CHAMPION CAR OWNER: Harry Scott Jr.
Rhodes Championship Makes It Two-In-A-Row For Scott Jr.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If the past two seasons have been any indication, fans can expect to see a whole lot more of Harry Scott Jr. during the NASCAR Touring Series Night of Champions event in Charlotte.
One year removed from winning his first championship as a car owner for Turner Scott Motorsports in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, Scott finds himself once again celebrating a championship at the end of the season.
CHAMPION DRIVER: BEN RHODES | CHAMPION CREW CHIEF: MARK MCFARLAND
With a racing program that was put together less than three months prior to the start of the 2013 season, team co-owner Scott continues to enjoy developing young talent into championship drivers, much like what happened with Ben Rhodes and the No. 41 Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet as they brought to Turner Scott Motorsports another NASCAR K&N Pro Series East title.
“The K&N Series is a lot of fun for me personally,” said Scott. “It’s a lot of fun to see them grow. It’s great to see the proverbial lightbulb switch on in our drivers throughout the year.”
Several TSM drivers saw the switch go off throughout the year. In addition to Rhodes’ dominating season, in which he won five races, six poles, scored 11 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 16 starts, several team drivers saw success in 2014. Cameron Hayley, in his first year running with the Pro Series East, was the championship runner-up, finishing on the podium seven times. Scott Heckert and Brandon Jones won their first career races and Kaz Grala, the youngest competitor in the series this season, raced his way to four top fives.
“It can be challenging managing expectations but when you’ve got the class of drivers that we were fortunate enough to work with, there are definitely more highs than lows,” said Scott.
It has been a quick ascension in the world of NASCAR racing for Scott, who originally hails from Raleigh, N.C., but has resided for the last 15-plus years in Hilton Head, S.C. Scott says he’s always been interested in racing as a fan, but officially got involved in the sport for the first time in 2009 as a NASCAR Nationwide Series car sponsor with one of his companies – AccuDoc Solutions – with Braun Racing. The following season he became co-owner of Braun’s No. 11 car with driver Brian Scott.
Scott’s NASCAR involvement has continued to grow. He transferred his minority ownership with Braun to Turner Motorsports when Steve Turner took over the Braun program. The relationship with Turner became even greater in January of 2013 when Scott became a full partner with Turner and the rebranded Turner Scott Motorsports.
Prior to the 2013 season, the former Turner Motorsports only fielded teams in the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, but both Scott and Turner feel strongly about driver development. The partnership decided to expand their operation and get involved at the regional touring series level.
“We really try to use this as a building series to move up,” said Mike Greci, director of competition for TSM’s K&N Pro Series division. “We’ve done a good job with our program because drivers continue to come in and move on to higher series, and then we get another batch in. We take a lot of pride in that.”
Part of helping young drivers succeed is giving them the support and equipment they need to be competitive on the track and develop as drivers. Greci credits the program’s recent success to Scott and the rest of the TSM team.
“When they come here, we try to give them 100% everything they need to proceed forward,” said Greci. “The kids come in here, they’re full of enthusiasm and are so easy to work with because they want to suck up information and learn and get better.”
Even though Rhodes’ championship marks the second time TSM will be recognized at the NASCAR Night of Champions in as many years, Scott believes he will be able to enjoy more this time around.
“I’m extremely excited,” said Scott. “Last year, in a way, I didn’t know what to expect. This year, actually, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s really good to see these kids get the recognition they deserve. It’s a first class deal and I really enjoy going.”
Sources: John Tejeda, NASCAR PR