HScott Motorsports has sold their charters and will not compete in the 2017 NASCAR premier series season. The team sold their two charters, the #15 and #46, to Premium Motorsports and Furniture Row Racing, respectively.
“Over the past several months, I considered a number of options for moving forward with the team,” team owner Harry Scott stated in a press release. “Regrettably, there are no viable sponsor/driver options immediately available to allow the team to participate in 2017.”
HScott had struggled in 2016. Drivers Clint Bowyer and Michael Annett finished the year 27th and 36th in points with only three combined top-10 finishes. In 189 total races since the team’s inception, HScott had recorded just four top-10s.
Annett and Bowyer had joined HSM in 2015 and 2016, respectively. After the 2016 season ended, Bowyer sued Scott for missed payments of up to $1.2 million; Scott also owed the former Michael Waltrip Racing driver $1 million for sponsorship that he had brought to HSM from MWR. The suit was settled in early December for $2.2 million.
Bowyer will join Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017, replacing the retiring Tony Stewart in the #14 Ford Fusion, while Annett will return to the Xfinity Series to drive the #5 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports.
The charter heading to Furniture Row will be used to guarantee the new #77 car of Erik Jones a spot on the 40-car grid for every race in 2017. For which car the now-Premium charter will be used for has not been announced.
HScott had competed in NASCAR’s premier series since 2013 after acquiring the assets from James Finch’s Phoenix Racing operation. Justin Allgaier, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell and Ryan Truex have all driven for the team. Scott formerly owned part of Turner Scott Motorsports with the late Steve Turner in the Xfinity (then-Nationwide) and Camping World Truck Series, while also fielding an Xfinity team in partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015. No announcement has been made regarding the team’s K&N Pro Series operation with Justin Marks, but it is expected to continue running in 2017.
“I love this sport and being part of it,” Scott said. “I invested in NASCAR because I truly believe it represents the best racing competition in the world and the best people in all sports.”
Featured image courtesy of Brian Lawdermilk, Getty Images
