MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The Scott Bishop vs. Josh Berry scorecard at JR Motorsports currently reads as follows:
- Berry – 3
- Bishop – 0
That’s a statistic that Bishop, a 24-year-old native of Spartanburg, S.C., would sorely love to change entering his third of five scheduled weekends in a JRM late model this weekend at Orange County Speedway.
Bishop made his return to late model competition two weeks ago following a three-year hiatus, having regularly competed at his home track — Greenville Pickens Speedway — as recently as the 2012 season.
He kicked off his association with JRM and new sponsor TrueTimber with a bang, scoring sixth and third-place finishes at the historic GPS half-mile during twin 50-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model stock car events on July 9.
Bishop followed that performance up with an eighth-place effort against another strong field of cars at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday, further proving his mettle behind the wheel after three top-10 finishes in three starts.
The kicker? His JRM teammate Berry, piloting a similarly-prepared No. 88 Chevrolet late model sponsored by Speedco, won all three races.
While Bishop has yet to best his talented teammate in competition, he has been no shortage of thankful for the opportunity JRM has given him as he begins to revitalize his racing resume.
“I am extremely excited and thankful to the Earnhardt family and JR Motorsports for the trust and opportunity they are giving to me to drive the iconic No. 88 for their team,” Bishop said. “I’ve always wanted to be a NASCAR driver, and an opportunity with JRM is a dream come true for me and my family. There simply are no words to describe my appreciation, and my goal is to make them proud to have me as part of their racing family.”
“We have a lot going on. It’s all happened so fast. It’s amazing, really. It never felt real until I got the dates to come to Greenville (for the first race), and then once that happened it felt like 10 years went by before we got there. Obviously we’ve performed well in the first couple of races, but hopefully that’s just the beginning.”
The deal came together for Bishop as a result of his relationship with outdoor outfitting company TrueTimber, a new sponsor to JR Motorsports that team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. is an equity partner in.
“My uncle, Rusty Sellers (the owner of TrueTimber) … he’s the one that got me into this JR Motorsports vehicle. He’s done everything he can to help me — he put this whole deal together after I went a couple years not being able to race. He told me what he was working on and that he was going to sponsor the deal, and now here we are.”
While Bishop is back in the racing swing now, he did admit that he had settled into a regular role in everyday life during his three-year break away from the track, and that as a result he had to push himself to get back in shape before getting behind the wheel.
“We struggled in our family-owned late model, and ultimately it meant taking some time away.”
“I worked an 8-5 job … my family owns a salvage yard and I worked there … but when I found out about this opportunity I had to get back in shape, start toning up and get myself prepared because it had been a while. I lost about 20 pounds … actually before I ever found out about this deal, but I’m thankful that it’s all happened the way it has.”
The South Carolina native also added that he has found some differences in the feel of the car since returning to competition, and that he has been able to lean on Berry for advice — though he still wants to beat his teammate, as any other racer would.
“Some of the feel is the same (as my family car), and some is different,” Bishop explained. “When we were running (in 2012) I was running the soft springs that changed the travel up a bit, but this car just drives so much better than what my car did. With newer stuff, every year (the cars) get better.”
“Josh has helped me get comfortable in the car, and it’s been fun and super exciting to work with him and with JR Motorsports. I’ve dreamed about this since I was a little kid, and there’s no words to describe how thankful I am for this opportunity. We’ve been solid, but I want to get up there and be able to race right there with him … potentially beat him in one of these deals while I have the chance.”
Bishop stressed that he hopes to add additional races with JR Motorsports following the conclusion of his five-race agreement on Aug. 6.
“I don’t want this to be just a five-race deal … I want to come to some sort of an agreement with them to have more races after these five.”
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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