NASCAR team owner Harry
Scott, Jr. announced today the formation of HScott Motorsports with Justin
Marks, a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East team that will compete full-time in
2015. The announcement comes on the heels of Scott's partnership with Chip
Ganassi Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
HScott Motorsports with Justin
Marks will field four teams with returning driver Scott Heckert and Rookie of
the Year contenders William Byron, J.J. Haley and Dalton Sargeant.
"The future of NASCAR is
being developed in the NASCAR K&N Series," said Scott. "My
partnership with Justin Marks to field four teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro
Series East is an opportunity for us to help young drivers get to the next
level. We are fortunate to return to the series with remarkable talent
that already includes two championships, 15 victories and 14 poles."
Marks, 33, has competed in
multiple levels of road course racing, winning the 2009 Rolex 24 Hours of
Daytona in the GT division, as well as in all three of NASCAR's national
series. An accomplished entrepreneur, Marks is the owner of DryLake
Entertainment, GoPro Motorplex and KartSport North America. In 2014, Marks
partnered with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie of the year, Kyle Larson, to
form the Larson Marks Racing World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series team.
"It's a thrill for me to
be able to partner with someone like Harry on this enterprise," said
Marks. "This organization has proven to be a significant strength in
the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and I am looking forward to continuing that
success. We have a stable of talented drivers for 2015, backed by a group
of hard working and dedicated team members."
Heckert, 21, of Ridgefield,
Conn., returns to compete for Harry Scott in 2015. Last season, Heckert posted
K&N Pro Series East wins at Watkins Glen International and Virginia
International Raceway. He also earned three poles and finished eighth in the
series point standings. A student at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Heckert
will graduate in 2016 with a mechanical engineering degree. While not on track,
Heckert will work as an intern for HScott Motorsports' NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
team.
Byron, a Charlotte native and
K&N Rookie of the Year contender, competed in the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series for JR Motorsports in 2014, winning the North Carolina
Rookie of the Year title. In 2014, he earned 11 victories and 24 poles in 54 combined
Late Model and Legends starts. A junior at Charlotte Country Day school, Byron,
17, also attends and takes college courses through his primary sponsor Liberty
University's Online Academy. Liberty University is the largest
private, nonprofit university in the nation.
Haley, 15, will enter his
rookie year of K&N Series competition in 2015. He most recently competed in
ARCA Racing Series and K&N competition. Last season, the Winamac, Ind.,
native earned one ARCA pole and a career-best seventh-place finish in his third
K&N start at Dover International Speedway in September. Haley, the nephew
of former NASCAR team owner Todd Braun, has an extensive racing background in
quarter midgets, micro sprints and late model stock cars.
Sargeant, a former competitor
in the International Kart Federation and World Karting Association, also
will compete for K&N Rookie of the Year honors in 2015. The 16-year-old
native of Boca Raton, Fla., began his stock car career in 2014 competing in the
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and earned his first career stock car victory
last August at Virginia International Raceway and followed it with a
second win at Orange County Speedway in October. Along with his two wins,
Sargeant posted 26 top-10 finishes in his rookie season, including a
runner-up finish in the prestigious Snowball Derby earlier this month.
HScott Motorsports with Justin
Marks will be led by Mike Greci, who oversaw Turner Scott Motorsports' K&N
Series program since its inception in 2013. Under Greci's leadership, TSM
earned back-to-back K&N Pro Series East championships, 15 victories and 14
pole positions. He helped launch the careers of NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers
Dylan Kwasniewski and Ben Rhodes, the 2012 and 2013 K&N Series champions,
and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series drivers Cameron Hayley and Brandon Jones.
The 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro
Series East season will commence at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway on Saturday,
Feb. 7.
what are Turner's plans?
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