Scott Wimmer: The Wisconsin Driver Behind Six Xfinity Series Wins

Scott Wimmer is a former stock car driver from Wisconsin who won six races in NASCAR's Xfinity Series. He drove for Bill Davis Racing and Richard Childress Racing, and he co-owned State Park Speedway in Wausau. Since leaving the cockpit he has worked as a spotter and coach.

Where did Wimmer start racing?

Wimmer was born on 26 January 1976 and began racing at State Park Speedway in 1991, when he was fifteen. His father first ran the team of his uncle Larry Detjens, a champion late model racer. Detjens died in 1981, and a race was later named after him.

Wimmer also competed in other sports. At 14 he took part in skiing at the US National Junior Olympics, racing downhill and slalom, and he finished 13th of 150 competitors. Racing remained his priority, and in 1997 he earned the newcomer award in the Hooters Cup late model series.

Six Xfinity Series wins, a Daytona 500 podium and a long road from Wausau short tracks to Cup starts.

How did his first NASCAR seasons go?

Wimmer made his NASCAR debut in 2000 in the No. 20 AT&T Pontiac for Bill Davis Racing. He finished 18th at Memphis and 19th at Phoenix, after failing to qualify at Rockingham. That year he also made a Cup start at Atlanta, finishing 22nd.

The 2001 season brought a permanent ride in the No. 23 Jani-King Pontiac. He recorded two top-fives and eight top-tens, finishing 11th in points. Those results put him second to Greg Biffle in the Rookie of the Year race.

The 2002 season was a struggle for sponsorship. Siemens backed the team for only half of the races, yet Wimmer took four victories in the autumn at Dover, Memphis, Phoenix and Homestead. The team still finished the year third in points.

Why did his 2003 season change direction?

In 2002 Wimmer also made Cup starts. Siemens sponsored seven races in a No. 27 car, but he made only two of them, and at Talladega he drove the Hills Bros. Coffee car to a 17th-place finish. Those Cup appearances were few.

In 2003 Wimmer had full-time sponsorship from several companies, but he lost crew chief Bootie Barker and moved to Chevrolet. Results dipped from the year before. He took one win, at Pikes Peak, and finished ninth in points with twelve top-tens.

Late in 2003 he was promoted to Bill Davis Racing's No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge for the final Cup races. In his second start in that car he earned his first Cup top-ten, a ninth at Phoenix. Earlier that year he had also run two races in a YJ Stinger Chevrolet, finishing 24th at both Bristol and New Hampshire.

What was his 2004 season like?

Wimmer was full-time in the No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge in 2004. He finished third in the Daytona 500 after a late challenge to the leaders, and he managed one other top-ten, at Dover. The season ended 27th in Cup points.

Team troubles followed. Bill Davis Racing cut its Cup operation to a single car, and a lawsuit from Dodge overshadowed the season. Wimmer ran the full schedule in 2005 but never finished higher than 11th, and the team released him at the end of the season.

Where did his 2006 and 2007 seasons take him?

In 2006 he drove Morgan-McClure's No. 4 Chevrolet until the sponsor stopped paying during the summer, then joined Richard Childress Racing as a test driver. He finished 12th at Homestead in a Cup car and ended the year 38th in points. Over the season he missed twelve Cup races.

He also made sixteen Busch starts that year for Brewco Motorsports, with four top-ten finishes, so his schedule stayed busy even without a steady Cup seat.

The 2007 season was built around Childress' Busch Series team. He drove 22 races, splitting time between the No. 21 and No. 29 Chevrolets. He shared the No. 29 with Jeff Burton, and that car went on to win the 2007 Busch Owners' Championship. Wimmer finished 14th in the drivers' standings despite the limited schedule.

His Cup starts that year were few. He qualified for one race, Indianapolis, and a pit road accident damaged his car on the way to a 31st-place result.

How did his 2008 and 2009 seasons unfold?

In 2008 Wimmer ran 22 races for Childress in the No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet. He won at Nashville, his sixth and final victory in the series, and finished 17th in points. He also failed to make the Richmond Cup race in the No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet.

He was released the following year because of a lack of sponsorship. He split 2009 between JR Motorsports and Key Motorsports, finished 16th in driver points, and made one Cup start at Bristol for Morgan-McClure, finishing 29th. He also missed the Dover Cup race for that team. In the fall of 2009 he and his father bought and improved State Park Speedway.

How did his last driving seasons go?

In 2010 Wimmer decided to drive only quality equipment. He raced twice for JR Motorsports, finishing tenth and seventh, then ran three races for Baker Curb Racing, with a best of seventh at Kentucky. He led laps in five of the six races he ran that year and recorded three top-ten finishes.

In 2011 he drove for Key Motorsports before leaving after the eleventh race for lack of sponsorship. He then ran a mix of rides for other teams and finished 25th in points, with six top-20 finishes in 21 races. He also made four Cup starts for Robby Gordon Motorsports that year, and he failed to qualify a second car at Charlotte and Indianapolis.

Looking back, Wimmer's driving career was shaped by sponsorship. Funding gaps cut short his time at Morgan-McClure in 2006 and at Key Motorsports in 2011, and each lapse left him scrambling for the next ride.

What did Wimmer do after driving?

In 2012 Wimmer helped form Wild Motorsports with three partners, but the team never raced because it could not find sponsorship. He also coached and spotted for Cody Coughlin, a young short-track driver, from that year onward. The arrangement ended in January 2017.

Coughlin won two races and the JEGS/CRA All-Stars championship in 2013, and he signed a driver development contract with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2014. Wimmer kept coaching him in both series while also running State Park Speedway. Wimmer returned to the cockpit that July, driving Coughlin's car in the 34th Larry Detjens Memorial 125 at State Park. He started 16th and finished 13th.

Coughlin moved on to ThorSport Racing in January 2017, and Terry Cook took over as his spotter. In 2016 Wimmer also drove nine Truck races for Kyle Busch Motorsports, with a best finish of 12th at Texas.

Key seasons at a glance