Tighe Scott

Tighe Scott (born 2 June 1949) is a retired American racecar driver from Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania. He competed in dirt modified racing before moving up into the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He had 18 top-ten finishes in 89 races, with a career best 13th-place finish in the 1978 Winston Cup.[1]

Tighe Scott
Scott in his modified
Born (1949-06-02) 2 June 1949
Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania
NASCAR Cup Series career
89 races run over 6 years
Best finish13th (1978)
First race1976 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Last race1982 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 18 0

Racing career

Scott began as a dirt modified and sportsman driver in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey at tracks like Bridgeport, New Jersey and Middletown, New York.[2]

Scott was given the opportunity to race in the 1976 Daytona 500 by car owner Walter Ballard.[2] He started 18th in the race and finished 35th after crashing on the 58th lap.[2] Scott described the experience, "That was the first time I had ever raced on asphalt. My first time on the track, I had no idea what I was up against. It took me a couple days to get myself up to speed."[2] He competed in five more NASCAR races that season.[2] After a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Ballard offered him a full-time ride.[2]

Scott ran 26 of 30 races that season to finish 20th in season points.[1] In 1978, Scott had his highest points finish when he finished 13th in season points.[1]

Scott's father, owner of Scotty's Fashions, hired Harry Hyde to be the crew chief for his family team in 1979 with Tighe Scott as the driver.[3] Their first race together was for the 1979 Daytona 500.[2] Scott blew a tire in his 125 mile qualifying race, so he had to start 33rd in the main event.[2] He worked his way into the top-five in the race. "I was with guys I had never run alongside of before," Scott said.[2] "Our car didn’t have the horsepower they had. I couldn’t lead, but I could run good in the draft."[2] Scott was in third place in the race when he went into the pits for his final pit stop with 30 laps left.[2] He entered the pits at full speed (which was legal and common at that time), and spun from some water on pit row right before his pit stall.[2] Benny Parsons' car was overheating in the pits.[2] It took Scott some time to refire the car and he returned to the track 3/4 of a lap behind the leaders.[2] He was unable to draft with any cars and he went a lap down with one lap left.[2] Richard Petty won the race after the Donnie Allison/Cale Yarborough crash led to a fight in the infield. Scott finished sixth in the race.[2] At the following race at Rockingham Speedway, Scott recorded his best NASCAR result when he finished fourth.[2] His team's lack of funds enabled them to race in only 15 more events that season.

He ran ten races in 1980.[1] Scott's final race was at the 1982 Daytona 500 for Tom Pistone.[2] He started 30th and finished 29th after crashing on the 81st lap.[2] The crash footage was featured in the movie Stroker Ace.[2]

He returned to his roots, racing sprint cars on Pennsylvania and New York tracks.[2] In 1983 he raced sprint cars at Williams Grove Speedway and Selinsgrove Speedway, and won a race at Selinsgrove.[4] The following season he raced at these and other tracks including Port Royal Speedway and a World of Outlaws (WoO) event at Orange County Fair Speedway.[4] His final race happened in 1985.[2] That season he competed in four WoO events and won his second last feature in a local event at Williams Grove.[4]

Personal life

As of 2008, Scott runs the construction and excavating business A. Scott Enterprises.[2] He also operates "Scotty's Fashions", a family garment business started by his father.[2] He is married to his second wife, the former Kathy Toman, and he has three sons and four grandchildren.[2]

References
  1. "Tighe Scott". NASCAR. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  2. Walsh, Scott (October 17, 2008). "Scott nearly stole '79 Daytona 500". Scranton Times-Tribune. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  3. Golenbock, Peter (2006). Miracle: Bobby Allison and the Saga of the Alabama Gang. Macmillan. p. 190. ISBN 0-312-34001-X. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
  4. "Tighe Scott Open Wheel Performance". Open Wheel Times. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
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