X-Cup Division and Scholarship Named in Honor of Scott Henderson

Little did Scott Henderson know when he volunteered to represent his hometown in the Great Race in 2013 what exactly he was getting into. The team which was supposed to represent Mobile, Alabama, had to drop out with less than a week before the event was to begin in St. Paul, Minn. Local officials in Mobile knew Scott had an old car – 1 1964 ½ Mustang convertible – and that he and his family were always ready to represent their hometown, the finish city on the 2013 race.

Scott and his daughter Mallory high-tailed it to Minnesota as one of the X-Cup teams, with Scott’s father Jim in tow as their support crew. It was supposed to be a one-time thing. Five years later, and several years after moving from X-Cup (for high school and college students) to the Sportsman Division, Scott and Mallory were fixtures on the Great Race. However, Scott became ill with cancer in 2017, but nothing was going to keep him from the 2018 Great Race. Ultimately, he was awarded the event’s highest honor – the Tom McRae Spirit of the Event Award after he helped save a competitor’s vehicle from running off a mountain road after brake failure. In October, Scott lost his battle with cancer, but he will always be a part of the Great Race family.

And in his honor, the Great Race’s X-Cup Division will now be known as the “Scott Henderson X-Cup Division” and the scholarship program will be called the “Scott Henderson X-Cup Scholarship.” The scholarship program is run through the Antique Automobile Club of America, and it provides scholarships to X-Cuppers to further their career in the automotive industry. After awarding scholarships the last couple of years, the fund had dwindled to zero, but a $2,000 gift has been made to kick off the 2019 campaign. Scott, Mallory and Jim’s home region, the Deep South Region of AACA, are also helping to make the scholarship successful. Mallory is now in her third year at Auburn University and is very close to X-Cup teams from across the country who have competed in the event in the last five years.

Great Racers who wish to make a donation to the Scott Henderson X-Cup Scholarship Fund may do so by mailing your 501(c)(3) donation to: AACA X-Cup Scholarship Fund AACA National Headquarters 501 W. Governor Road PO Box 417 Hershey, PA 17033. Please make sure to have the words “X-Cup” in the “For” line of your check. For any additional information, please contact Jeff Stumb at jeff@greatrace.com or at 423-648-8542.