| Fourteen-Year-Old Bishop Bides Time in Florida Pro Truck Series | By Paul Strelow
 Scott Bishop of Lake Bowen will be heading to Florida on alternating weekends to compete for the Florida Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Pro Truck series points championship.
Scott Bishop had already buckled into his truck seat, so there was little time for more than general platitudes. But when NASCAR driver CARL EDWARDS seeks you out to say hello before a race, there's still time to get star struck.
Even when you're routinely beating middle-aged men and the bankrolled sons of other famed drivers. Especially when you're a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Boiling Springs Junior High School.
Given the speed with which Bishop's career is progressing, Edwards may have been meeting a future pro last month at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida.
After all, Bishop finished second to Edwards' 24th in the Hobby Stock 100. "Nightstalker," a nickname he inherited from his dirt-track veteran grand dad, Billy, had struck again.
Having already passed the local tests of the go-cart and 4-cylinder street stock levels, Bishop is running with literally the big boys of the truck series' minor leagues.
Now that he's old enough to be eligible for the prize money, Bishop will be heading to Florida on alternating weekends to compete for the Florida Association of Stock Car Auto Racing Pro Truck series points championship.
Last year, he was one of two pre-14 teens put in the Quick Kids category: They were allowed to race with the adults, but merely for the experience. In April, he topped Jamie Skinner -- son of Mike Skinner -- for a 50-lap victory in Samsula, Fla.
In November, nearly two months after turning 14, he beat a field including Skinner and Matt Martin -- son of Nextel Cup driver Mark Martin -- to prevail in the season's final race at New Smyrna.
In celebration, Bishop climbed the fence a la Tony Stewart. "Until it started bending backward at the top," said Bishop, all of 95 pounds. While these trucks have less horsepower than those on the Craftsman Series, their speeds can reach 150 mph on the longer tracks.
Kind of makes earning his driver's license in another two years rather anti-climactic.
"I told him he'd probably fail the test," his mother, Christie, said.
"He'll be using both feet," his father, Scott, said, referring to the fact racecar drivers use their left foot to brake.
Bishop learned to drive when he was 8, whipping around the fields behind the family-owned Kar Parts and Wrecker Service junkyard in a piecemealed Datsun.
So there's no wonder he actually taught his siblings -- his now 20-year-old brother and 18-year-old sisters -- how to operate a straight-drive.
Being the next prodigy, though, comes with a price.
The increasing number of six-hour drives to Florida has meant more series of two-day school absences, a problem Christie said might lead them to pursue home-schooling.
Travel expenses also top $1,000 for each trip, and that doesn't include the costs to race (and Bishop has been known to peel through a $500 set of tires).
Consider that in the year's first race, Bishop took second to earn $1,250, and the realities quickly set in.
His used truck cost $30,000, and that pales in comparison to the equipment used by many of his competitors.
But for the Bishops, this is as much of a financial investment as an expensive hobby.
"Right now, his age holds him back more than anything," Christie said.
The goal is to secure a sponsor so he can eventually join the ARCA ranks by 16 (the series age limit) and then the Craftsman Series by 18.
Until then, though, Bishop understands his job isn't to be concerned about the business side of the sport.
Experience doesn't necessarily have to come with age.
"I'm not worried about hitting anything when I'm out there," Bishop said. "I'm worried about winning the race."
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