Lake Speed
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| Born: | January 17, 1948 (age 59) | |
| Birthplace: |  Jackson, Mississippi |
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| Awards: | 6-time United States Karting champion
1978 World Karting champion |
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| NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics | ||
| 402 races run over 19 years. | ||
| Best Cup Position: | 10th - 1985 (Winston Cup) | |
| First Race: | 1980 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) | |
| Last Race: | 1998 Jiffy Lube 300 (New Hampshire) | |
| First Win: | 1988 TranSouth 500 (Darlington) | |
| Last Win: | 1988 TranSouth 500 (Darlington) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
Lake Chambers Speed (born on January 17, 1948) was a NASCAR driver.
Contents |
[edit] Background
Lake was named after the best friend of his father Bob Lake. Lake's father took office as the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi in 1948. He started his racing career at the age of thirteen racing karts, much to the displeasure of his family. Over the years, Speed won the United States Karting championship six times and in 1978 he won the prestigious Karting World Championship over future Formula One great Ayrton Senna.
[edit] NASCAR career
[edit] 1980-1984
In 1980 after considering racing in other series such as Formula One, CART, and IMSA, and getting advice from current Lowe's Motor Speedway promoter, Humpy Wheeler, Speed chose to go NASCAR racing. According to Speed, "It was the highest mountain to climb." Speed's relative unfamiliarity with the NASCAR scene lead him to buy his first car from someone in Chicago. Speed started nineteen races in his rookie year scoring an eighth at Darlington Speedway in his third career start. Speed also scored finishes of seventh at the spring Talladega Superspeedway race, eighth at Talladega's fall event, seventh at Charlotte's fall event and eighth at the season ending race in Ontario Motor Speedway. Speed finished twenty-second in overall points and second to Jody Ridley in the rookie of the year standings.
In 1981, Speed again ran his own operation starting twenty-seven of the thirty-one races on the schedule. He scored a ninth place finish in both races at Rockingham and at Bristol. He followed that up with a seventh in Martinsville Speedway's spring event, an eighth at the now defunct College Station track and a sixth in the late summer Talladega event. Speed's final top ten would come at Bristol in August where he finished seventh. The final points tally came up with Speed finishing eighteenth in points.
1982 was Speed's first full year of competition on the Winston Cup circuit. This time, Speed was driving for the first time for another car owner, Roger Hamby. The beginning of the season was a struggle with Speed not obtaining a top ten finish until the eleventh race at Dover International Speedway. In July at Daytona, Speed scored his second top ten finish with a ninth. Speed continued to struggle as the season wrapped up managing to finish sixth in the Southern 500 at Darlington and eighth at the fall event in North Wilkesboro Speedway. Speed finished twentieth in points.
1983 was a year of major change for Lake Speed. He was now driving for an established owner in Hoss Ellington, however on a limited schedule. The team showed promise early in the season scoring a fourth at Rockingham and a sixth at Darlington. It was at Talladega where Speed's life took a major change. Towards the race's end, Speed was leading the field with a chance to win his first Cup race. He was beaten at the end by Richard Petty and Benny Parsons. After the race, Speed decided to change his life and become a devout Christian on August 28. The week after Talladega, Speed scored another top ten with a sixth in the World 600 at Charlotte. Speed's final top ten of the season would be at the August Michigan International Speedway race with an eighth place finish. Speed finished twenty-seventh in the points standings.
1984 was much the same. Starting nineteen of the series 30 races, Speed showed some early season strength with a third at Rockingham, a ninth at Atlanta, a sixth at Charlotte. At the first Pocono Raceway race, Speed qualified second and finished tenth following that strong run up with a fifth at Michigan. Speed finished eighth in the late summer Talladega race and had a near win in the Southern 500 starting second and leading twenty-eight laps before he crashed out. Speed's final top ten was at Atlanta with a seventh place finish and a points position of twenty-sixth.
Speed also started six races in the NASCAR Busch Series between 1983 and 1984. He only made one start in '83 at Charlotte in the Miller Time 300 where he finished sixth. In 1984, Speed lost by two feet to Darrell Waltrip in the season opening Goody's 300 at Daytona, and scored another top five in the Mello Yello 300 at Charlotte. Speed's worst qualifying effort was a thirteenth place start in the season opener. Speed's starts were fifth at Darlington, seventh at Charlotte, third at Darlington and ninth at Charlotte.
[edit] 1985-1989
1985 was Lake Speed's breakout season in NASCAR. Running a full schedule under the RahMoc Racing banner, Speed started off the season with an amazing second place finish to Bill Elliott in the Daytona 500. He followed that up with a tenth at Richmond International Raceway and a fourth at Rockingham, taking the points lead early in the season. After an engine problem at Atlanta, Speed scored a string of strong runs: seventh at Bristol, ninth at Darlington, ninth at North Wilkesboro, eighth at Martinsville and tenth at Talladega. Speed then finished sixth in the World 600. The stretch run of the season took its toll on the team and Speed's position in the points fell, however he continued to post strong runs finishing seventh at Talladega, tenth at Bristol, tenth at Dover and seventh and ninth place finishes at Atlanta and Riverside International Raceway to round out the season. Overall, it was Speed's best year in terms of points notching a tenth place finish.
Speed started off the 1986 season with a tenth in the Daytona 500 and a tenth at Rockingham but after the fourth race of the season, he was inexplicably ousted from the ride. Speed would start one more race that season for Morgan-McClure Motorsports at Charlotte finishing fourteenth. Speed began working again at starting his own race team.
1987 was a building year in many ways. With Wynn's sponsorship and his own fledging team, Speed was able to put up some impressive race runs in just thirteen starts. Speed finished ninth in the first Talladega race and backed that up with a third place finish in the World 600. Speed's other two top ten finished would be at the same tracks, seventh places at both Talladega and Charlotte.
The team's strong 1987 performances proved to not be a fluke in 1988. Speed ran strong in the Daytona 500 before dropping out due to an engine failure. The next race at Richmond, Speed ran up front leading sixty-seven laps but finishing sixth. The following race at Rockingham, Speed again showed power leading fifty-one laps finishing second to Neil Bonnett. Speed's day in the sun would come March 27 at Darlington in the TranSouth 500. After starting the race eighth, Speed methotically moved his way to the front before eventually taking the lead and running away with the show. Leading 178 of the 367 laps, Speed beat Alan Kulwicki by half a straightaway to secure his first and only NASCAR Winston Cup win.
At Dover Lake finished fourth, at Daytona he finished ninth and at Michigan he finished fifth. In the August Bristol event, Speed lead sixty-six laps and looked like a contender for the win before blowing a right front tire and hitting the wall effectively ending his day. Speed's last top ten would come at the second Dover race with a ninth place finish. The season ended with Speed in seventeenth place in points.
Speed had strong finishes in 1989 at Rockingham with an eighth and Darlington with a tenth. Speed finished fifth in the inaugural event at Sears Point (now Infineon) Raceway and a seventh a few races later at Michigan. However, in the July race at Pocono, Speed was injured in a two-car wreck that also injured driver Greg Sacks. Although Sacks' car overturned, Speed was injured more severely, and missed several races. This crash was featured in a 1990 video titled "Champions of the Checkered Flag".
[edit] 1990-1994
In 1990, Speed was only able to attempt six races, finishing two of them, the best being at Talladega with an eleventh. 1991 was an improvement in terms of races started. Speed replaced Dick Trickle in Cale Yarborough's car but struggled to fit in. In twenty starts, Speed's best finish was an eleventh at Bristol in August. In 1992, Speed got back to his own team starting just nine races with Purex as his sponsor. The team suffered several mechanical failures and Speed only managed to have a best finish of eighteenth in the final two races of the season at Phoenix and Atlanta.
After driving his own car during a handful of races in the 1993 season's first half, Speed was called to drive for Robert Yates Racing, filling in following Davey Allison's death. Speed qualified fourth at Watkins Glen International. He followed that up with a second place start at Michigan and a seventh place finish. The next race at Bristol, Speed was running a strong race before contact late with Rick Mast ruined his chances at a top ten finish. After Bristol, Speed was replaced by Ernie Irvan. It was two races later at Dover where Speed found another ride, this time replacing Geoff Bodine who had departed from Bud Moore's Ford to drive his own team which he purchased following Alan Kulwicki's death. Speed's best finish for Moore at the end of the '93 season was an eleventh at Charlotte.
Speed remained with Moore for the 1994 season starting off with finishes of sixth at Atlanta, fifth at Darlington and third at Bristol, moving up to fifth place in the points. Two races later, Speed finished seventh at Talladega. It was during this time that Speed was inducted into the karting hall of fame. Speed would have to wait until the July Daytona race to get another top ten finish, a tenth. Speed and the team ran good through the summer stretch, often starting near the rear of the field but moving to the front. Unfortunately, Speed didn't manage a top ten finish until Dover where he finished ninth. In the final four races, Speed had three great runs. A fifth at Charlotte, a tenth at Rockingham and a fourth at Atlanta where he led twenty laps. It wasn't enough for Speed to finish in the top ten in points. He finished eleventh behind Bill Elliott.
[edit] 1995-1998
Speed moved over to Harry Melling's team for the 1995 season with Spam sponsorship. He had two top ten runs, at Charlotte in the Coca Cola 600 and at Darlington in the Southern 500 to finish twenty-third in the points. However, the 1995 season provided Speed with what is perhaps his most famous moment. After the Miller Genuine Draft 400, Michael Waltrip blocked Speed's car in the pits. Waltrip, angry with Speed for blocking him on the track, pulled down Speed's windownet and began throwing punches at Speed, who was wearing his helmet. The incident was broadcast in front of a live television audience on the CBS network and resulted in a $10,000 fine for Waltrip, as well as much embarrassment for him.
1996 was very much the same, an eighth at Pocono and tenth in the Southern 500, Speed's final top ten finish. In between, Lake had a strong run in the August Michigan race leading seven laps before his car collided with Sterling Marlin. After the University of Nebraska backed out on their sponsorship, Speed and Melling ran a limited 1997 season. The season was a struggle with Speed managing a best finish of eleventh at Michigan. 1998 would be Lake Speed's final Winston Cup season. Speed secured sponsorship from the Cartoon Network. Speed's best finish of the season was at Daytona in the Daytona 500 where he tangled with John Andretti with two laps to go bringing out the yellow flag that effectively won the race for Dale Earnhardt. At Sears Point Raceway, Speed was strong during practice with the second fastest speed behind Jeff Gordon. In the second practice session, Speed ran over debris on the track, cut a tire and slammed into one of the tire barriers breaking his sternum. Speed missed the event and was replaced by Butch Gilliand, but he returned to the next race at New Hampshire. Unfortunately, Speed was caught up in a wreck and aggravated his injury. After the race, Speed felt it best for the team to find another driver, and Lake Speed retired from NASCAR racing. Speed was replaced by Jerry Nadeau.
In 2006, the International Kart Federation established the Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence karting award in honor of the 1978 World Karting Champion. The award was presented for the first time at the IKF 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals August 3-6 at Fontana, CA. The inaugrial recipient was Matt Johnson of Las Vegas, NV. The recipient could be a driver, team, kart shop or any combination thereof, and the award is determined primarily on sportsmanship, achievement and professional appearance during the race event.
[edit] Trivia
- Along with Darrell Waltrip and his wife Stevie as well as Bobby Hillin and his wife, Speed and wife Ricé helped form the NASCAR Motor Racing Outreach.
- Speed is one of only two drivers who has ever won his first career NASCAR Cup race at Darlington Raceway.
- Speed is one of a very few drivers from the state of Mississippi to race in NASCAR, and is the only Mississippian to ever win a NASCAR Cup race.
- Speed is the only American to win the World Karting Association's World Karting Title, accomplishing the feat in 1978.
