Cameron Taylor

Cameron Taylor (born June 10, 1990 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American racing driver currently racing in the TM Lights and the TM Master Cup. He is known for his tendency to comment on everything, regardless of whether or not it concerns him as well as his ability to hold back until late in a race and make a charge in the closing stages. This has also applied to seasons, as he has made a championship charge in the 2012 TM Lights season.

Early life
Cameron Taylor is a second generation driver. His father is a sports car driver with a number of wins in American road racing. Taylor grew up in the Cleveland area.

Racing Career
After a successful run in Ohio region karting, in 2011 Taylor made the step up to the VERC, a European-based stock car series. His season in the series was notable for his surprise debut victory at Brands Hatch where he took the lead on the first lap and despite a late charge from Ivan Nikolayev (who drove for the much higher budget Derek Cash Racing operation) he was able to win. Brands Hatch was also the sight of his first top ten in the TM Master Cup Series, so he developed a reputation for being skilled at the English track. He finished third in the VERC standings. Following Leslie Riggs' injuries at the 2011 Round of Daytona, Trevor Carrington Racing searched for a driver. They found two: Erik Olson and Cameron Taylor. Taylor ran the newly renumbered #99 Calton Morel for three races. His debut at his home race, the 2011 Round of Ohio saw him extremely slow. In fact, Tony Durbin told him in what was described as a "very friendly conversation" to stay out of the way of the leaders and follow their lines to learn the track. Taylor took Durbin's advice in the race. His next race at Road America was considerably better. He was no longer the slowest car in the field, but was several seconds faster than AJ Young, who he lapped several times. At first he fell off the pace but eventually he settled in and was able to run lap times that while slow were not terribly slower than his teammate Dan Mackay or the other slower cars in the field, the Katzevs and Tutinos, but his race became better known for a confrontation with Tom Delgado, whom he developed an intense rivalry. Trevor Carrington however, was impressed with Taylor's showings and gave him the third car for the team for the 2011 Round of Indianapolis. However the #09 Applebee's/Joe's Tree Services CM Nova never practiced and was a de facto no-show. Taylor may have gotten another run in the car, but the team shut down to to financial issues after the 2011 Round of Quebec. Taylor returned to the series for the Round of Decatur and qualified well for the qualifying race, alongside Tom Delgado. Going under the museum and hotel heading toward turn three, Delgado spun Taylor, who hit the wall hard, taking him out of the race. Both Delgado and Taylor failed to qualify. Cameron Taylor has been reported to be the new driver for Team Thunder, should it enter the Independents' Trophy again in 2012. Team Thunder is based in Taylor's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. These plans never came into fruition. However Taylor's old VERC team, RTR Automotive Engineering entered the Independent's Trophy in 2012 and made it on to the entry list. Their provisional schedule includes West Midland Bullring, Brands Hatch, Ohio Motor Speedway, and Road America along with the Karjala Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the Decatur Raceway. In the 2012 Round of England, Taylor ran a smooth, mistake free race while many other driver experianced spins and crashes. He finished tenth after a hard fought battle with Divina Henton for the ninth spot in the closing stages of the race. He commended Henton after the race for a hard fought, clean battle. He made his next apperance at the 2012 Round of Michigan where he finished 7th, his best career finish. This was overshadowed by the mass boycott by the Master Cup Manufactures Association. After an uneventful run at the 2012 Round of Ohio, Taylor entered his last Independent's Trophy race of the year at the 2012 Round of Wisconsin. He finished 16th, beating out Peter Short, the Formula A legend, whom he passed in the closing stages. Taylor said that beating Short was one of the highlights of his career.

TM Lights and Career with Team Timothy
Following the 2011 TM Lights @ British Columbia, Bruce Wilkinson was suspended indefinitely after testing positive for heroin. Team owner Packer Carroll chose Taylor to drive the #171 Volpi for Gravity Racing, Inc.. Carroll said if Taylor performs well during his stint at the team this year, he may have a full time ride with the team in 2012. It was announced that he will drive for Team Timothy in 2012 after longtime owner driver Dan Timothy retired. As of the race at the New York Autoring he had three second place finishes but no wins in the series. He was mentioned by Lance Andrews as fast improving, but with a ways to go. He got his first victory at HLR Circuit and achieved a Perfect 70. Despite this, he fell short of the championship, which went to Australia's Troy Adams. Team Timothy retained Taylor for the 2013 TM Lights season

ARLA
Cameron entered the 2011 Rockford 200 with an Inglesby sponsored by C-Town Grill, a restaurant in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He he does not plan to race full time in ARLA in 2012. He made a comeback in 2013 with a one off appearance at Pocono. There he drove the #34 Saar sponsored by Blunt Instruments, a company that had been an associate sponsor of his for many years. He qualified for the race and ran competitively in it but mechanical troubles ended his race early.

Formula Overdrive
Taylor entered the ill-fated 2012 Hamnore World Championships as a one off. The series invited star drivers from other series to run the event, and he was one of them. The race was marred by the deaths of Cody Keaton, Tyson Lautenschlager, Tiffany Matthews and Peter Kreamer.

Personal life
Taylor is an avid outdoorsman and has stated that he enjoys climbing and hiking. He is also displayed an interest in history, and visits notable historical sites between race weekends. While in high school, he competed for his school's track team, but in his words he "was a midfield runner." Taylor enjoys travel and music. For a time he had an intense rivalry with Tom Delgado, although the two make amends following Delgado's medical troubles in 2012. Taylor is also a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team.

TM Master Cup Stats
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" !Year !Entrant !1 !2 !3 !4 !5 !6 !7 !8 !9 !10 !11 !12 !13 !14 !15 !16 !17 !18 !19 !20 ! !2012
 * LSV
 * GEO
 * CAR
 * ENG
 * FRA
 * SWE
 * KAR
 * RUS
 * WAL
 * MIC
 * QUE
 * OHI
 * QUI
 * WIS
 * IND
 * VIC
 * QUN
 * BRZ
 * BRC
 * DEC
 * DEC
 * RTR Automotive Engineering
 * 10
 * 7
 * 36
 * 14
 * 7
 * 36
 * 14
 * 7
 * 36
 * 14
 * 36
 * 14
 * 14
 * 14

TM Lights Stats
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" !Year !Entrant !1 !2 !3 !4 !5 !6 !7 !8 !9 !10 !11 !12 !13 !14 !15 !16 !17 ! !2012
 * LSV
 * GEO
 * CAR
 * PIQ
 * PEO
 * MOS
 * POR
 * DAR
 * MIC
 * OHI
 * QUI
 * WIS
 * NYA
 * CAF
 * NHA
 * BRC
 * DEC
 * DEC
 * Team Timothy
 * 23
 * 16
 * 37
 * 13
 * 22
 * 22
 * 33
 * 2
 * 11
 * 5
 * 2
 * 3
 * 2
 * 7
 * 24
 * 1
 * 5

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" !Year !Entrant !1 !2 !3 !4 !5 !6 !7 !8 !9 !10 !11 !
 * BRD
 * MAL
 * SPA
 * EUR
 * KAR
 * RUS
 * BRN
 * MGC
 * NOG
 * SPN
 * CDB
 * CDB

RROL Stats
!2011
 * RTR Automotive Engineering
 * 1
 * 16
 * 16
 * 5
 * 9
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }
 * }