Frontstretch.com: The best seat at the track... the best view on the net! Saturday, July 4th 2009

Scott Speed Driver Diary : A Windy DNQ and Getting Hitched!

Scott Speed · Friday June 26, 2009

I certainly experienced something new in my Sprint Cup career this past weekend when I got way off track during my qualifying run in Sonoma. Basically what happened is that the wind pushed us off the track, which I wasn’t taking into consideration. It was the first time we ever had to deal with something like that with these heavy cars. Normally it doesn’t make that much of a difference, because the cars weigh so much. I went way off track though. The side of the car is so flat, which they do on purpose to gain as much side force as possible and it actually worked a little too well on Friday. That’s actually what happened. It’s not like I tried to go through the corner any faster on my qualifying lap. It wasn’t a little bit of wind either; it was a ton. As the day was going on, it was getting windier and windier.

Scott Speed Diary - Dodging the Rain and Returning to the Scene of a Big Win

Scott Speed · Friday May 29, 2009

It definitely was an odd trip to Charlotte last weekend with all of the rain. The delays really don’t bother me as a driver, I just kind of roll with it. You can’t let things outside of your control get to you when you are in this business.

Still, with all the craziness going on around us, my Red Bull guys adapted well and gave me a great piece of equipment to drive. We’ve really come a long way with our intermediate program since missing the show at Texas last month, and I think it’s a testament to how hard everyone has been working.

Scott Speed Driver Diary: Momentum From Talladega and Beluga Whales!

Scott Speed · Friday May 1, 2009

It’s finally May and it’s getting warmer out so there is a lot to get excited about. I have to tell you though that April was definitely the tale of two months for me. It certainly didn’t start out well when we missed the show at Texas. I’m not sure what happened, but our car definitely wasn’t right. You only get one practice to dial the car in and we were just really off for some reason and we still aren’t sure what exactly went wrong. Qualifying is definitely my best attribute for sure so it’s difficult when you go to a racetrack and things aren’t right. It’s a huge challenge to get the setup right in such a short period of time. I stayed at the track though for the entire weekend, hung out with my friends and used it as an opportunity to learn more. It sucked being on the sidelines but it sure beats sitting at home on a Sunday afternoon.

Scott Speed Diary: Playing Rummy with Kyle Busch and the Winter Music Fest

Scott Speed · Friday April 3, 2009

Well, it certainly was a disappointing weekend at Martinsville last Sunday. I thought we had our best chance so far to turn this season around when we were riding in the top 10. It just seems like Kyle Busch has it out for me this year, between the Las Vegas Nationwide race and now last week! I’m kidding actually, in reality we’re buddies.

Scott Speed Driver Diary: Overcoming Diversity, Turning the Corner and Family Support

Scott Speed · Thursday March 5, 2009

The last time I wrote in before the Daytona 500, I mentioned how I believed that I had meet my “wreck quota” after getting swept up in about three different accidents during Speedweeks. Well, so much for that theory. The season opener definitely did not go the way we had hoped, which was frustrating, but you have to stay focused. The good thing is that bad luck will eventually run out and things will start to go our way. I think it’s better to crash when you’re fast than to wreck and still be struggling.

I’m so glad that everyone on Team Red Bull has the ability to overcome adversity because we certainly have faced our share of it to start the season. The very next weekend in Fontana, we experienced engine and brake problems during the race which ended our chances of racing a very good car. We had a top 10 qualifying run and when the car was working, it was fast. I am looking forward to going back there later this year as well as visiting other similar tracks on the circuit. We have already begun to recover from our issues though as the team made significant strides in fixing the brake problems at Vegas.

Scott Speed Driver Diary: Snowboarding, Speedweeks and the Organ Donor 200!

Scott Speed · Thursday February 12, 2009

Well the off-season is finally over and it’s time to get back to racing. To tell you the truth, I really didn’t do all that much during my down time. Probably the most significant thing I did was go snowboarding. Right after Christmas, we all went to Snow Shoe for a few weeks. Most of the time though, I just went to a ski mountain about an hour and 15 minutes away from my house down here in North Carolina. I actually just started this sport because when I was in Europe racing Formula One, I wasn’t able to do any of that stuff contractually…snowboarding, wakeboarding, skateboarding, skiing…nothing. I was basically in a glass bubble, so I really had a lot of fun trying this stuff out this past winter. Other than that though, I really just hung around my house. I didn’t even leave it for my birthday a few weeks ago. It was just that nice not to be doing anything, considering what my schedule will be over the next nine months.

Scott Speed Diary: Learning From Jimmie Johnson in 2008 While Looking Forward to 2009

Scott Speed · Thursday November 20, 2008

Well, the 2008 season has come to a close, and it certainly has been an interesting one for me. Overall, this year has been one big learning experience. In fact, there has been so much I’ve taken in that it’s difficult to point out any one thing as the most significant learning experience for me. When you are at the Cup level, you learn so much in just one weekend because you are racing with the guys at the top, so you pick up things that much quicker. What really helped me down the stretch was pulling double duty between the Trucks and the Cup cars. It’s sometimes hard to go from one series to the other, but having the extra laps of experience is by far the most valuable thing in racing. I’ve enjoyed driving for Bill Davis Racing in the Truck Series. I have no idea if I’ll have an opportunity again with them next year; we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Scott Speed Diary - ARCA Revenge, Sprint Cup Debut, Bull Riding and Mohawks

Scott Speed · Friday October 31, 2008

It’s been yet another eventful month in the life of Scott Speed. Speed entered the ARCA series finale at Toledo with a sizable point lead, before a memorable altercation with his closest rival, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ended his chances of taking home the crown. The following week, the rookie made his much-anticipated Sprint Cup debut at the Martinsville Speedway in the No. 84 Red Bull Camry.

Speed took a break out of his busy schedule to tell us why he wouldn’t tolerate Stenshouse’s on track behavior, explain his early struggles at NASCAR’s top level and to enlighten us about his bull riding experience in the middle of it all.

I knew there was going to be trouble right from the very start of the race with Ricky (Stenhouse). We were only 50 laps in when he was behind us and beating the heck out of our back bumper. At that point in time, I felt it was too early and we didn’t need that one position to win the championship, we just needed to finish. So our team asked the No. 99 spotter to go around us on the restart. Then one of the restarts, we tried to let him by and he basically just crashed us, it was pretty blatant.

Scott Speed Driver Diary : Sprint Cup Racing and Scrabble

Scott Speed · Friday October 3, 2008

As most people know by now, I have been given the opportunity to drive in the Sprint Cup Series this year and I could not be more excited. I always knew that I was going to get the chance to race at the Cup level and I’m glad they’ve given me some time to get here. Actually, I will have to wait one more week before making my debut, as I am not yet approved by NASCAR to drive in a restrictor plate race. I’m really not sure how that works and we could probably push it if we wanted to, but there are many other things to consider. So we’ll just wait an extra week until I get behind the wheel of the No. 82 Camry. Following that, I’ll be in the No. 84 car for the rest of the year.

Scott Speed Diary: Bristol, Dirt Track Racing, and Chasing a Championship

Scott Speed · Friday September 5, 2008

The last few weeks have definitely been filled with many learning experiences. In the Truck Series, I made my first start at Bristol Motor Speedway in the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota for Bill Davis Racing. We had great success there, as I won my first Craftsman Truck Series pole and finished third.

I will tell you that Bristol is one of my new favorite racetracks. The place is incredible with how all the seats surround the entire place — there is no other venue like it. The racing was great as well. It’s close to a two-groove racetrack, and the competition is exciting. I’m looking forward to going back there next year. For now, though, our next focus for the Truck Series will be on Las Vegas, where I will make my next start on September 20th.

The Frontstretch: sspeed by -- Saturday July 4, 2009

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