Devin Sawyer

Savannah, GA

**Devin Anthony Sawyer II** (born September 1st, 1994) is an American driver currently competing in the ISCRA Can-Am Cup Series. He is currently driving the No. 21 Toyota Camry for Texas Motorsports. He won the 2016 ISCRA Sparco Pro Series championship in his second season in the ISCRA.

## Early Career

Sawyer first began racing at the age of 4, being entered in dirt bike races in his home town. At the age of nine, he won his first championship, then moving to Bandolero racing. When he was fifteen, Sawyer's parents bought him a dirt late model and offered to take him to races as long as he helped work on the car with them. Sawyer soon became a household name in his area, winning the track championship at Oglethorpe Speedway Park in 2011. From 2010 to 2013, Sawyer won over two dozen feature races at Oglethorpe as well as competing at other tracks throughout Georgia. During a race there in 2013, Sawyer was approached by Texas Motorsports owner Ken Holmes about potentially racing for the owner in the ISCRA Sunoco Series. He accepted the ride, and in a five-race trial he scored five top-20s with a best finish of 8th at Chicagoland.

## ISCRA

### 2014-16: Pro Series

After Sawyer's trial run with Texas Motorsports, he signed a one-year contract with the team in January 2014. It was formally announced later that month that he would drive the No. 21 in the ISCRA Sunoco Series, sponsored by Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Powermatic Machinery. He made headlines in his first start at Armory Digital; qualifying 2nd, he ran a clean race and was on track for a top 5 before a penalty for speeding on pit road relegated him to a 26th place finish. He earned his first career win at Phoenix International Raceway as he finished 6th in points in his first full-time season with the team.

2015 started off well for the team, as they compiled six top fives and two wins in the first ten races of the season. Sawyer took the points lead after race 4 at Darlington, holding on to it for another twenty races. However, a charge by Shane Harvey saw Sawyer fall to second in the standings. He would finish second to Harvey in 2015 by just 26 points.

Sawyer was able to win the 2016 championship following a dominating season that saw him win six races and score fourteen top 5's, including five in a row between Dover and the summer race at Armory Digital. Team owner Ken Holmes announced late in July that Sawyer would move up to the Can-Am Cup Series full-time with Texas Motorsports in 2017.

### 2017-present: Cup Series

After the announcement was made, rumors began to swirl about where Sawyer would fit in to the team between Wayne Clark, Elliott Darnell, Craig Thornton, and Nolan Harris. These rumors were quashed in October after Elliott Darnell announced his retirement from full-time racing after 19 seasons. Darnell would finish 9th in 2016's final standings with a win at Homestead and fifteen top-10s.

Late in December 2016, Oracle announced their renewal of primary sponsorship with Sawyer, covering twenty-eight races for the driver. Pro Series sponsors Enterprise and Powermatic would join the team for four races apiece. After finishing 11th in the Armory Digital 500, his first-ever Cup race, Sawyer found himself struggling to get to grips with the high power of the Cup cars. Over the course of 2017, Sawyer failed to finish eight races, being involved in an accident twelve times overall. However, when he could keep the car going, he did well, notching 12 top 10s and scoring his first two Cup wins at Milwaukee and Kansas.

2018 was Sawyer's breakout season, as he won four races and finished second in points to Alex Pearson. At the end of the season, he amassed four wins and 25 top 10s, failing to finish just three races. Unfortunately, 2019 brought about severe regression to the team. Sawyer finished fifteenth in the final standings, winning one race and finishing in the top 10 only twelve times.

## Personal Life

Sawyer is a large fan of the Atlanta Braves and baseball in general. He played baseball for his high school's team, spending most of his time in right field. During an off-week in his rookie season, he was invited to the newly-built SunTrust Park to take part in batting practice; during the session, he managed to hit a home run that was eventually tracked to have gone 484 ft.

 Cup Series: **(11)** Wayne Clark • **(21)** **Devin Sawyer** • **(70)** Craig Thornton • **(87)** Bryce Lancaster