Luminaries from the world of Nascar and motorsports at large flocked to Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday to witness the end of a magnificent career—that of three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. However, another ceremony was held for fellow retiring driver Brian Scott, one that was even sadder than you could ever imagine.
“I’d like to thank everyone for coming out tonight”, Scott said to the assembled conference room made up almost-entirely of empty chairs. “It’s been a great run here in Nascar, and I’m glad to be leaving on my own terms. Who’d have though that a scion of one of the most-powerful families in the western-US would ever get to live out his dreams?”
Scott’s prepared statement included numerous pauses, most-likely for when the assembled media would stand and applaud his words. However, Scott instead stood in front of the “Getting Away Scott-Free” banner for upwards of seven seconds, waiting for standing ovations that never came, from a crowd that never arrived.
“Working my way up with some of the biggest teams in Nascar, guys like Gibbs, RCR, it wasn’t always easy”, Scott opined about the rides he acquired with family sponsorship and, eventually, lost due to lack of performance. “But I knew that if I hung in there, people would notice. And that’s what tonight is all about.
“OK, lets open it up for questions”, Scott said in a slightly-different voice, apparently trying to mimic a public relations rep of his that never arrived. Scott then surveyed the sparse crowd looking for someone, anyone, to acknowledge his concluded racing career.
“Uh, yeah, so what do you think about Smoke retiring?”, said a local beat writer who, earlier, had complained about being asked to leave Tony Stewart’s retirement party due to order of the fire marshall.
“Oh, he was great, there’s no doubt, but I’m not here to talk about him, I’m here to talk about my future plans with my family business, opportunities in the marketing world, and poss…”, Scott then trailed off as the writer left the room.
Scott was later seen walking with his family to his hotel room, carrying a large box full of commemorative diecast cars.