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Motorsports: Scott Pruett calls it a career after Rolex 24

By Mike Knapp

MONTEREY, CA - MAY 03: Scott Pruett is shown during practice for the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 3, 2014 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images)
MONTEREY, CA - MAY 03: Scott Pruett is shown during practice for the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 3, 2014 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Brian Cleary/Getty Images) /
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Scott Pruett, whose racing career spanned 50 years, drove the final race of his career this past weekend at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.

Scott Pruett concluded his racing career at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona this past weekend, capping a career in which he put up numbers in sports car racing that will be hard to match.

Pruett, who also drove in IndyCar and NASCAR, posted 60 wins in sports cars. He also won 11 sports car championships.

He’s tied with Hurley Haywood for overall wins at the Rolex 24 with five, and he has five other class wins. He also won the 12 Hours of Sebring and had a class win at Le Mans.

In the final drive of his career, Pruett competed at Daytona in the GTD class. After suffering damage to the car late in the race, Pruett and his team finished 10th in class.

When the race was over, he had this to say to Racer.com:

"“We had some issues with the Lexus, and in the last few hours, unfortunately one of the drivers got off course and had some damage. The plan was to try to get me in for the end, but with the damage unfortunately that didn’t happen. The No. 1 priority was to get to the checkered flag. You’d like to get there first, but first you want to get there.“The majority of my driving was last night from about 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. this morning. I’ll remember the darkness at Daytona, and all the craziness that happens at nighttime – along with a little rain. Those are all great, fond, wonderful memories. We had really good pace for the start of the race, but we couldn’t maintain it.”"

Along with his sports car success, Pruett had success in other disciplines as well.

Successful IndyCar career

Pruett drove in three IndyCar races in 1988 and moved to the series full-time in 1989. In his first Indianapolis 500, he finished 10th to share Rookie of the Year honors with Bernard Jourdain. He finished eighth in the championship standings.

After missing the 1990 season due to lower leg injuries suffered in a pre-season test, Pruett returned in 1991. He raced seven more years in IndyCar after that.

In 149 races, he captured two wins, five poles and 15 podium finishes. He also finished a career-best sixth in the championship in 1998.

Moving to NASCAR

More from IndyCar

Pruett made the jump to NASCAR for the 2000 season. While his only full-time season was less than successful, as he recorded just one top 10 finish and finished 37th in the standings, he found his niche on the road courses.

From 2001 to 2008, he was the “road course ringer” for Chip Ganassi Racing. During that span, he notched five top 10 finishes, finishing second at Watkins Glen in 2003 and third at Sonoma in 2004. He also had four top 10 finishes and three poles in 11 events in the Nationwide (Xfinity) Series.

Overall, Pruett spent a half-century racing. He began his career racing karts at the age of eight. He won the World Karting Championship in 1981 and was inducted into the World Karting Hall of Fame in 1991.

Next: Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time

Next: Top 10 NASCAR drivers of all-time

There is no doubt that now that his career is over, there will be other Halls of Fame that will come calling. While he isn’t a household name, Scott Pruett is one of the great American racers of this generation.