Joey Scarallo (born 29 November 1978 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) is a professional racing driver. At the age of three his family moved to Long Island, New York, where he currently still lives. Scarallo started karting at age 11, winning multiple championships. It was around this time that he graduated from the Jim Hall Kart School. When he was 13 years old, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to put his racing aspirations on hold. After undergoing brain surgery he became a two-time national karting champion, winning two Duffy trophies, in the

International Karting Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IKF.)

Open-wheel racing

After being emancipated as a minor, Scarallo started his car racing career in the open-wheel ranks in the US Formula Ford 2000 Championship Series in 1996. The first race was at the newly built

Walt Disney World Speedway Walt Disney World Speedway was a racing facility located on the grounds of the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It was built in 1995 by IMS Events, Inc., a subsidiary of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation, an ...

in a family owned 1995 Van Diemen. After a surprise outside pole qualifying position he led the first 9 laps of the race.

Chris Economaki Christopher Constantine Economaki (October 15, 1920 – September 28, 2012) was an American motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Economaki was given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism."

of Speed Sport News dubbed Scarallo the next

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

. Scarallo ran in the USFF2000 Series in 1996, a part of 1997, and in 1998. In 2000, he ran six races in the

Toyota Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...

before making the jump to race in the Trans-Am Series in 2001. In 2007, he made the switch back to open wheel racing for one year, racing in the Indy Lights Series for a startup team.

Stock car racing

It wasn't until 2002 that he joined the North American Trans-Am Championship. In February of that year, Scarallo was invited to drive for K&N Air Filters in a company development car, in the 24 Hours of Daytona. The car was an Ultima GTR. After breaking many times throughout the race, the car was finally retired during the night portion of the race. In 2004, Scarallo was hired to race in the 3-Hour Endurance race of Puerto Rico with teammate Jorge Diaz, another Trans-Am competitor. After qualifying on pole and leading every lap of the race Scarallo, became the very first American to win the event. 2005 was a very competitive year with many laps led, and a fifth place championship finish. The

Trans-Am Championship The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of Race track, track ty ...

went on hiatus after 2006 and Scarallo moved over to run in the

SCCA World Challenge The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club s ...

in the GT class with a Pontiac GTO. In 2010, he made his

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

debut in the

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

when he was hired by a team to run on the

Road America Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...

and Watkins Glen road courses helping them collect base prize money for qualifying and pulling out of the races early. Many lower budget NASCAR teams do this as a full-time revenue source, deriving the term "Start and Park".

Career results

Indy Lights

References

SCCA Pro Series Profile

Driver Database Profile

Yahoo Nascar Profile

Racing Reference Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarallo, Joey 1978 births Atlantic Championship drivers Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Indy Lights drivers Living people NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Smithtown, New York Racing drivers from South Australia Trans-Am Series drivers International Kart Federation drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Sportspeople from Adelaide