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Lavar Scott’s Racing Origin Story & Quest for the ARCA Title

Lavar Scott has been making his name known this season in the ARCA Menards Series.

The 21-year-old currently sits second in the season points standings even after a six-point penalty for a roof-height violation. A product of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, the Rev Racing driver is rising as one of the younger stars in the sport in just his first full year in the main ARCA division.

Frontstretch spoke with Scott after his third-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, which he followed up just this past weekend at Kansas Speedway with another third-place finish heading into the season finale at Toledo Speedway set for Saturday, Oct. 5. Scott detailed his start in racing and his chase for the ARCA title.

See also
Lavar Scott, Rev Penalized After Kansas

Read or watch the whole interview below.

Trenton Worsham, Frontstretch: You just finished racing at Bristol with a third-place finish. How is this track for you overall?

Lavar Scott: Bristol is a great track. It’s very iconic. It’s an amazing track to race at.

My team brought me a nice car today. [I] had to start at the rear and drove through the field to finish in third.

Worsham: You’re a newer name in the grand scheme of stock car racing and having a great year in ARCA. How did you get your start and end up making your way to Rev Racing?

Scott: When I was young, my mom and grandfather were drag racers. They raced, and that’s all we did on the weekends.

My older brother started racing, so I wanted to follow in his path. He started doing dirt quarter midgets in the Northeast, and we started racing together every single weekend, and it turned into what I wanted to do for a career.

I turned 12 [years old] and got into bigger cars and races. And when I turned 16, I got the chance to come to Rev Racing and was part of the combine and have been there ever since.

In 2020, I ran Legends, and in 2021 and 2022, I ran late models, then ARCA [Menards Series] East in 2023 and now in the national ARCA series.

Worsham: What made you want to race stock cars instead of going the drag racing route?

Scott: Back then, the rules said you had to be eight years old to race drag, and I was five at the time and wanted to start racing. So the only option for me was dirt quarter midgets.

Worsham: The Drive for Diversity program turned 21 years old this year. How big of a role has it been for you and helping guys like Rajah Caruth who’s in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and Bubba Wallace who’s in the NASCAR Cup Series now?

Scott: It’s been everything to me, leaning on guys that have been in my position before like the guys you mentioned before. Nick [Sanchez] recently signed a deal to go full time [NASCAR] Xfinity [Series] racing.

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Jeremy Clements Discusses 2024 Xfinity Season, Challenges Faced as Owner-Driver

If you do your job and what they say and listen to the people ahead of you, you can succeed in the sport. I soak everything in, and so far, it’s worked.

Worsham: Currently, you’re second in points. What more do you have to do to close that gap and maybe contend for the championship this year?

[Note: Since this interview, ARCA points leader Andres Perez has gotten into a position where he only needs to take the green flag in the season finale to win the ARCA title.]

Scott: My teammate Andres Perez is very good, and we have had some mechanical issues that have hurt us. So right now, I’m just trying to maximize every chance on the racetrack.

So if we have a chance to win the championship, that’s awesome. But if not, I’m still super happy to be here.

Worsham: What other opportunities do you currently have or that have been offered to race outside of what you’re doing with Rev Racing at the moment?

Scott: I want to race everything. Rev [Racing] is my main priority, but I want to race anything that’s going to help my career and benefit me.

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