Images via Superstar Racing Experience

When Bobby Labonte took the checkered flag in Saturday night’s Superstar Racing Experience race from Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, he didn’t just become the fourth different winner of the 2022 season. He also took over the series points lead from fellow NASCAR Cup Series lifer Ryan Newman, who himself had taken his first SRX win the week before at Stafford Motor Speedway. With Newman coming home sixth at race’s end, Labonte’s closest competition just might be Marco Andretti, who has now finished second in back-to-back weeks.

However, making sense of the SRX results and standings has been a strangely complex affair up to this point. For example, while Peyton Sellers’ results as the local hero driver at South Boston Speedway were scored for points, Bubba Pollard’s at Five Flags Speedway the week before weren’t. Neither were those of Helio Castroneves, who won the opener and ran three races this season, but was a late addition to the Five Flags entry list. While the series is primarily designed as an all-star show, with points secondary to the quality of the product, it’s clear that drivers like Labonte and Andretti are taking the thought of an SRX title run seriously.

What we know is that eight drivers—Labonte, Newman, Andretti, Paul Tracy, Michael Waltrip, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Greg Biffle, and series founder/defending champion Tony Stewart—are ostensibly settling the title among themselves (with apologies to Tony Kanaan, who missed one race but will run five out of six this year). Still, let’s make it easier to see how everyone stacks up: we’re going to give full points to all of the regulars, including the local hero and second Camping World cars that are on the grid with rotating drivers each week, and throw in Castroneves for good measure even though his 2022 commitments are now up.

With that in mind, here’s a brief look at everybody’s seasons so far, now that the paved portion of the schedule is done and we’re getting ready for two more rounds on dirt at I-55 Raceway and Sharon Speedway:

Points System

● Heats (2): 12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-1

● Feature: 25-22-20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

Bobby Labonte (140 points)

● Five Flags: 8th/5th/5th (29)

● South Boston: 4th/5th/3rd (37)

● Stafford: 11th/1st/5th (30)

● Nashville: 3rd/4th/1st (44)

Running the SMART Modified Tour and SRX at the same time has Labonte in prime race shape, even after a wrist injury in a modified wreck. After finishing third in SRX points last year, he’s running even better this year, finally taking a heat win in Stafford two weeks ago and a feature win in Nashville to pace a tight battle up front.

Ryan Newman (135 points)

● Five Flags: 7th/3rd/3rd (36)

● South Boston: 7th/3rd/4th (34)

● Stafford: 7th/6th/1st (38)

● Nashville: 7th/6th/6th (27)

Newman’s emotional return to victory lane at Stafford came with a little bit of a hangover in Nashville, but he’s still about as competitive as it gets in a series with even cars, random starting grids, and full inverts between heats. In a unique coincidence, Newman has finished seventh in the first heat in each event.

Marco Andretti (134 points)

● Five Flags: 5th/10th/7th (23)

● South Boston: 3rd/2nd/8th (31)

● Stafford: 4th/5th/2nd (39)

● Nashville: 5th/2nd/2nd (41)

One of the most motivated drivers to try and claim the SRX title, Andretti found a knack for stock cars in this series last year with a win at Slinger Speedway and has even talked about exploring some NASCAR Xfinity Series starts. Back-to-back runner-up finishes at Stafford and Nashville have him in the thick of the title chase.

Tony Stewart (109 points)

● Five Flags: 3rd/8th/10th (21)

● South Boston: 2nd/6th/1st (43)

● Stafford: 9th/2nd/4th (33)

● Nashville: 6th/13th/11th (12)

“Smoke” isn’t dominating his own brainchild the way he did last year, but the two dirt races—which he swept at Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway last year—are still to come. With a much stronger field this season, replicating last year’s five podiums was never a given; that said, don’t count Stewart out of this title chase quite yet.

Greg Biffle (103 points)

● Five Flags: 10th/9th/6th (21)

● South Boston: 1st/8th/2nd (39)

● Stafford: 3rd/7th/10th (22)

● Nashville: 10th/3rd/9th (21)

“The Biff” took two heat wins in two races last year, and was a highly anticipated full-time add for 2022; he’s paid it off with a stellar night at South Boston and a couple more top three heat finishes. Chasing Tony Stewart for fourth, Biffle will be racing these SRX cars on dirt for the first time the next two weeks.

Helio Castroneves (99 points)

● Five Flags: 12th/1st/1st (38)

● South Boston: 11th/1st/5th (30)

● Stafford: N/A

● Nashville: 2nd/9th/5th (31)

Castroneves’ abbreviated SRX campaign ends with his first series win at Five Flags and two heat victories in the first two weeks. Even spotting the field a week, he’s right in the hunt with Stewart and Biffle on performance—and would arguably be a little closer to Labonte, Newman, and Andretti if he’d have been able to run at Stafford.

Local Hero Car (93 points)

● Five Flags: 1st/7th/2nd (40) - Bubba Pollard

● South Boston: 6th/10th/10th (16) - Peyton Sellers

● Stafford: 5th/9th/8th (22) - Matt Hirschman

● Nashville: 13th/1st/12th (15) - Cole Williams

There wasn’t a stunner out of the box like Doug Coby’s win at Stafford last year, but Pollard came pretty close with a heat win and feature runner-up at Five Flags. Sellers, Hirschman, and Williams haven’t been quite as effective in the local hero car, but that might change when Ken Schrader (I-55) and Dave Blaney (Sharon) take things over for the last two weeks.

Paul Tracy (88 points)

● Five Flags: 4th/11th/12th (13)

● South Boston: 12th/12th/12th (4)

● Stafford: 6th/4th/3rd (36)

● Nashville: 4th/5th/4th (35)

He didn’t get to be the “kinder, gentler Paul Tracy” he claimed he wanted to be after getting roughed up in the first two races—but he is a more competitive Paul Tracy. Back-to-back top-fives at the two repeat tracks made for the best two feature finishes that PT has had over the past two years.

#5 Camping World Car (82 points)

● Five Flags: 13th/13th/11th (6) - Ernie Francis Jr.

● South Boston: 8th/9th/7th (21) - Ernie Francis Jr.

● Stafford: 2nd/10th/6th (28) - Hailie Deegan

● Nashville: 8th/11th/3rd (27) - Matt Kenseth

After being the breakout star of the inaugural season, Francis’ only two planned starts of 2022 saw a car swap in Five Flags and more televised arguments with Tony Stewart than podiums. He’ll make a surprise third appearance at I-55 in a 13th car looking to make amends. Kenseth’s debut in Nashville ended in a quiet podium—par for the course if you saw his 2003 NASCAR title run—but Deegan’s 28 points in Stafford remain this car’s high water mark.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (76 points)

● Five Flags: 6th/12th/8th (18)

● South Boston: 5th/11th/9th (18)

● Stafford: 1st/11th/7th (26)

● Nashville: 11th/7th/10th (14)

With minimal stock car experience, Hunter-Reay’s learning curve has been a bit steep in SRX; he won the first heat at Stafford after drawing pole, but he’s still trying to crack the top five in a feature race. “Captain America” also drew the ire of Michael Waltrip in South Boston after a hard wreck in the main event.

Tony Kanaan (70 points)

● Five Flags: 2nd/6th/4th (36)

● South Boston: 9th/4th/6th (27)

● Stafford: N/A

● Nashville: 12th/8th/13th (7)

Kanaan was at his fastest in SRX at Five Flags, leading the most laps in the feature and finishing a solid fourth, but his most recent round at Nashville ended with a synchronized spin with Josef Newgarden and heavy left rear damage. Coming off his best Indy 500 result since winning the race in 2013, he’ll look to rack up some more podiums on the dirt.

Michael Waltrip (59 points)

● Five Flags: 11th/2nd/13th (14)

● South Boston: 10th/7th/11th (13)

● Stafford: 8th/3rd/12th (17)

● Nashville: 9th/12th/8th (15)

The most notable moment for “Uncle Mike” so far in 2022 was his South Boston interview, shortly after Ryan Hunter-Reay ran afoul of him and ended his race early. He’ll hope a return to the dirt produces more moments like last year’s run at Knoxville, where he was fast enough to pass Tony Stewart for the lead in the main event and finished in the top five.

Superstar Racing Experience: Chasing a Championship