Daytona Beach, FL (Feb.19, 2013) When you think of NASCAR Stock Car racing and Florida, St. Augustine might not be the first place that comes to mind for most folks, but if you’re NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Scott Lagasse Jr., it’s the place you call home.
A native of Florida, Lagasse grew up cutting his teeth and honing his driving skills in the shadows of Daytona on the dirt ovals and asphalt short tracks across Florida and Georgia, consistently winning at every level along the way. “Daytona is home for me and I grew up watching races and dreaming of winning at this place.” He then got the call he’d been waiting for in 2005, after winning in the ASA Touring Series, to move up to the big leagues of NASCAR. Scotty has spent the past seven seasons continuing his winning ways on dirt and in the ARCA Series as well as making 71 combined starts in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.
Through those years, Lagasse was fortunate enough to drive for several standout crew chiefs along the way including Brad Parrott, Brian Pattie & Steve Boyer who all have encouraged Scotty to not give up, with the common message saying “given the right situation with a committed program and proper funding, you will win races”.
Now 31, Lagasse has decided to take his racing career in his own hands. With a little mentoring from his father, Scott Lagasse Sr., also a veteran professional race car driver, and family friend John Bickford, Jeff Gordon’s Step-Father, Lagasse decided the only way to build a lasting full-time effort that would allow him to contend for a NASCAR championship, would be to roll up his sleeves and do things the old fashioned way…expand his family based race team that has produced winning results for nearly 30 years, by moving that team into the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Lagasse’s strategic plan was to launch his new team and run three events towards the end of the 2012 season with TeamSLR in preparation for a more substantial effort during the 2013 season that will in turn allow his sponsors time to grow their marketing platforms and strategic brand messaging for a full time effort beginning in 2014. Lagasse says, “We have been working steadily for a couple years to build our program one piece at a time and it is exciting to see it coming together. I can’t wait to crank up the season in Daytona and show everyone what we have been working so hard to put together.” “I am excited to be working with Tommy Baldwin and to have his experience, his input and guidance throughout the season. It’s also very cool to partner up with Brad Parrott again as our Crew Chief. I have a lot of confidence in Brad and his abilities to lead this team. Our entire team is a solid group of talented, hungry racers that are focused on building TeamSLR into a winning program. This will be a terrific year as we continue to build the HybridLight / Boy Scouts of America racing program.”
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation’s largest and most recognized values-based youth development organizations. For over a century Scouting has provided an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness. The Boy Scouts of America prepares young people for life by providing the nation’s foremost youth program of character
Lagasse first developed a business plan that would make most Sprint Cup Series teams and their marketing guru’s jealous and proceeded to go out and secure long term sponsorship agreements with The Boy Scouts of America and HybridLight Solar Technologies before TeamSLR had even built its first car or run its first race. With engine support and guidance from Richard Chidress Racing, he then entered into a technical alliance with veteran crew chief and team owner Tommy Baldwin to prepare and field cars in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and enlisted the help of veteran crew chief Brad Parrott to call the shots on race day.
development and values-based leadership training. The Scouting organization is composed of 2.7 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21, and more than a million volunteers, in nearly 300 local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.scouting.org or www.toughscout.com. For more information on The Boy Scouts of America NASCAR program, please visit www.scouting.org/BSARacing/nascar.
HybridLight, a subsidiary of Peterson Industries based in St. George, UT, offers a wide variety of patented, rechargeable solar powered products including flashlights, spotlights and lanterns that utilize cutting edge solar and LED technology with a built-in back-up battery system. These lights use solar or collector panels comprised of photovoltaic cells, which capture sunlight and ambient light, as well as artificial and indoor lighting to produce and store electrical energy which powers the HybridLight’s dynamic (and extremely durable) LED bulb which should last over 10 years of continual use. These products are durable, environmentally friendly and are guaranteed for life. For more information on HybridLight, please visit www.hybridlight.com.
Be sure to watch for Scott Lagasse Jr. and the #8 HybridLight / Boy Scouts of America Chevrolet Camaro as they compete in the DRIVE4COPD 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday, February, 23 at the Daytona International Speedway live on ESPN at 1:00 pm.
For more information regarding Scott Lagasse Jr. or Team SLR, please visit www.scottlagasse.com or www.teamslr.com. Follow Scott on Twitter @scottlagasse
