A Champion’s Life – Harold Stott
Published 2:11 pm Friday, February 7, 2025
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Story by Emily Williams
Photographs by Emily Williams and courtesy of Robbie Stott
Anyone who lives in Western North Carolina knows about NASCAR. The sport is arguably part of the heartbeat of this region—a pastime many Carolinians have been raised to appreciate and view with unwavering dedication every time a race airs on screen. Racing lovers from the area regularly flock to nearby Mooresville, North Carolina, also known as Race City, USA. There, NASCAR lovers come to learn about the history of racing, watch live races, and even embark on a career in the racing industry.
Well-known Tryon local Harold Stott—the owner of Stott’s Ford in downtown Tryon—is far more connected to NASCAR life than many might know. Stott spent years working on a NASCAR pit crew, earning honors and making dear friends along the way.
The NASCAR spirit has run in Harold Stott’s blood since he was a young boy. “I’ve always been an idiot for cars,” he proudly admits as he recalls his early days when he first got behind the wheel. As soon as his feet could reach the pedals of a car, Stott began drag racing. He did so locally for several years until an opportunity arose for him in the big leagues—although not behind the wheel.
In 1976, NASCAR car owner Bud Moore invited Stott to be a part of his team’s pit crew. Stott knew he could not pass up such an incredible opportunity. Five years after making the decision to travel down this career path, Stott had saved enough money to be able to open his dealership in 1981. His regular travels for NASCAR were not an issue for the growth of his new business, though.
“I had two brothers working along with me, so I could leave and not have to worry about it,” he shares.
Stott worked on the motors of Moore’s cars, making sure they were properly tuned and capable of taking the driver the five hundred miles to victory. “I enjoyed every minute of [the job]. I got to travel the whole world. We went to Mexico, Canada, and even Japan,” Stott reminisces.
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He also enjoyed every minute of making friends along his NASCAR journey. Early on in his time with Bud Moore, Stott met Bobby Allison, one of Moore’s drivers.
“Bobby Allison and I talked and, just like that, became buddies. He’d fly us out to Alabama on Friday nights to run dirt racing, then we’d fly back on racing day to do the job Saturday night and Sunday,” he recalls. “Bobby was probably the best race car driver I ever worked for. You couldn’t trick Bobby.”
Stott shares that Allison was so sharp and knew his car so well that he could even tell when the crew had changed a shock absorber. Stott always admired Allison for the friend he was and for the great driver he always proved to be, winning the Daytona 500 multiple times and taking trophies home for various national and international races.
Stott was proud to work with Allison and just as proud to work with his fellow pit crew members. “All of us crew members got along together,” he states. “Our team stuck together like glue.” Stott’s team was surely one to beat; their camaraderie and teamwork led them to win awards for being the top pit crew nine years in a row. In 1991, his team even won the coveted title of Pit Crew Champions for breaking the world record for the fastest pit crew performance.
Stott worked for Bud Moore twenty-two years before Moore retired due to illness, which resulted in Stott taking a job with Travis Carter’s team. He worked for Carter for six years before Stott himself decided it was time to close the door to this chapter of his life. After qualifiers for a race in Atlanta, Stott told Carter he was going home.
“I hated to give it up, but I was getting too old to do it,” he shares.
Since ending his days with NASCAR, Stott has continued building his legacy at home. His dealership business is booming, with plans to expand to other locations in the surrounding region. His dealership has also become a family affair. Stott has trained and mentored his son and grandson to take on the positions of president and vice president of his company.
After leaving NASCAR, Stott has also taken the time to continue to build upon relationships formed during his pit crew days, as well as to commemorate those who have passed away. He still regularly talks to Travis Carter over the phone and meets with his pit crew friends who are still living. Before the passing of Bud Moore in 2017, Stott would visit Moore weekly.
“I started going every Thursday,” Stott states, “and this went on for about six weeks. The last time I was there, I could tell Bud was going down. He said, ‘When you come next week, I’m going to take you down and show you my cow herd.’ I said, ‘Okay,’ but I knew then he wasn’t going to do it. He was on his deathbed, and he died that weekend.”
Stott still holds memories of Moore, as well as those of his other racing friends who have since passed, near and dear to his heart.
Though the awards and honors Mr. Stott won while in NASCAR earned him the title of “champion” in the racing industry, and the success of his dealerships have labeled him as a champion of business, they are not the components of his story that make him a champion in life. Of course, these successes are worthy of accolades and make up many valuable years of his life. However, the most prominent memories Harold Stott holds most dearly after all the years he has spent on earth are not of the moments he won awards or met milestones in his career; what he deems the most cherished experiences of his eighty-six years are with the family he has raised and the close friends he has made.
In the words of the angel Clarence from the film It’s a Wonderful Life, “Remember no man is a failure who has friends.” More than anything else that he has worked toward in life, Mr. Stott has worked to be a loving husband and father, as well as a man who still cares for his friends even after they are gone. He has not failed in living a life that has positively impacted those close to him, and that is how Harold Stott has truly lived the life of a champion.
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