Marco Andretti takes SRX Slinger victory

A decade after his last IndyCar Series win, Marco Andretti is a Camping World SRX Series race victor. Andretti held off Luke Fenhaus in a green-white-checker finish to win Saturday’s race at Slinger Speedway, his first of the season.

Heat races

Andretti started on the pole for the first heat and led every lap. While the front saw little in the way of drama, Paul Tracy would clash with Ernie Francis Jr. and Hailie Deegan throughout the night, and he was the victim of Heat #1’s lone race-related caution when he spun and cut a tyre.

The second heat saw Willy T. Ribbs on the pole before spinning; Michael Waltrip wrecked to produce a caution too. Deegan spent much of the heat at the front and fending off a pair of NASCAR veterans in Bill Elliott and Greg Biffle, though Biffle would ultimately take the win by .060 of a second.

Heat #1 results

Heat #2 results

Feature

The 150-lap feature was kicked off by Andretti and Fenhaus, the latter running a ringer car as the winner of the Slinger Nationals on Tuesday. The 17-year-old Fenhaus battled with Andretti throughout the first twenty laps before clearing him, which left Andretti fighting with Tony Stewart for the runner-up spot.

After the “fun flag” for running too many laps under green, Stewart took the lead shortly following the ensuing restart. Stewart and Fenhaus traded blows before another caution came for Waltrip’s wreck. Tracy, Francis, and Deegan would also renew their entanglements, which prompted Deegan to indirectly call out Tracy by tweeting that although SRX does not have spotters, drivers “have mirrors that work perfectly fine”.

Additional accidents involving Biffle, Hélio Castroneves, and Deegan would take place in the second half. Deegan’s wreck on the final lap set up a green-white-checker finish.

Andretti had a strong restart—which would spark debate about whether he jumped at the line—over Fenhaus that enabled him to pull away and take the win. Fenhaus settled for second while Stewart placed third.

The final race of the SRX season will take place at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway next Saturday, 17 July.

Feature results