Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch join SRX, Helio Castroneves returns

A day after Kevin Harvick committed to the Superstar Racing Experience, the series announced a pair of his NASCAR Cup Series peers will also make their débuts. Clint Bowyer will race against him at Stafford Motor Speedway on 13 July, followed by separate starts at Motor Mile Speedway on 27 July and Lucas Oil Speedway on 17 August. Kyle Busch will also run Motor Mile before taking on Harvick at Berlin Raceway on 3 August.

Bowyer and Harvick were team-mates at Stewart-Haas Racing, co-owned by SRX founder Tony Stewart, from 2017 to 2020. While Bowyer has not raced at a major level since, he remained involved with the Cup Series as a commentator for FOX Sports.

Busch, the 2015 and 2019 Cup champion, departed Joe Gibbs Racing after a decorated tenure for Richard Childress Racing, incidentally the same team with whom Harvick began his Cup career. He and Harvick will run the Berlin round three days before the Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. Motor Mile is the same weekend as the Cup Series at Richmond Raceway, both located in Virginia.

“I’ve been working with everyone at SRX trying to get one of their races on my schedule the last couple seasons and things didn’t work out, so when they announced they were having weeknight races in close proximity to a couple races on the Cup schedule, SRX and I immediately got together to plan something for this year,” Busch told the Associated Press.

The series also announced Wednesday the return of Hélio Castroneves, who finished fifth in the 2021 standings and won the 2022 season opener at Five Flags. Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, is placing most of his emphasis on the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series.