After watching Bubba Wallace, Lavar Scott ecstatic to begin full-time NASCAR career

“When your parents are doing something, you kind of want to do it and be like them,” Scott said. “And it just progressed from there. We started picking up wins and championships, moving to higher classes, got the ride with Rev Racing. Got in contact with them, came here for the combine and it all played out perfectly.”

There’s only one asphalt track, Wall Stadium Speedway, near where Scott grew up. On Wednesdays during some summers, he and his family would go race on the dirt track at the West End Fairgrounds near Susquehanna, Pa., before micro races at Atco Raceway on Saturdays and quarter midgets Sundays at Blackbird.

‘Happy to be in this position’

This season, Scott will be teammates with second-year driver Andres Perez de Lara. Part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, he joined Rev Racing in 2021.

After initially joining the team, Scott realized the trajectory his career could take. Nick Sanchez, now 22 and a recent ARCA Menards Series champion, also came to Rev Racing as part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program — and is the reigning rookie of the year in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Last year at Daytona, despite having less time to prepare and an unfamiliarity with superspeedway racing, Scott led for 14 laps and was in contention for most of the race.

It marked the first of 11 ARCA Menards Series races he ran in last year — including all eight in its East series. He finished third in the East standings with five top-five and seven Top 10 finishes, and this year, will get to run in all 20 ARCA races.

“It inspired me watching (Wallace),” Scott said. “So, I know that if it did it to me, it’s most likely doing it to 95 percent of the other kids out there watching us. It’s real, and I’m just happy to be in this position.”