Brian Scott ARCA’s Daytona Debut Cut Short

Topics:  Brian Scott, ARCA 200 at Daytona

Chris Knight
Knight Motorsports Management
Bob Schacht Motorsports
February 12, 2008

“NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie A Victim Of Big One”

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (February 12, 2008) - - For Boise, Idaho’s Brian Scott, last Saturday’s ARCA RE/MAX Series debut didn’t go as planned. Behind the wheel of a very strong Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, Scott easily looked in contention for his first career top-10 finish in the ARCA 200 at Daytona. But those thoughts quickly were erased as Scott would be swept in the “big one” on lap 29.

Scott, aiming to make his third career ARCA RE/MAX Series start kicked off the weekend on the right foot after maneuvering his No. 75 IWX-Strutmasters.com Chevrolet into the 14th position during the five hour first practice session. With a couple minor changes on the table for ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying, Scott was eager for the remainder of the weekend.

“Practice was pretty good,” said Scott, who will spend the 2008 season driving full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. “I know we have a car that can go by it’s self, but the car also hooked up really good in the draft and that’s the most crucial element for the race. The Bob Schacht Motorsports team did a great job preparing the IWX-Strutmasters.com Chevrolet.”

Drawing a very deep number for ARCA SIM Factory pole qualifying meant that Scott would have to wait several hours before getting his turn at tackling the “World Center of Speed.” During his qualifying run, Scott posted a time of 50.569 seconds at 177.975 MPH which would land him 32nd on the rundown. The effort would award Scott his second career ARCA superspeedway start and first at Daytona.

“It’s a very tight field, very tight,” added Scott. “I have a strong car, but it didn’t just seem to have all the power we were looking for. It just wouldn’t go like I wanted it to. I’m going to talk our options over with Bob (crew chief and owner Schacht) and we’ll go from there.”

Keeping things normal in the Bob Schacht Motorsports (BSM) garage, Scott was revving to go during the final practice session of the weekend, Happy Hour. The session started off in fireworks when two cars tangled on the backstretch delaying the session for several minutes. When the green flag resumed, Scott was part of the action and wasted no time getting up to speed. Scott’s fastest time was clocked at 49.752 seconds at 180.897 MPH, 24th on the overall rundown.

“We took it easy in happy hour,” noted Scott. “There was no sense of taking a chance of losing our primary machine within a day of the race. I’m just ready to go racing.”

43 cars took the green flag for the ARCA 200 at Daytona, Scott wasted no time blasting from his starting position quickly finding himself in the top-25 by lap one.

Showing a very well handling IWX-Strutmasters.com machine, Scott would use patience and continue to slice and dice his way towards the front. When the first caution flag waived on six for a spin on the front stretch, Scott had marched his way into the 21st position.

With a quick caution on the table, Scott reported that the car was good; he was just biding his time.

On the restart, Scott continued to climb in the running order and had risen to 18th when the caution flag just two laps after the restart for a two-car incident in turn four. The team would show frustration in the early cautions and hoped the next restart would result in a long-span of green flag racing.

Returning to racing, Scott played it smart. Continuing to climb through the running order, Scott would use the bump-drafting technique on several racecars which would see the No. 75 move into the 16th position when the next caution flag waived on lap 24.

During the yellow, the BSM team decided to bring Scott in for tires and fuel, knowing that Scott was plenty capable of roaring back to the front. A strong pit stop would send Scott immediately into action in the 22nd position.

On the restart, Scott would once again fire off towards the front only to be halted three laps later when the “big one” broke out ahead of him. Scott would attempt to check-up but be quickly swept into the massive pileup. Hard contact with other competitors and the wall abruptly ended Scott’s Daytona debut.

“I hate it, I don’t have words to really describe it,” said Scott who would be credited with a 40th place finish. “I don’t really know what happened, I just saw a lot of smoke ahead of me and before I knew it, I was apart of the big one.”

He continued, “We had a good IWX-Strutmasters.com Chevrolet. We were just biding our time and trying to get back to the front and one mistake by a driver ends our day. I guess that’s racing. It’s just really disappointing. I want to thank the entire Bob Schacht Motorsports team and our sponsors IWX and Strutmasters.com for their support in Daytona.”

Next up for Brian Scott is the 2008 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener from Daytona which is set for Friday, February 15, 2008. Scott will be driving the No. 16 Shark Energy Drink-Albertsons Supermarkets Chevrolet Silverado.

For more on Brian Scott, please visit BrianScottRacing.com.

For additional information on Bob Schacht Motorsports, please click on BobSchachtMotorsports.com.