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 (age 75)
Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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

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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

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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]

On June 5, 2024, Scott was arrested and charged with two felony offenses, including obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, plus five misdemeanors, allegedly committed during the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.[5]

Motorsports results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

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NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1976 Ballard Racing 30 Chevy RSD DAY
35
CAR RCH BRI ATL NWS DAR MAR TAL
17
NSV DOV CLT RSD MCH
15
DAY NSV POC
30
TAL
6
MCH
36
BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR ATL ONT 45th 566 [6]
1977 RSD
DNQ
DAY
16
RCH
11
CAR
30
ATL
25
NWS
23
BRI
28
MAR
14
TAL
17
NSV DOV
14
CLT
16
RSD MCH
31
DAY
27
NSV
13
POC
13
TAL
27
MCH
11
BRI
5
DAR
32
RCH
18
DOV
24
MAR
20
NWS CLT
25
CAR
34
ATL
19
ONT
17
20th 2628 [7]
Baxter Price 45 Chevy DAR
26
1978 Ballard Racing 30 Chevy RSD
18
RCH
10
CAR
34
BRI
9
DAR
34
NWS
25
MAR
25
DOV
11
NSV
7
RSD
11
NSV
22
POC
8
MCH
19
BRI
23
DAR
23
RCH
27
DOV
25
MAR
29
NWS
10
CLT
12
CAR
21
ONT
DNQ
13th 3110 [8]
Olds DAY
11
ATL
34
TAL
13
CLT
31
MCH
11
DAY
10
TAL
10
ATL
22
1979 Buick RSD DAY
6
CAR
4
RCH ATL
37
NWS BRI DAR MAR
13
TAL
34
NSV DOV
24
CLT
16
TWS RSD MCH
9
DAY
14
NSV POC
10
TAL
6
MCH
8
BRI DAR
35
RCH DOV
10
MAR CLT
13
NWS CAR
37
ATL
29
ONT 27th 1879 [9]
1980 RSD DAY
39
RCH CAR
37
ATL
32
BRI DAR NWS MAR 39th 791 [10]
Olds TAL
5
NSV CLT
36
TWS RSD DAY
36
NSV TAL
34
MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ATL ONT
Chevy DOV
23
MCH
10
POC
32
1982 Tom Pistone 59 Buick DAY
29
RCH BRI ATL CAR DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT POC RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS CLT MAR CAR ATL RSD 118th 0 [11]
Daytona 500
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Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1976 Ballard Racing Chevrolet 18 35
1977 35 16
1978 Oldsmobile 11 11
1979 Buick 33 6
1980 16 39
1982 Tom Pistone Buick 30 29

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Tighe Scott". NASCAR. Retrieved 2008-10-28.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Walsh, Scott (October 17, 2008). "Scott nearly stole '79 Daytona 500". Scranton Times-Tribune. Retrieved 2008-10-27. [dead link]
  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. ^ a b c "Tighe Scott Open Wheel Performance". Open Wheel Times. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  5. ^ "Four Men from Pennsylvania Arrested on Multiple Felony and Misdemeanor Charges for Actions During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach". United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. United States Department of Justice. June 5, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
  6. ^ "Tighe Scott – 1976 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  7. ^ "Tighe Scott – 1977 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  8. ^ "Tighe Scott – 1978 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  9. ^ "Tighe Scott – 1979 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  10. ^ "Tighe Scott – 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  11. ^ "Tighe Scott – 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
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