By David Morgan, NASCAR Contributor
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Brian Scott has been competing in the top three NASCAR series for nearly a decade, but on Thursday morning, Scott and Richard Petty Motorsports announced that he would be retiring from NASCAR competition at the conclusion of the 2016 season to focus on his family and other opportunities outside of the sport.
“This was a difficult decision, but one that I made myself for my family. Racing and specifically NASCAR has been and will always be in my heart, but right now, I want to turn all my attention to my family and to be able to spend more time with them. Racing has blessed me with great opportunities, and I’m very grateful for everything that it has allowed me to do, but for me, it’s time to move on. I can’t thank everyone enough who helped me in my career. I would not have made it to where I am at today without their trust and commitment,” said Scott.
Scott debuted in NASCAR in 2007 with a start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, competing full-time there in 2008 and 2009 as well as scoring his first NASCAR win at Dover International Speedway in May 2009. He followed up with his second Truck Series win in 2012 at Phoenix, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
In 2010, Scott made the move up the ladder to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, where he raced for Braun Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Richard Childress Racing in his six year career in NASCAR’s second tier series. Though he wasn’t able to score a win in those six years, he was able to finish in the top-10 in points in five of those six seasons.
In his 208 Xfinity Series starts, Scott came away with 20 top-five finishes, four of which were runner-up finishes, 77 top-10 finishes, five poles, 659 laps led, and a career average finish of 11.1.
Beginning in 2016, Scott signed with Richard Petty Motorsports to field the No. 44 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry this season as a rookie, which hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing, as he has only been able to score one finish inside the top-10 in the first 34 races this season. That finish came as a result of a second place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
Regardless of his struggles this season, Scott seemed upbeat about closing out the 2016 season on a high-note and looking ahead to 2017, which makes Thursday’s news all the more surprising.
“Brian made it to and competed at a level that very few do in NASCAR. Brian became part of the Petty family this year, and he committed himself to making our organization better. We feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know Brian and wish him nothing but the best for him and his family,” said Brian Moffitt, Chief Executive Officer, Richard Petty Motorsports.
With Scott’s retirement, Richard Petty Motorsports announced that they would continue to field the No. 44 car in 2017, but no decision has been made on a driver to fill the seat that will be vacated at season’s end.
