Brian Scott's NASCAR career won't be hitting the brakes any time soon.

After finishing seventh in his second full season in NASCAR's Truck Series last fall, Scott secured a stock-car deal in the offseason with Braun Racing, where he will drive the team's No. 11 Toyota full time in the Nationwide Series.

The season for NASCAR's second tier of racing starts Saturday at Daytona International Speedway with the Drive4COPD 300 (11:15 a.m., ESPN2). Qualifying is Friday (1 p.m., ESPN2).

The asphalt of Daytona is a long way from the dirt tracks in Idaho and Washington where Scott was racing a few years ago as a Boise High student.

"It seems to be a great mystery how somebody from Idaho got into racing," said Scott, 22, whose ultimate goal is to jump from Nationwide cars to NASCAR's Sprint Cup series.

"A lot of people don't realize that racing really reaches all around the country and even to the small states like Idaho, Montana and Wyoming."

The step up to Nationwide cars is a big one for Scott, but one he says he's ready for.

He has a veteran crew chief in Bill Wilburn, who has been a Sprint Cup crew chief at Penske Racing, Yates Racing and Petty Enterprises. Scott has the support of teammates Brian Vickers, David Reutimann, Jason Leffler and even Kasey Kahne and Reed Sorenson for a few races.

Scott also has Nationwide experience from last season, when he drove in seven races, which means he is eligible for rookie of the year honors this year. His best finish in those seven starts last year was 14th.

"We struggled a little bit at first in getting things together," Scott said. "But ultimately it was really great to be able to get a little bit of an introduction to the Nationwide Series. Hopefully it will give me a leg up on the other rookie of the year candidates."

Scott finished second to Colin Braun in the Truck Series rookie standings in 2008.

This year, he's going against a strong class that includes two Roush Fenway Racing drivers (Braun and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) and James Buescher, who is also moving up from the Truck Series. Only the best 16 finishes are counted in the rookie race.

"To be able to capture that award, to be able to beat those guys and do better than all of them, I think if I can achieve that then I will have accomplished all of the other goals that I set for myself," Scott said.

Rachel Roberts: 377-6422