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Scott Harrington (racing driver)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scott Harrington
Harrington in 2014
NationalityUnited States American
Born (1963-12-24) December 24, 1963 (age 60)
Louisville, Kentucky, United States
IndyCar Series career
13 races run over 5 years
Team(s)Della Penna Motorsports
Riley & Scott
Harrington Motorsports
Nienhouse Motorsports
Mid-America Motorsports
Brayton Racing
Best finish14th (1999)
First race1996 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race2002 Michigan Indy 400 (Michigan)
Wins Podiums Poles
0 0 0
Champ Car career
1 race run over 1 year
Years active1989
Team(s)U.S. Engineering
Best finish45th (1989)
First race1989 Road America 200 (Road America)
Last race1989 Road America 200 (Road America)
Wins Podiums Poles
0 0 0
Previous series
2003
1992–1994
1989
1988
1987–1988
Indy Pro Series
SCCA Can-Am
CART
ARS
Toyota Atlantic
Awards
1999Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year

Scott Harrington (born December 24, 1963) is a second generation American former auto racing driver, formerly active in the Indy Racing League and sportscar racing. He is now a private racing driver coach.[1] His father, Gene Harrington, was a veteran of both SCCA and IMSA competition.

Biography

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Harrington was born in Louisville, Kentucky and attended the University of Louisville.[2] Starting out on two wheels, Harrington won a number of championships and achieved much success in the world of AMA Motocross and Supercross. In 1986 Sports Car Magazine picked Harrington as one of the three most promising drivers in the U.S. He was a multiple race winner in Toyota Formula Atlantic, finishing third in the 1988 championship despite running the uncompetitive Ralt chassis. He was the only person ever to win a race in the 1988 Ralt. From 1992 through 1994, Harrington had much success in the SCCA Shelby Can-Am series. During his tenure in the series, he won more races than any other driver. He won the 1992 championship and scored race wins in every season.

An accomplished open wheel racer who made a single CART start in 1989, Harrington made a last second Bump Day run to qualify for the first IRL-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 in 1996.[3] In 1999 he ran a full IRL season with his own team and had numerous top ten finishes, including a top five finish at Phoenix International Raceway, at the time the highest finishing position for the Infiniti engine. Despite failing to qualify for the Indy 500 and suffering serious injuries at Texas 1 (broken left tibia, right fibula, right foot and three ribs) he won the Rookie of the Year honors by a slim margin over Robby McGehee. Harrington attempted to qualify for seven different Indy 500 races but only succeeded once, in his second attempt in 1996. In 1998 he was well on his way to a top qualifying position when he suffered a blown engine that ended his month as the team had no backup. He had a best IRL finish of fourth at Phoenix in 1999 and had a total of 14 series starts, which is the fewest total starts by any IRL Rookie of the Year. Never being one to be short on speed, his bad luck at the Speedway was well known as he won the Jigger Award for his bad luck. Harrington is also the only person to ever compete in Formula Atlantic, the original Indy Lights Series, the Infiniti Pro Series, the CART Indy Car Series and the IRL Indy Car Series.[4]

His career was affected by arrests and convictions for driving while intoxicated.[5] Harrington is also one of the few American drivers to compete in the "Big Three" of American motorsports - the Indy 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Harrington also competed in the SVRA celebrity Pro-Am in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. He finished 9th of the 33 starters in 2015 and in 2018 was on the podium with a second-place finish in AP. Harrington is one of the original instructors at the Mid-Ohio school, a position he still holds today (August 2022).

After retiring from active driving, Harrington has achieved success in his driver coaching business,[6] including coaching Highcroft Racing factory Acura team Championship winning owner-driver Duncan Dayton and Mike Miserandino, who has won four national championships in a row. In 2017, two of his customers won again at the SCCA Runoffs, Mike Miserandino won his fifth National title with Scott's coaching and Max Gee won his first with Scott on board, coaching him to his first national championship. His latest driver, Jacob Abel, won two of the three F3 Americas races at the Road Atlanta round. He also competes in a number of vintage endurance races every year. In 2014 his vintage coaching customer Bill Abel won a national championship at the SVRA National Championship at the Circuit of the Americas. In addition to his testing and training work, Harrington does promotional and testing work for various manufacturers.

Harrington currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife Marsie and his young son.

Racing record

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SCCA National Championship Runoffs

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Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status
1985 Road Atlanta Spec Racer Renault Sports Renault 3 2 Running
1986 Road Atlanta Spec Racer Renault Sports Renault DNS
Swift DB2 Ford Sports 2000 2 2 Running

American open-wheel racing results

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CART Series

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points Ref
1989 U.S. Engineering Lola T8700 Chevrolet 265A V8 t PHX LBH INDY
DNQ
MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MCH POC MDO ROA
16
NAZ LAG
DNQ
45th 0 [7]

IndyCar Series

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Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points Ref
1996 Della Penna Motorsports Reynard 95i 44 Ford XB V8 t WDW PHX INDY
15
31st 20 [8]
1996–97 Johansson Motorsports G-Force GF01 36 Infiniti V8 NHM LVS WDW PHX INDY
DNQ
TXS PPIR CLT NH2 LV2 NC 0 [9]
1998 LP Racing Dallara IR8 66 Oldsmobile WDW PHX INDY
DNQ
TXS NHS 39th 8 [10]
Riley & Scott Cars Riley & Scott Mk V 15 DOV
22
CLT PPIR ATL TXS LSV
1999 Harrington Motorsports Dallara 66 Nissan WDW
25
PHX
5
CLT
C
INDY
DNQ
TXS
DNS
PPIR
19
ATL
15
DOV
6
PPIR
6
LSV
14
TXS
6
14th 165 [11]
2000 Nienhouse Racing G-Force 17 Oldsmobile WDW PHX LSV
23
INDY
DNQ
TXS PPIR 35th 17 [12]
Mid America Motorsports Dallara 43 ATL
20
DOV PPIR
2002 Brayton Racing 37 Chevrolet MIA PHX FON NAZ INDY
DNQ
TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS
21
KTY GAT CHI TXS 47th 9 [13]

Indianapolis 500

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Year Chassis Engine Start Finish
1989 Lola Cosworth DNQ
1996 Lola Ford-Cosworth 32 15
1997 G-Force Oldsmobile DNQ
1998 Dallara Oldsmobile DNQ
1999 Dallara Infiniti DNQ
2000 Dallara Oldsmobile DNQ
2002 Dallara Chevrolet DNQ

References

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  1. ^ "Driver Scott Harrington Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  2. ^ Reed, Terry (2005). Indy: The Race And Ritual Of The Indianapolis 500. Potomac Books, Inc. p. 142. ISBN 9781574889079. Retrieved 27 May 2013. Scott Harrington university of louisville.
  3. ^ "Scott Harrington". Driver's Edge. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  4. ^ "Sad departure for troubled Harrington". Crash. 2000-08-10. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  5. ^ Vega, Michael (12 August 2000). "Gordon Is Enjoying Ride On The Road To Success". Boston Globe. p. G17. The career of Indy Racing League driver Scott Harrington has come to a perilous crossroads after he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol last Saturday in Indianapolis. It marks Harrington's third DUI offense in the last eight months,
  6. ^ "Scott Harrington". Driver's Edge. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
  7. ^ "Scott Harrington – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  8. ^ "Scott Harrington – 1996 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "Scott Harrington – 1997 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  10. ^ "Scott Harrington – 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  11. ^ "Scott Harrington – 1999 Pep Boys Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  12. ^ "Scott Harrington – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  13. ^ "Scott Harrington – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by IndyCar Series
Rookie of the Year

1999
Succeeded by