ROSEVILLE, California — If you have been attending races at All American Speedway the past few years, you probably know who Scott Winters is. You know he races the No. 24 Ferrari-Kramer Modified car and you can usually find him in the Winner's Circle after Saturday night racing. However, you may not know about his day job at Lawrence Livermore Lab.
Winters is not only a racing champion, but he also holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and works on projects that develop fusion energy in the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore. "Fusion energy is essentially what the sun does," he said. "My background is in design of systems. The NIF program is a huge, potentially game-changing project."
You might say Winters is a scientist who loves speed - and loves to win. He was the 2007 and 2008 All American Speedway Modified champion and the 2009 Modified champion at Stockton. So far this year he leads the AAS modified championship race by 45 point over his nearest rival, Jason Philpot. Winning, he says, never gets old.
"I've raced for a long time at lots of venues," Winters said. "Las Vegas, Irwindale, Shasta, Las Vegas. We have raced against many teams. You never know when it is going to be your last win. You see teams like Philpot, Brock and Glenn running up front, so I am always competing against different teams at different times."
"It's not boring," Winters said. "I enjoy the challenge and the competitiveness, and the people involved with racing. It's a fun sport. We have fun at the track.”
Winters was born and raised in Redding, CA. His interest in racing began as a young child when the family attended races at Shasta Raceway to watch his Uncle Phil Norris race stock cars. At five years old, he started driving an off-road go-kart around the property of his family's home.
He started racing professionally at age eight, traveling throughout California and Oregon. By the time he was 14, he was competing in National go-kart events. He won 7 to 8 track or series championships and was a regional champion too. "I was very excited to get out and start competing," Winters said. "I remember having a general knack for it. It came pretty easily to me, very naturally." After Winters got his driver's license, he raced Mini-Stocks for a couple of years at Shasta Raceway Park.
Once he started college at U.C. Davis his racing was put on the back burner. At times, he helped with friends racing, but he did not race. Winters graduated from U.C. Davis with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and then went on to get his masters degree and a Ph.D. He currently lives in Tracy with his wife Joyce and their three children.
In 1996, after getting his Ph.D, Winters became a crew chief for his friend Mike Hubert, who raced a Modified at Altamont Raceway Park. At the end of the season Winters bought a Modified car for himself and started racing it in 1997. He ran all year at Altamont, winning rookie-of-the-year honors and setting a new track record. Winters liked racing Modifieds because it was exciting and cost effective, but he dropped out the next year for lack of sponsorship.
In 1999, he started racing again at Stockton 99 Speedway. Again, due to lack of sponsorship he did not race for the 2000 season. At the end of that year, he raced in the Open Show at Stockton and won. In 2001, he started driving for Ron Ostorero. In 2002, he started racing full-time for Ostorero and won the NASCAR Regional Championship and the track championship at Madera. He raced two years at Madera Speedway and won the track championship again in 2003.
Ostorero wanted to back away from running a full schedule in 2004 and 2005, so Winters only raced a few times. In 2006, he raced for Jeff Stevens for a few races. Wayne Ferrari was driving at Stockton that year as well. He raced for Ferrari for one race that year and then in 2007, Winters was asked by Ferrari to come aboard full-time. He won the Modified championship with Ferrari-Kramer Racing at Stockton in 2009.
Winters believes his success in racing is because of his team. "Our team and Wayne Ferrari have been around racing for a long time. Don Kramer builds the engines and he is extremely knowledgeable. My crew chief Ron Ostorero builds transmissions and rear ends, and when you combine all that experience, I think that is the key to winning," Winters said.
Winters was recently penalized after qualifying number one for a Modified race at AAS, because his car was a tad wider than the 78 inches allowed. He said it was an honest mistake. Even though he had to start from the rear, he won the race. Winters future plans are to continue racing a Modified. He will be racing at All American Speedway on Saturday, September 4.
