ladder. Once he got by
Amber Franklin in round one, he had a bye into the semi finals. There
he defeated Maximus Butcher and was set to face David Roloff in the
final round. Scottie admitted to a few nerves, but they didn’t get the
best of him. It was all Scottie, doing his driving job to turn on the
win light. “I just kept cool, just tried to keep my nerves down,” he
said of the minutes leading up to the final round. Once it was over
and Scottie had his first win under his belt he simply said the win
felt “pretty good.”
For someone who will start fifth grade in the fall, winning a
national-level competition must feel “pretty good,” indeed. Although
the youngster could
easily boast about his family name and the notoriety that goes along
with it, Scottie, while clearly proud of his father’s accomplishments,
doesn’t let it go to his head. “I just think I’m a regular kid. Just
‘cause my dad’s famous doesn’t really change me.”
If Scottie keeps up his winning ways, Frankie Taylor may not be be
only well known name in the family. Eventually, Scottie hopes to
follow in his dad’s footsteps and compete in Pro Extreme. For now,
he’s happy to race Huddleston Performance Top Junior Dragster, honing
his bracket racing skills.
Scottie would like to thank: his family, Benji Lapp with SnapOn Tools,
his teammate Cole Isbell, and Renegade Oil. “I had to really work for
this win,” he said. “I couldn’t do this without my team. After three
runner ups we finally got a win!”
As in any level of drag racing, friends and competitors are often one
and the same. Scottie says it’s tough to line up against his friends,
and especially his teammate Cole, but still enjoys the competition,
stating it’s his favorite thing about racing. The Texas family will
continue to run the PDRA series where both Frankie and Scottie hope to
continue their winning ways. Scottie also competes with the Southwest
Junior Dragster Series, running a hefty schedule for someone his age.
It’s in his blood, though, and Scottie Taylor wouldn’t have it any
other way.
Photo Credits: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com / PDRA66.com
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