RICHMOND, VA :: Joe Scarbrough, 44, has been racing for 35 years and he isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Scarbrough, who grew up in New Jersey, is racing full-time at three different tracks in two different cars in 2014. He races Late Models at Southside Speedway outside of Richmond as well as Modifieds at South Boston Speedway and Franklin County Speedway.
“I became an open wheel guy in Virginia,” Scarbrough said. “I don’t know how that happened. It was a family thing. My dad was a driver and my grandfather was a car builder in the 50s and 60s. He raced in New Jersey and Florida. My dad started racing when he was 40 and I was 10 so I started racing karts and Micro Stocks in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York at a lot of tracks that are probably closed now.”
Scarbrough’s first official race was a Micro Stock race back in 1979. In 2014, he continues to race any chance he gets because he just loves doing it.
“It’s a passion,” Scarbrough explained. “I just love doing it. It’s got to the point that, to move up in the sport, everyone wants a funded driver and I’ve got more talent than funding so I tend to find myself racing for team owners that just love the sport. They’ve had issues with their teams where they couldn’t get things right so I consult, race and have fun. I bring a wealth of knowledge and a good attitude.”
Scarbrough jokes that he often gets attention because of his name – a name shared by the host of a popular morning television program.
“I get hits on the internet very often because of Morning Joe,” Scarbrough joked. “I didn’t have that problem until about 10 years ago when somebody stole my name and became more famous.”
Scarbrough finds himself currently sitting in second in points in Franklin County Speedway’s Moonshine Modified division, third in Southside Speedway’s Late Model Stock Car division and fourth in South Boston Speedway’s Modified division.
