January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
It's a leap of faith
Three years ago, Brian Scott left Idaho to pursue a
It's a leap of faith
Brian Scott has raced on dirt, driven sprint cars and moved to Late Models and Hooter Pro Cup before making his NASCAR debut in September 2007 in a Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire.
All of that experience helped land him into Victory Lane last weekend in the Truck race at Dover, Del., providing the 21-year-old his first win in 39 series starts.
But there are other interesting aspects of Scott's background.
He doesn't hail from the South, unless you're taking about southern Idaho (he's from Boise). And he has many interests outside of racing, some just as or even more dangerous.
Scott has competed in extreme snowmobile riding, went fishing in Alaska, hunted and even tried helicopter skiing - where a helicopter drops skiers in remote locations ski lifts can't reach.
"I just started off racing mini-sprints, moved into sprint cars, and as I was graduating high school I had a chance to make a run at this as my career," Scott said. "It was something I couldn't pass up - I don't like to live with regrets.
"A couple hours after I graduated from high school, I was in our sprint car trailer, riding with my sprint car crew chief, riding out to North Carolina. We didn't know anybody. We didn't know what we were doing."
That was 2006. In the three years since, Scott has made 11 starts in the Automobile Racing Club of America series, four starts in the Nationwide series and his most consistent tenure has been in Trucks.
He raced for Xpress Motorsports and at the end of 2007, Scott's father, J.B. Scott, bought majority interest in the team. Brian Scott ran a full schedule last season and finished 16th in points. By the end of the year, he was making great strides, including a second-place finish in the season finale at Homestead.
Scott landed a deal with Bill Davis Racing for 2009 but after Davis sold his organization, J.B. Scott decided to continue to field his son with his own team, but did join the Toyota ranks.
In seven races this season, Scott has a win, two top-five and four top-10 finishes. He is fifth in the series standings, 107 points behind leader Ron Hornaday.
Scott's steady rise, maturity and good looks all combine to make him an attractive candidate for a fast rise in NASCAR.
"He has a bright future," Laerte Zatta, Toyota programme manager for the Truck and Nationwide series, said of Scott. "When he and (crew chief) Jeff Henseley started working together, they clicked right away."
Zatta said he has seen a lot of young drivers start off with the dream of a high profile racing career.
"Obviously, they don't all succeed," he said. "I was a little skeptical of Brian at first, like I am of most drivers.
"This kid knows when to go, when to push it in a race. He's maturing very quickly."
Scott experienced what he described as "an awesome feeling" when he made his first turn into Victory Lane. And he hopes for plenty more.
"You have every emotion because you're whole life goes into this. You work day in, day out, the (crew) guys bust their backs. Everybody has put in so many hours," he said.
"There is so much money and so much sponsorship and so much stress especially on an up-and-coming driver like myself that is trying to make it to the next stage. Once you feel like that monkey's off your back and the burden's washed away, it's a great feeling."[[In-content Ad]]
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