Cameron Taylor

Cameron Taylor (born June 10, 1990 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American racing driver currently racing in the TM Master Cup Series. After competing in karting in the Midwest, he joined the National Racing Championship in 2011, he won his first professional race. Later that year, he used sponsorship from a business partner to acquire a ride for Trevor Carrington Racing at his home race in Columbus, where he was by far the slowest competitor on the course. He moved to the TM Lights the following year, and had a strong season, winning in British Columbia and finishing second in the championship. Since then he has driven in the Master Cup Series, but did not run a full season until 2014. Signing with Team Saar USA in their return to the series, he was dropped by the team mid year, but finished the season for Lenard, filling in for the injured Jacob Kard.

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 was born in Cleveland, Ohio

Racing Career
After a successful run in Ohio region karting and occasional entries in road racing, Taylor entered stock car racing in the VSCC (now known as the National Racing Championship. His campaign 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. Though he did not win again he finished third in the series standings. Following Leslie Riggs' injuries at the 2011 Round of Daytona, Erik Olson and Taylor drove the newly renumbered #99 Calton Morel. His debut at his home race, the 2011 Round of Ohio was a disappointing one, and he was by far the slowest car in the race, falling several laps down. This performance led to him being confronted by Tony Durbin, who advised him to keep out of the way of the leaders. The conversation was described as friendly, and the two remained on good terms.

His next race at Road America was considerably better. He was no longer the slowest car in the field, outrunning AJ Young, who he lapped several time, though he was outpaced by his teammate Dan Mackay. He failed to qualify at Indianapolis, but 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, and the two developed a rivalry that lasted well into the following season. At the end of 2011, he ran a TM Lights race for Packer Carroll's team

Cameron Taylor was rumored to be signed by Team Thunder for the 2012, however the rumored deal never materialized. Entering the Independent's Trophy with a team entered by some of his VSCC associates, he ran several races that year. In the 2012 Round of England, Taylor ran a smooth, mistake free race while many other driver experienced 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 appearance 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, a subject that Taylor made extremely controversial comments about that earned him a great deal of criticism. His strong campaign was slowed by an unremarkable drive at 2012 Round of Ohio, Taylor entered his last Independent's Trophy race of the year at the 2012 Round of Wisconsin. He finished 16th, ahead of Peter Short, an achievement Taylor said was one of his proudest moments.

His concurrent TM Lights cam,paign was considerably more successful. He won his first victory at the HLR Circuit in Vancouver and finished second in the standings, and was considered a contender for the championship.

The following season was significantly less successful, and his Independents Trophy campaign did not result in any significant results.

2014 - present
Team Saar USA returned to the Master Cup Series in 2014 after a one year absence. The team hired Joe Olenik and Taylor, who had raced each other in TM Lights. Neither mounted a serious championship campaign, but there were a number of strong runs for both driver. Taylor's came at the Round of England, where he finished 12th. He found the race to be encouraging, and added that Brands Hatch was his best track, having won there in the VSCC and been competitive there in 2012. Although he had a points finish at Gravis City, Taylor was dropped by the team for the Round of Brazil. He quickly bounced back, however, after Lenard International chose to hire him to replace the injured Jacob Kard for the remainder of the season, with the possibility of returning to the #6 car in 2015.

Other Racing
After failing to qualify for the 2011 Rockford 200 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. 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.

Taylor also competed in the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, held on an off-weekend for the Master Cup Series. Competing in the GT class, the car experienced mechanical difficulties during the night hours, but was able to finish the race.

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 at best." 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.