Scott Wilson – London, ON

About

Scott Wilson was born in London, Ontario. He began racing dragsters in 1962, and has competed all over North America. He was the first drag racer to surpass the 200 mph boundary, which happened just outside Oshawa, Ontario (Deseronto). However, as this was not an NHRA sanctioned event, this record remains unofficial.

Wilson was the first to eclipse the 235 mph mark, which occurred at Windsor Dragway. He won more than half of the events he entered throughout his career. This is a particularly impressive feat as there were often more than one hundred competitors in his class. Wilson set records almost every time he raced. His victories occurred years before big corporate-sponsored teams became prominent. However, Wilson went on to become the first in his class to score a huge sponsorship with Ford Motor Company.

He had the unique ability to look at a situation, engine or chassis and understand exactly what needed improvement. Wilson was a true innovator, handcrafting parts (in his own garage) that had never existed before, allowing him to go faster and win more races and championships. He embraced the community as well, sharing his ideas with numerous other competitors, namely Billy Kidd and Pete Robinson. He truly wanted everyone to perform well and succeed.

Wilson won countless events at area tracks such as St. Thomas Dragway (over 50 victories), Grand Bend (over 30 victories), Cayuga (over 20 victories), and everywhere else races occurred. He held local, regional, national, and international records for many years. He also enjoyed victories at countless local and regional tracks, even winning the NHRA Division Championship.

He retired from racing several years ago, and has remained close to London, ON. His community, fans and fellow racers continue to admire his work, and frequently talk about the impact he had on their lives.

3 Comments. Leave new

  • We saw you way back with a top fuel rail that just had no aluminum on the entire front of it and just had a dark wine coloured wrap around the drivers area. I believe it was Grand Bend where you were push started down the track then turned around at the starting line where hedges lined the back area…….do you remember this car. A foolish question but I was just wondering also saw you at Cayuga with all the Ford super stock cars……

    Reply
  • William E Phelps
    October 26, 2022 2:31 pm

    Saw you at the Niagara Drag strip when you went head to head with Big Daddy Don Garlits in a best of three races. You won the first, red lighted in race 2 (barely) and in 3, well, Big Daddy is Big Daddy. It was a great race event and helped put the Niagara events in the national eye. Do you recall the year, I can not find it. Thanks for the day.

    Reply
    • I wish we could help you find the year of this race, which sounded like a great one! Have you tried reaching out to Scott Wilson via Facebook? Unfortunately, the inductees don’t have access to moderate the comments here on the CDRHF website. If we bump into him at the upcoming Gala, we’ll mention it to him. 😉

      Reply

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