On Monday afternoon, HScott Motorsports officially announced it will not compete in NASCAR’s premier series in 2017.
While team owner Harry Scott, Jr. did not make any mention of the team’s ultimate fate, it appears to be shutting down completely.
In 2016, HScott Motorsports fielded two full-time entries in the Sprint Cup Series, one for Clint Bowyer and another for Michael Annett. Bowyer’s No. 15 had a charter, while the team leased a charter from Premium Motorsports for Annett’s No. 46.
According to Scott’s statement, the No. 15 charter has been sold to Premium Motorsports, which left the small operation with two charters after reclaiming possession of the charter that the No. 46 used to race this past season. Premium Motorsports then sold the recalled charter to Furniture Row Racing for its new No. 77 Toyota that Erik Jones will race full-time in 2017.
Both Bowyer and Annett have already found alternative employment for the 2017 season. Bowyer will replace the retired Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Ford at Stewart-Haas Racing, a move announced before the season began. Annett will move back down to the XFINITY Series to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports with sponsorship from Pilot/Flying J.
Scott said he will miss being involved in the sport.
“Over the past several months I considered a number of options for moving forward with the team,” the statement issued by the team read. “Regrettably there are no viable sponsor/driver options immediately available to allow the team to participate in 2017.
“I love this sport and being part of it. I invested in NASCAR because I truly believe it represents the best racing competition in the world and the best people in all sports. Looking back, I will always be especially proud of the unprecedented success of our NASCAR K&N Series teams, including four consecutive championships and for the lifelong friendships that were forged over the last seven years. My hope is that we were able to develop drivers that will thrive at the highest levels for years to come.”
There was no mention in the press release of what will become of HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks, a multi-car team that competes in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Scott’s partner, entrepreneur and part-time XFINITY Series racer Justin Marks, has not publicly commented on the announcement.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.