It was nearly a Legend Car Dirt Nationals victoryfor Scotty Richardson at Fayetteville Motor Speedway in 2023. Maybe if he'd used the bumper just a bit more? A championship at the Legend Car Dirt Nationals and an INEX Masters Dirt National Championship are both on Richardson's goals for 2024 when the dirt season opens up later this year. Despite growing up at the race track, he admits that fishing is probably his biggest hobby, enjoys cooking, and already has his dream street car. So on to finding dream car number two!
Hometown: Pelican Rapids, MN
Division: Masters
Number: 79
Team: Blind Squirrel Racing / Tony Brockhouse Legends Central Racing Team
Favorite TV Show: Gold Rush
Favorite Restaurant: Outback Steakhouse
1. When did you first take an interest in auto racing?
I’m a second-generation racer. My dad raced from the late 60s up until about 15 years ago. We raced side-by-side [and] I grew up at the race track. My mom worked at a couple of the race tracks at the gate, so I spent many, many hours before the races started picking up tear offs, debris embedded in the track. I grew up at the race track.
2. What was your first race car?
My first race car was a ’74 Le Mans that was donated to me. I think I was 17 years old and placed last place in every single race but led the points after a few weeks because I finished and almost got rookie of the year (Red River Valley Speedway in Outlaw Street Stocks) that year on a Kentucky Fried Chicken budget, [because] that’s where I was working.
3. Why did you choose a Legend Car?
I raced street stocks and four-cylinder modifieds for about 15 years and then I took 10 or 15 years off from racing to raise some kids. I had rented a Legend Car one night and they just seemed like they were easy to work on and they gave me the same adrenaline rush that I had before. They gave me a good high from driving them. The horsepower to weight ratio is pretty awesome. That’s why I chose it and they’re economical, too. I’m old so I’m getting cheap, so I don’t like to spend a lot of money.
4. How did you choose the number 79?
It was my dad’s number. Back in the 70s he was number 70 but back then you could not run a number that somebody else had already run. He had to put a little tail on 70 and turn it into a 79. So, it was always my dad’s number. I took it over, [or rather] I took it away from him even when we were racing against each other.
5. What is your favorite race track?
I would say I-94 Speedway, which is a track we ran at one time last year. It’s in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and that is an awesome facility. That along with Red River Valley Speedway. That’s kind of my home track.
6. What is your dream street car?
I do have a 1966 Chevelle and that was always my dream car. But probably a 1993 Mazda RX7. It’s got a really insane turbo rotary and Bose radio systems. They’re sweet.
7. Would you trade the Chevelle for the RX7?
Probably not, no.
8. What is your favorite college or professional sports team?
I’m a Minnesota Vikings fan for football and then for college, the NDSU Bison. I grew up three or four blocks away from the stadium.
9. What is a fun fact about you that no one would guess?
That I’m probably better cook than a mechanic or race car driver. I really like to cook. I can do a thousand different things with pork loin, a good ole cheap piece of meat.
10. Who is your biggest inspiration?
My dad. My is still alive, but we did everything together. He taught me most of what I know. He taught me how to fix a race car and I’m a mechanic now because of him. I owe it all to him, Howie Richardson. He’s a bit of a local legend [in North Dakota].
11. Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” Do you enjoy fishing?
I really enjoy fishing. Ice fishing is a bigger hobby of mine than even driving a race car. I have several ice fishing houses and I even have an ice fishing vehicle called a SnoBear. Yes I have a major passion for fishing. In the United States, Minnesota, Canada, Lake Winnipeg, [fishing] is my other big hobby. We do live on the lake, too. We get our winter fishing in, we get our summer pontooning in as well.
12. Is there a place you’d recommend visitors to Minnesota visit? Maybe a hidden gem?
My little town of Pelican Rapids. We’ve got some tourist attractions here. We have ‘Pelican Pete,’ which is the world largest Pelican. It is a big pelican statue. And just the lakes region I live in. It’s God’s country. There’s 1,100 lakes in my county, which is the most in the country. It’s just a beautiful place in the summer and in the winter we do even have a bar on the ice. They drag it out with tractors and you can go have a beer in a fish house on the ice.
13. If you could appear in any movie, what movie would you pick?
My favorite movie to watch in the fish house is Castaway with Tom Hanks. Sitting on a deserted like that and problem solving how to get off the island, I think I could be Tom Hanks in Castaway.
14. If you won the lottery, how would you celebrate?
We’d just have a big raggin’ party with a lot of food and a lot of booze. We’d eat good; We’d eat steak and seafood all the time. And go on vacation to the Caribbean and around the world. That’s how we’d party.
15. You race dirt, have you ever wanted to try asphalt or road course racing?
I never had road course raced. That would be kind of interesting [and] be fun to try out. I did race some modifieds. They called it a Wissota Mod 4. I did that for three seasons. I enjoyed it. The maintenance on the car was minimal but it just didn’t give me adrenaline rush like dirt does. It was nice, you could wear some nice clothes to the track and come home and put them back on and aside from some rubber on your face, it’s super clean. I enjoyed it but it just doesn’t give you the rush like dirt.
16. Where is somewhere or a specific track you haven’t competed on that is on your bucket list?
There is a track in Cedar Lake, Wisconsin called Cedar Lake Speedway. They have had some Legends races over the years. It would be really cool to race there. It’s one of the top dirt race tracks in the country.
The configuration, where there is a wall all the way around it. Some nights you’d be rubbin’ that bumper against the wall and doing slide jobs. It’s just an extremely well-run race track. They type of track too where if you spin out there’s going to be a wreck or pushing you off within the first 15 seconds. They don’t mess around. No delays, very well organized, and very professional.
17. What are your 2024 racing plans and goals?
It would be really nice to pick up a lot more 100-point shows than this year. Never did win a feature, I was never completely on the podium. So I wanna win some features and bring home a national championship and win the Dirt Nationals this year. Those are my goals. I was able get a second-place at the [Dirt] Nationals this year, and at the end there I had the fastest car, just didn’t use my bumper enough.