SRX announces "Ringers" Biffle, Speed and Bloomquist

Greg Biffle, Scott Speed and Scott Bloomquist have been named as Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) “Ringers” for their inaugural season.

The three ringers join fulltime drivers Tony Stewart, Tony Kanaan, Paul Tracy, Bobby Labonte, Willy T. Ribbs, Bill Elliott, Ernie Francis Jr., Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Michael Waltrip in select races.

Biffle will join the series for season-opener on June 12 at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut. He will return for race five of the six-race season at Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin on July 10.

Speed will compete in June 26 race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio and at Lucas Oil Raceway in Clermont, Indiana.

Bloomquist will make only one start, on the dirt at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on June 19.

All six races will be run on Saturday nights and will be aired on CBS and their streaming service, Paramount+.

The triple threat… meet the ringers! Catch @gbiffle at @StaffordSpeedwy & @SlingerTower, @scottspeed at @EldoraSpeedway & @LucasOilRaceway and @Bloomquist_0 at @knoxvilleraces! 🏎⚡️🔥 pic.twitter.com/KezhfWyUX1

— Superstar Racing Experience (@SRXracing) May 19, 2021

Biffle brings a depth of NASCAR Cup experience to the series. He won 55 races in NASCAR’s top three series before ending his fulltime career in 2016. He returned to race in a one-off NASCAR Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2019 and won with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Last year he made another Truck start with GMS Racing and finished 19th at Darlington Raceway.

“To get an invite for something like this, I had to pinch myself when I got the call,” Biffle said in a release. “What excites me the most about SRX is the opportunity to get to race with such a wealth of talented drivers. It’s unbelievable, the talent level in this series, and to be able to compete with these guys is a chance of a lifetime.

“The background is incredible if you look at the driver lineup. I’m super excited about the opportunity to be able to come and be part of this series, getting off the ground and starting out with it. It’s going to be fun.”

Speed made 118 Cup starts from 2008 through 2013 and recorded one victory at Talladega in 2009. He also has one Truck series win while running a part time schedule for Bill Davis in 2008.

Speed brings a wealth of experience to the series that includes 28 Formula 1 races and most recently a stint in Rallycross with Andretti Autosport.

MORE: SRX announces race format for inaugural season

“I love different opportunities in different racecars, and I love exploring the nuances of all these different styles of racing that I’ve been able to do in my career, and this SRX series is going to be awesome,” Speed said. “I’ve spent so much of my career open-wheel based, but luckily I’ve had a lot of years doing the oval stuff, as well.

“This is all a clean sheet of paper and we’re going to have to adapt quickly. Obviously, the experience that guys like Tony (Stewart) and Ray (Evernham) have is going to play a big role in our success. It’s a new car, it’s a new tire, everything is so new – it’s going to be who adapts quickly to the situation.

“It’s going to change from race to race, and I love that about SRX. There won’t be a ton of practice, there’s not a lot of experience from anybody in these cars on these tracks, and that’s quite a fun thing to be able get yourself into as a driver.”

Bloomquist has more than 600 Dirt Late Model race wins in his career, highlighted by 94 wins to date in Lucas Oil Late Models and 33 with the World of Outlaws.

“I’ve had a long career and have been able to do a lot of cool things in racing, and SRX is right up there with some of the coolest things I’ve been a part of in motorsports,” said Bloomquist. “It’s not often you can get such a diverse group of talent on one racetrack with an equal playing field in equal racecars, and I think what Tony and Ray have done with SRX is going to be very exciting for fans.

“I also think, as racers, we’re going to find ourselves having a blast behind the wheel.”

SRX’s inaugural season culminates July 17 at the Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway.

The biggest race of the NTT IndyCar Series season (and in the world) is over, and NBC Sports’ power rankings look very similar to the finishing results in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Pole-sitter Alex Palou entered the Indy 500 at the top and remains there after his impressive rebound to a fourth after a midway crash in the pits. Top two Indianapolis 500 finishers Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson also improved multiple spots in the power rankings just as they gained ground during the course of the 500-mile race on the 2.5-mile oval. Though Alexander Rossi dropped a position, he still shined at the Brickyard with a fifth place finish.

Santino Ferrucci, the other driver in the top five at Indy, made his first appearance in the 2023 power rankings this year and now will be tasked with keeping his A.J. Foyt Racing team toward the front as the IndyCar circuit makes its debut on a new layout..

Heading into the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of downtown, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through six of 17 races this year (with previous ranking in parenthesis):

Alex Palou (1): Three consecutive top 10 finishes at the Indy 500, and yet the 2021 IndyCar champion still seems slightly snake-bitten at the Brickyard. A few different circumstances and a dash of experience, and Palou could have three Indy 500 wins. But he at least has the points lead.
Marcus Ericsson (4): Some want to say the Indy 500 runner-up’s unhappiness with IndyCar race control was sour grapes, but the Swede had a legitimate gripe about the consistency of red flag protocols. Still a magnificent May for Ericsson, especially while the questions swirl about his future.
Josef Newgarden (7): Strategist Tim Cindric and team did a fantastic job catapulting Newgarden from 17^th into contention, and the two-time series champion did the rest. Particularly on a late three-wide pass for the lead, it can’t be overstated how brilliant the Team Penske driver was in his finest hour.
Alexander Rossi (3): He winds up being the best Arrow McLaren finisher in a mostly disappointing Indy 500 for a team that seemed poised to become dominant. With a third in the GMR GP and a fifth in the Indy 500, this easily was Rossi’s best May since his second place in 2019.
Pato O’Ward (2): Unlike last year, the Arrow McLaren star sent it this time against Ericsson and came out on the wrong side (and with lingering bitterness toward his Chip Ganassi Racing rival). The lead mostly was the wrong place to be at Indy, but O’Ward managed to be in first for a race-high 39 laps.
Scott Dixon (5): He overcame brutal handling issues from a wicked set of tires during his first stint, and then the team struggled with a clutch problem while posting a typical Dixon-esque finish on “a very tough day.” The six-time champion hopes things are cleaner the rest of the season after the first three months.
Santino Ferrucci (NR): Pound for pound, he and A.J. Foyt Racing had the best two weeks at Indianapolis. Ferrucci said Wednesday he still believes he had “by far the best car at the end” and if not for the timing of the final yellow and red, he would have won the Indy 500. Now the goal is maintaining into Detroit.
Colton Herta (NR): He was the best in a mostly forgettable month for Andretti Autosport and now is facing a pivotal weekend. Andretti has reigned on street courses so far this season, and few have been better on new circuits than Herta. A major chance for his first victory since last year’s big-money extension.
Scott McLaughlin (6): Ran in the top 10 at Indy after a strong opening stint but then lost positions while getting caught out on several restarts. A penalty for unintentionally rear-ending Simon Pagenaud in O’Ward’s crash then sent him to the rear, but McLaughlin still rallied for 14th. Detroit will be a fresh start.
Rinus VeeKay (10): Crashing into Palou in the pits was less than ideal. But a front row start and 10^th-place finish in the Indy 500 still were 2023 highlights for VeeKay in what’s been the toughest season of his career. The Ed Carpenter Racing cars have been slow on road and street courses, so Detroit is another test.