman Row 3, Hailie Deegan and Marco Andretti Row 4, Matt Kenseth and Austin Dillon Row 5, and Tony Kanaan and Chase Briscoe Row 6. Digging into his previous dirt experience, Briscoe moved up 2 spots in just the first lap. Stewart went low under Labonte for 2nd, then battled Capps for 1st. Briscoe moved up to 9th on the same lap.
Austin Dillon had moved up from 10th to 7th at the halfway point, which is precisely when his radiator hose gave way. Unfortunately, this sent Dillon up into the wall, spread water on the track, and created a chain reaction that took out Dillon, Deegan, Briscoe, Andretti, and Kanaan. Only Kenseth managed to squeeze through without significant damage.
Replay of the crash pic.twitter.com/0G1uOzoPLE
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) August 11, 2023
Heat 1 was red flagged at the halfway mark with the damaged cars driven or towed off the track to the garage for attempted repairs. Drivers and pretty much everyone available in the garage started working on the damaged cars, hoping to piece together enough to get everyone back on the track. During an interview as crews worked, Briscoe shared his car had quite a bit of damage and he took a pretty hard hit. His suspension was shot so chances of being back on track did not look good. Kanaan and Dillon appeared to have too much damage to return to racing either. Since Deegan and Andretti were competing for points, they were put into the remaining backup cars to finish racing. Heat 1 started back up while Deegan and Andretti got set in their backups and ended with Stewart taking the win, followed by Labonte, Capps, Schrader, Keselowski, Newman, and Kenseth.
For Heat 2, Andretti drove on to the track in the blue and gold backup car while Deegan drove the orange backup car. In the garage, crews continued working on Briscoe’s car, the one most likely to get repaired enough to make it back on the track. Not long into the heat, Capps got loose and kissed the wall but the caution didn’t wave until the next lap due to a piece of his fender flying off. Stewart kept battling his way from the back of the pack (thanks to the inverted field) to battle Newman for 3rd. Schrader was having a great night, passing his way to the front to fight Kenseth for 1st. Suddenly, Schrader dropped down to the bottom of the track, way below speed. His car just quit, not overheated or any other indications of what happened, but he was able to get it refired and get back up to speed. Stewart got inside Kenseth and took the lead with 10 to go. With 2 to go, Keselowski bounced off the wall hard and sustained heavy damage. In 25 laps, Stewart moves up from 7th to 1st. To the checkered flag, Stewart takes first and becomes the first driver to sweep both heats in an SRX race.
During the break, Keselowski joins the crew working on his car, making adjustments and repairs to get him race-ready again. Crews continue to work on Briscoe’s car, hoping to get enough fixed for him. Pit reporter Nicole Briscoe (confirmed no relation to Chase Briscoe) asked him about the chances of him getting back out on the track. Briscoe responded, “Slim to none and Slim’s about to leave town.” The field lined up for the Main Event a few competitors short. Stewart led the field to the green flag and kept himself up front all night. The only time someone else was listed as a leader was during restarts if they chose the inside after he chose the outside. At one point, Tony was told not to drive off and leave the field and he replied, “I’m not trying to.” He just couldn’t help but show them all how it’s done.
Deegan had another great night and brought her position differential to +13 – the best in the series this season. Andretti and Schrader both had fenders wrap around a front tire and lock it down for a wreck. Logano kept causing cautions by trying to bring Stewart up on the radio.
He’s baaaaack out on track.
Go hunt down the boss, @ChaseBriscoe_14! pic.twitter.com/xcZ8zJYXup
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) August 11, 2023
In the best news for Briscoe fans, Chase’s car was repaired enough to get back on the track at Lap 45. A Fun Flag caution was called at Lap 54, restacking the field with Stewart and Newman up front. Deegan took 2nd from Newman and started battling Stewart for the lead. There were some tense moments of racing, then Capps nosed the wall for another caution. He took off all the sheet metal on the front half of his car to get back out there, but decided that wasn’t the best plan and noped back to the garage. Thanks to “we can make our own rules because racing should be fun” policies, Briscoe was shown on the same lap as the rest of the field to make the competition more entertaining. He finished in 7th at the checkered flag.
At the end of the Main Event, Stewart led 93 of the 115 laps at Eldora (including both Heats) and took the checkered flag. He became the first driver to sweep an event in series history. Fans were certainly entertained, even if things didn’t go the way Briscoe fans wanted or expected for the night. Congratulations to the Old Goat, Smoke, on a great event at Eldora.
