# 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.

## 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.
Scott was given the opportunity to race in the 1976 Daytona 500 by car owner Walter Ballard. He started 18th in the race and finished 35th after crashing on the 58th lap. 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." He competed in five more NASCAR races that season. After a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, Ballard offered him a full-time ride.
Scott ran 26 of 30 races that season to finish 20th in season points. In 1978, Scott had his highest points finish when he finished 13th in season points.
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. Their first race together was for the 1979 Daytona 500. Scott blew a tire in his 125 mile qualifying race, so he had to start 33rd in the main event. He worked his way into the top-five in the race. "I was with guys I had never run alongside of before," Scott said. "Our car didn’t have the horsepower they had. I couldn’t lead, but I could run good in the draft." Scott was in third place in the race when he went into the pits for his final pit stop with 30 laps left. 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. Benny Parsons' car was overheating in the pits. It took Scott some time to refire the car and he returned to the track 3/4 of a lap behind the leaders. He was unable to draft with any cars and he went a lap down with one lap left. 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. At the following race at Rockingham Speedway, Scott recorded his best NASCAR result when he finished fourth. His team's lack of funds enabled them to race in only 15 more events that season.
He ran ten races in 1980. Scott's final race was at the 1982 Daytona 500 for Tom Pistone. He started 30th and finished 29th after crashing on the 81st lap. The crash footage was featured in the movie Stroker Ace.
He returned to his roots, racing sprint cars on Pennsylvania and New York tracks. In 1983 he raced sprint cars at Williams Grove Speedway and Selinsgrove Speedway, and won a race at Selinsgrove. 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. His final race happened in 1985. That season he competed in four WoO events and won his second last feature in a local event at Williams Grove.

## Personal life

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

## Motorsports results
### NASCAR

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

#### Winston Cup Series

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 | |
| 1977 | Ballard Racing | 30 | Chevy | 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 | |
| 1977 | Baxter Price | 45 | Chevy | | | | | | | DAR 26 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20th | 2628 |
| 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 | |
| 1978 | Ballard Racing | 30 | Olds | | DAY 11 | | | ATL 34 | | | | | TAL 13 | | CLT 31 | | | MCH 11 | DAY 10 | | | TAL 10 | | | | | | | | | | ATL 22 | | | | 13th | 3110 |
| 1979 | Ballard Racing | 30 | 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 | |
| 1980 | Ballard Racing | 30 | Buick | RSD | DAY 39 | RCH | CAR 37 | ATL 32 | BRI | DAR | NWS | MAR | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 39th | 791 | |
| 1980 | Ballard Racing | 30 | Olds | | | | | | | | | | TAL 5 | NSV | | CLT 36 | TWS | RSD | | DAY 36 | NSV | | TAL 34 | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | NWS | MAR | CLT | CAR | ATL | ONT | 39th | 791 | |
| 1980 | Ballard Racing | 30 | Chevy | | | | | | | | | | | | DOV 23 | | | | MCH 10 | | | POC 32 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 39th | 791 |
| 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 | |

##### Daytona 500

| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
| 1976 | Ballard Racing | Chevrolet | 18 | 35 |
| 1977 | Ballard Racing | Chevrolet | 35 | 16 |
| 1978 | Ballard Racing | Oldsmobile | 11 | 11 |
| 1979 | Ballard Racing | Buick | 33 | 6 |
| 1980 | Ballard Racing | Buick | 16 | 39 |
| 1982 | Tom Pistone | Buick | 30 | 29 |