The formation of the series was announced on July 13, 2020. The series' founders included former NASCAR driver and team owner Tony Stewart, former NASCAR team owner and crew chief Ray Evernham, former NASCAR executive George Pyne, and sports agent Sandy Montag. Camping World acquired the naming rights on June 1, 2021, dubbing it the Camping World SRX Series. Don Hawk was named CEO of SRX on January 20, 2022. The second season began on June 18, with races on Saturday nights. Its third season aired on July 13, 2023, on ESPN, with races moving to Thursday nights. The 2024 season was postponed due to market factors, and Ray Evernham later stated that poor television ratings for the third season were the primary market factor for the cancellation. On March 22, 2024, the Skip Barber Racing School announced its acquisition of the series, but the sale reportedly fell through in August. The series' fleet of cars was purchased by GMS Race Cars in September 2025.
SRX aimed for shorter races at shorter tracks, drawing a direct contrast from NASCAR. It also featured the random pairing of driver and crew chief for each race. Founder Tony Stewart compared it to IROC due to identical cars and an all-star cast of drivers.
SRX cars were completely designed by founder Ray Evernham. Fury Race Cars served as the chassis designer and builder. The cars used naturally aspirated Ilmor V8 396 cui engines, primarily featured in the ARCA Menards Series, with components from Edelbrock. Brakes were provided by Performance Friction Corporation (PFC). Drivers received their cars before each race via random draw, and a driver's car retained its color for the full season for easy identification.
The series' lineup included younger up-and-coming drivers and older, retired drivers. The series also provided a "Rocky Balboa" car for a local champion at each track and a "ringer" entry for notable drivers making cameo appearances. Drivers for the inaugural SRX season included Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Hélio Castroneves, Ernie Francis Jr., Paul Tracy, Bill Elliott, Willy T. Ribbs, Michael Waltrip, and Marco Andretti for all six races. Part-time and Local Legend drivers included Tony Kanaan, Hailie Deegan, Greg Biffle, Scott Speed, Doug Coby, Brian Brown, Scott Bloomquist, Kody Swanson, Luke Fenhaus, Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch.
Races were primarily held on half-mile dirt and asphalt short tracks. The six tracks from the first season were Stafford Motor Speedway, Knoxville Raceway, Eldora Speedway, Lucas Oil Raceway, Slinger Speedway, and Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. The 2022 schedule featured Five Flags Speedway, South Boston Speedway, Stafford Motor Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, I-55 Raceway, and Sharon Speedway. The 2023 schedule included Stafford and Eldora, along with new tracks Motor Mile Speedway, Berlin Raceway, and Lucas Oil Speedway. Thunder Road SpeedBowl was originally part of the 2023 schedule but was given a 2024 date due to flooding, joined by Berlin, Stafford, Slinger, and new track Cedar Lake Speedway.
Races lasted 90 minutes without pit stops, with a "halftime" for car adjustments. Two 12-minute heat races took place before the feature. A random draw set the starting lineup for the first heat, and the second was determined by an inversion of the first race's finishing results. The feature race was 100 laps long at all paved ovals except Slinger, where it was 150 laps, while dirt tracks had 50-lap features. The starting order was based on the average finishing position between the two heats, and there were unlimited attempts at a green–white–checker finish.
CBS Sports aired the 2021 and 2022 six-race seasons in two-hour primetime Saturday night television windows on the main CBS network. The broadcast team for the inaugural season included Allen Bestwick as lead announcer, Lindsay Czarniak as host, Brad Daugherty as roaming reporter, and Matt Yocum on pit road. Driver analysts included Danica Patrick, James Hinchcliffe, and Dario Franchitti. For the 2022 season, Willy T. Ribbs joined as an analyst, and Conor Daly was signed as a driver analyst. A video game, SRX: The Game, developed by Monster Games, was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam on May 28, 2021. For the 2023 season, races were televised on ESPN on Thursday nights, reviving its former Thursday Night Thunder branding.
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