The Frontstretch: Scott Speed Driver Diary: Victory Junction Visit and a Little Brother Update by Scott Speed -- Friday August 21, 2009

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We’re coming off of a big weekend here at Team Red Bull. Brian’s win is great for the organization and really puts us on the map. Although to tell you the truth, it doesn’t affect the No. 82 guys as much. We already know that we have fast equipment and when things go right, we can ride in the front. I’m sure it will motivate everyone a little more to some point. But when you race week in and week out, you immediately start thinking about the next weekend.

I had a really great experience last month that I wanted to share with you. Many of you may know that I suffer from Ulcerative Colitis or “Irritable Bowel Disorder” and a few weeks ago I visited kids at Victory Junction who suffer from the same thing. It’s nice for the kids to have someone to talk to about it, as it doesn’t get much attention. It’s certainly not a very attractive disease and not necessarily life-threatening either, so it can be under the radar more than other diseases. Surprisingly, a lot of people have to deal with it and it’s cool to be in the position to help people, especially young kids deal with something that I have coped with in my life. I try to spend time with a lot of people to make this disease better and share what I’ve done to help control mine. We also have a lot of fun at the camp as well. It’s a lot of hanging out and having a good time.

That was actually my first visit to the camp and it was very interesting. It’s really hard to describe, you just have to see it in person, it’s an incredible facility. I had the opportunity to meet Pattie Petty there and I can honestly say that she is a person who loves being there and loves what she’s doing and that’s really cool to see.

Scott Speed recently had the opportunity to visit kids at Victory Junction who suffer from Ulcerative Colitis, a disease he has coped with in his lifetime.

I’m sure that you are all fully aware of the rain issues we’ve had over the past few weeks. There was a big debate at The Glen as to whether or not we should race in the rain. I’ve had experience competing in wet weather from my open wheel days and I can tell you that visibility is a big problem. I never raced in a closed car in the rain to know what it’s like, although I imagine the visibility would still be a problem. The grip level is a lot lower as well. As far as driving the Cup car in the rain, I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do, I would have to try it and see what it is like before passing judgment. I’d definitely be up for trying a few laps to see what it’s like. I’ll have to bring my squeegee though judging from Carl Edward’s experience in Montreal. That was very clever.

We had a pretty decent run at Watkins Glen and even got to lead a few laps. That track is a much easier road course to race on, just because it’s hard for a Cup car to be able to pass at Sonoma, which is really small for our cars. But Sonoma is close to my home and where I grew up, so it means a lot to me for different reasons.

Speaking of home and family, many of you may not be familiar with who my favorite racecar driver is – my younger brother Alex. He provides Karting instructions and races as well around the country. In my opinion, there are two “karters” in America that could compete on a global level and my brother is one of them. Alex never really had the right opportunities to race cars like I do, not to mention that he’s the more well-rounded of the two of us. He’s always been interested in a lot more things than I was when we were growing up. The only thing I wanted to do was race in Formula One. He certainly has the ability to be a great racecar driver though, he just hasn’t had the right opportunities. I don’t think he has aspirations to follow in my footsteps anyway.

Well, right now my mind is on Bristol. We did pretty reasonable there in the spring and I think we’ll be good this time as well. We’ve got better stuff than we had before so that’s a good thing. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you Scott Speed fans in Thunder Valley, just as I am each and every week!

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