By most standards, blonde headed, 17 year old Taylor Nesbitt doesn’t quite fit the mold of “race car driver”. Her Dad, Martin “Mart” Nesbitt, was the racer in the family having ran locally at the Asheville Motor Speedway then moving on up to the Hooters Cup Series for a number of years.
Taylor obviously didn’t “fall far from the tree” as far as her competitive nature. She began to cheer at the age of three years old, something she still is very involved. Her A.C. Reynolds High School cheer team are the defending North Carolina State Champions. Nesbitt also got into show horses for a couple of years but the racing bug continued to surface.
After the purchase of a 1/4 midget seven year old Taylor began to compete at the NCQM track in Salisbury, N.C, that was built and owned by Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte. She began racing with other kids with the same background as her’s. Dave Blaney’s son ( Ryan ) along with Jeff Burton’s son ( Harrison ) were regulars while she raced there on and off for the next four years.
Mart began to scale back on his racing schedule as his daughter expressed her desire to move on up to the full-size cars. .She graduated to Mod – 4 division at Newport Motor Speedway while her Dad was running in the Late Model and Super Late Model divisions there as well.
In her first year, Nesbitt won three races and was the fastest qualifier nine times. At 14 years old it was time to move up to the Late Model division while her Dad moved on to the Southeast Super Truck Series in it’s inaugural year in 2012. She won one race her rookie season and followed that up with three wins in 2013.
Mart decided to put Taylor in the SEST for 2014 while she competes along with her fellow Nesbitt Racing Enterprises team mate Cole Glasson for Rookie of the year honors in the SEST.
Mart has now given up the drivers seat to oversee his two young drivers all the while having to fill the void of his Dad, Senator Martin Nesbitt ( NC ) a huge part of NRE, as well as the Southeast Super Truck family, when he lost his very short battle with cancer at the beginning of the 2014 season. Nesbitt told me her dad and grandfather were the most influential in her racing career and she misses the fact her grandfather is not there to see her progress. Nesbitt’s mom Lisa is her biggest fan and although she still gets nervous about her daughter behind the wheel of a Super Truck, she admittedly has come along way since the first races in 1/4 midgets.
Davis Automotive and Towing, Allan’s Jewelry and Pawn, Asheville Bolt and Screw and MPM Marketing, all sponsor’s on her Dad’s SEST truck moved on over to support Nesbitt’s efforts.
The Nesbitt family have always been successful in every aspect of their lives. Whether it be professional, political or Motorsports, they work hard and excel. Expect nothing less from Taylor, as the rising high school senior continues on her own journey.