Racing career
Scott began as a dirt modified and sportsman driver at tracks in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey, including in 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 between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough 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]
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] On January 20, 2025, the first day of the second presidency of Donald Trump, Scott and his son were pardoned along with nearly every other participant in the Capitol attack. [6]
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