Scott Steudler

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Scott Steudler
Age 39
Nationality USA.png American
Car # 26
Years Competed 2007-
Rookie Season 2007
Current Team Hodges-Walter Racing
Former Team(s) Camelot Racing
Mitchell & Sons Racing
Scuderia Tutino
Power Steering, Inc.
Manticore Engineering
ALERT
Championships 0
Pole Positions 2?
Wins 2?
First Race 2007 Round of Daytona
First Win 2009 Round of Australia
Last Win 2014 Round of Argentina
Last Race 2019 Round of Wales
Twitter SteudlerTMRacer
TM Master Cup Series Driver

Scott Steudler (born May 9, 1984) is an American racing driver from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He currently the third driver for Hodges-Walter Racing in the TM Master Cup Series. In his first eight years in the series, Steudler scored two wins; the first came at the 2009 Round of Australia, and he finally captured his second in the 2014 Round of Argentina. His uncle, Marty Steudler, is a former Master Cup driver who made a brief comeback in 2013.

Pre-Master Cup[edit | edit source]

Scott Steudler is the nephew of Northeast racing legend Marty Steudler. When he was 8 years old, Marty took Scott into racing, by entering him in local karting series thoughout Pennsylvania. Showing some promise, by the time Scott was 16, he moved up to racing on dirt and paved ovals. After winning numerous races throughout the region, Scott had showed enough skill that Marty decided to run a TM Lights team for his nephew in 2005 and 2006. While not winning any races in TM Lights, Scott did well enough, that by 2006, rumors had gone around that he was being considered for a new 3rd car for the Hodges-Walter Racing team. By the end of the year, it was official, and Scott had signed a 3 year contract with the team.

Hodges-Walter[edit | edit source]

Scott debuted in the No. 26 Haas Manufacturing CM Nova at Daytona in 2007, and showed up with a reasonable performance at Daytona before falling down the pack late. However, as it was, it would be one of the few highlights that Scott would see for the team that season, as its newness as a 3rd car, and being a rookie driver showed, by not qualifying for nine races. 2008 would show a little more promise, as Scott would qualify for all races, and usually would finish mid-pack. As the 2009 season came along, there were rumors that Scott would possibly be going elsewhere, as the team was looking at possibly signing a promising young rookie for 2010, Adrien Devereux. Using it as motivation to try and get re-signed with the team, or at least a way to impress other teams looking to sign him to a ride, Scott performed at his best, and it showed, scoring his first (and to date, only) career victory at Australia (and famously put his car in the wall post-race trying to do donuts), two pole positions, and a 15th-place points finish (having been in the Top 10 in the points going into Decatur). That would not be enough to keep Scott at Hodges-Walter, but it has not prevented him from giving great praise to the team and Alan Hodges, having thanked him and the team many times through his career for giving him his chance to break into the series.

Camelot Racing[edit | edit source]

Before Scott's victory at Australia, it was rumored that he was to land the ride at Camelot Racing. The deal came to fruition before the end of the 2009 season, with what was at the time a three-year deal to run for the team. 2010 saw him continue to do well when he stayed out of trouble, and finish with another 15th-place points finish in the standings. 2011 however, was a different story. The season started out with great promise, with new sponsor Hershey's, and it looked like Scott would at least continue to perform like he had been, but rumors of the team moving to the ASCC, a move that Scott was against, showed, and suffered greatly in the standings, not qualifying at Karjala and Decatur, as well as Indianapolis, but being able to secure a ride that had qualified. Meanwhile, his teammate Chris Johaanes finished second in the championship to Adrien Devereux. Before the season was finished, sensing his frustration, Camelot granted Scott's release from the team at the end of the season.

Mitchell & Sons[edit | edit source]

At the close of the season, Scott announced that he had signed a three-year deal to race with Mitchell & Sons. He would be joined by his teammate, Johaanes, and his sponsor, Hershey's. After a slow start to the season, finishing a lap down at Las Vegas, but in the points, Steudler had improved his finishes considerably, by finishing in the top 10 at the Georgia, he would only finish off the pace for one more race before rattling off three straight podium finishes.

The Boycott[edit | edit source]

Amidst the MCMA boycott of the 2012 Round of Michigan, Steudler had announced intentions to run his own car in the race due to believing that teams shouldn't boycott races and rip the fans off from a full field for a race. Tensions between him and team management at Mitchell & Sons esclated to a point where if he arrived at the track under any circumstances, his contract would be terminated with immediate effect. Steudler went to the track anyway, and was fired from his ride, despite his good standing in the points. Eventually, a deal would be reached where he ended up agreeing to drive for Scuderia Tutino for two races initially, but it turned into a deal where he would agree to run the car for extra races. This deal lasted until the Round of Queensland where Steudler accepted a one race deal to drive the 08 car for Power Steering Incorporated. He would eventually attempt another race with the 08 at Decatur, but not make it out of pre-qualifying when an odd engine problem dropped him out of the race.

Manticore Engineering[edit | edit source]

Weeks after Decatur, Steudler announced that he had signed a deal with Manticore Engineering, reuniting with Johaanes after the Mitchells decided to hire Kevin Dwyer and Zach Duff. Terms of the deal weren't originally announced, but it turned out to be a one year deal. The season was marked with many struggles for the team in their first full-time season, and Steudler was replaced in some races with younger talent and pay drivers. Steudler managed to find a ride with ALERT's third car and started the races where he was benched from Manticore, thanks to the Promoter's Option.

ALERT[edit | edit source]

For 2014, Steudler signed a deal to race with ALERT full-time, replacing the retiring champion Michael Sykes, and teaming with Johaanes for a fifth consecutive season. Steudler got the opportunity to compete under a number that he had long wanted to race in, when Alan Hodges, one of the men who helped him get into the TM Master Cup series, allowed him to race the number 13; a "great honor and privilege to race in that number" in Steudler's words. After a slow start to the season, Steudler earned his first Top 5 finish of the year in France. In the Round of Argentina, Steudler finally captured his second career victory after a flat tire took Yuliya Nosova out of the lead. Steudler finished the year with six top 5s, including podiums in Argentina and Queensland, and a 16th place points finish, his best showing in the championship since 2010.

Owner/Driver[edit | edit source]

For a few seasons, Scott had convinced sponsors to help fund and put together cars for him under his name (and under the team name of Steudler Motorsports to differentiate it from his uncle's Steudler Racing). He would generally have local up and comers come to take spots in his cars, generally with poor results. In 2012, he had cars ready to go due to the aformentioned boycott the MCMA was planning in Michigan, however, with getting rides in the field with Tutino, the need for them came to pass, and none of his cars appeared in a race field in 2012. He would eventually sell the assets of the team to his uncle, to allow him to try and field entries for the 2013 season.

Personal Life[edit | edit source]

In Scott's personal time, he has been known to play ice hockey as a way to stay in shape, and has even played in some charity hockey games in the offseason. When the TM Master Cup series goes to the Northern and Central European countries known for hockey, it has almost been a given that he will bring along his hockey gear, and try to get a game in for any free time that he can get. He is also well known to, whenever the TM Master Cup series gets near Pennsylvania, that he will run some of the short tracks around the area, though with some renewed commitments in 2012, it is not known if Scott will continue to do this.

Steudler is also fluent in French, and has been utilized on occasion for French TV broadcasts of TM Master Cup races.

Racing Stats[edit | edit source]

TM Lights[edit | edit source]

Year Races Wins Poles Top 5 Top 10 DNF DNQ Season Rank Team
2005 16 0 1 1 4 5 0 17th Steudler Racing (#80)
2006 17 0 3 7 10 2 0 4th Steudler Racing (#80)
Totals 33 0 4 8 14 7 0

TM Master Cup[edit | edit source]

Year Races Wins Poles Top 5 Top 10 DNF DNQ Season Rank Team
2007 5 0 0 0 0 2 9 42nd Hodges-Walter Racing (#26)
2008 19 0 0 1 4 4 0 21st Hodges-Walter Racing (#26)
2009 18 1 2 3 5 5 0+ 15th Hodges-Walter Racing (#26)
2010 18 0 0 0 4 2 0 15th Camelot Racing (#23)
2011 18 0 0 0 2 9 3@ 36th Camelot Racing (#23)
2012 16 0 0 3 4 3 2 21st multiple teams
2013 19 0 0 2 3 7 3 26th multiple teams
2014 25 1 0 6 8 9 0 16th ALERT (#13)
Totals 138 2 2 15 30 41 17

+ - Qualified at Texas, but pulled out of race before start @ - Did not qualify at Indianapolis, but took over another car in order to start the race.

TM Master Cup Race Results[edit | edit source]

Yr Entrant Car Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Standings Points
2007 Hodges-Walter Racing CM Nova 26 DAY
35
ROC
DNQ
CHI
DNQ
FRA
DNQ
PEO
17
CON
DNQ
KAR
DNQ
SIL
41
JAP
12
IND
DNQ
RUS
DNQ
ALA
34
MAN
DNQ
DEC
DNQ
42th 363
2008 Hodges-Walter Racing CM Nova 26 DAY
8
CAR
11
CHI
33
GB
19
NY
20
TEX
31
KAR
41
SAL
7
SEA
27
IND
6
SIL
29
ALA
31
POR
25
ITA
28
BEL
21
RUS
30
JAP
5
CAN
27
DEC
29
21st 1021
2009 Hodges-Walter Racing CM Nova 26 DAY
12
CAR
33
CHI
26
GBR
30
TEX
DNS
BRA
9
KAR
31
NYK
6
SAL
22
IND
14
SIL
16
ALA
4
AUS
1
JAP
18
RUS
33
BEL
30
ITA
25
CAN
4
DEC
39
15th 1072
2010 Camelot Racing Tremwell Knight 23 JAP
21
AUS
8
BRA
29
CAR
11
TEX
13
GB
17
KAR
19
GER
6
BEL
40
ITA
7
CZE
22
IND
18
QUI
10
MIC
24
WIS
25
CAN
36
RUS
DNP
ALA
14
DEC
27
15th 976
2011 Camelot Racing Tremwell Knight 23 LV
7
TEX
34
CAR
8
GB
40
SWE
15
GER
41
KAR
DNQ
RUS
24
CZE
15
DAY
35
OHI
32
WIS
33
QUI
39
IND
29#
MIC
11
QUE
22
BC
25
JAP
32
BRA
33
DEC
DNQ
36th 90
2012 Mitchell & Sons Racing Tremwell Knight 74 LV
16
GEO
9
CAR
31
ENG
3
FRA
3
SWE
2
KAR
29
RUS
21
WAL
32
21st 180
Scuderia Tutino Tutino T12 50 MIC
14
QUE
DSQ
OHI
27
QUI
21
WIS
20
IND
DNQ
VIC
24
Power Steering Incorporated Tonare Surge 08 QEN
15
BRA
DNP
NY
DNP
BC
DNP
DEC
DNQ

2013 Finishes[edit | edit source]

Yr Entrant Car Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Standings Points
2013 Manticore Engineering Manticore M1A1 28 CAL

18

CAR

16

GEO

31

ENG

29

FRA SWE KAR RUS WAL SCA QUE OHI QUI WIS INDY COL VIC QLD BRA NYC VAN DEC NC
12



Key to table

  • Gold - 1st
  • Silver - 2nd
  • Bronze - 3rd
  • Green - Top 10 pre-2011, Points finish 2011 onward. If DNF, will be marked with a *
  • Blue - Running at Finish pre-2011, Non-points finish running 2011 onward
  • Purple - Did not Finish
  • Red - Did not Qualify
  • White - Did not Participate
  • Black - Disqualified
  • # - DNQ race, participated in another car