Scott Speed

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Scott Speed
Born (1983-01-24) January 24, 1983
Manteca, California, U.S.
Achievements 2004 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup champion
2004 Formula Renault 2000 Germany champion
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
118 race(s) run over 6 year(s)
2013 position 41st
Best finish 30th (2010)
First race 2008 TUMS QuikPak 500 (Martinsville)
Last race 2013 AdvoCare 500 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 4 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
29 race(s) run over 3 year(s)
Best finish 34th (2009)
First race 2009 Sam's Town 300 (Las Vegas)
Last race 2012 Feed the Children 300 (Kentucky)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 9 1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
16 race(s) run over 1 year(s)
Best finish 21st (2008)
First race 2008 American Commercial Lines 200 (Atlanta)
Last race 2008 Ford 200 (Homestead)
First win 2008 AAA Insurance 200 (Dover)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 9 1
Statistics current as of November 17, 2013.
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality United States American
Active years 20062007
Teams Toro Rosso
Races 28
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last race 2007 European Grand Prix

Scott Andrew Speed (born January 24, 1983) is an American race car driver. Formerly a driver for the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team, he made his Formula One race debut at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix; becoming the first American to race in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993. Speed has currently turned his career towards stock car racing; specifically NASCAR, where he has driven for Red Bull Racing Team, Whitney Motorsports, and Leavine Family Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

Personal life

Speed currently resides in Mt. Holly, NC, where he lives with his wife Amanda, and their two daughters.

His brother Alex currently races karts in America and is a 3 time Stars of Karting champion and a 3 time SKUSA Supernationals winner.

Early years

Speed's career started at the age of 10 in karting, his stint there lasting from 1993 until 2001, winning the SKUSA Super Pro Title for JM Racing driving a Tony Kart Swedetech Honda in 2000 2 IKF Grand Nationals driving a 6-year-old kart, and 3 IKF regional titles. He also won the 2002 Rock Island GP in 125cc Shifter Karts. He moved up to Formula series in 2001, competing in US Formula Russell and becoming champion. He drove in both the Formula Dodge National Championship and Star Mazda Series followed in 2002, finishing third and eighth respectively.

In 2003, the American drove for the ADR team in British Formula Three after winning the Red Bull Driver Search programme. During that year he fell ill with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, and was forced to return to the United States for treatment.[1]

2004 saw two championship titles for Speed, though, with him first winning in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and later German Formula Renault. This was despite his worsening colitis,.[1] His performances resulted in a drive in the inaugural season of GP2 Series for 2005, as number two for the iSport team to Can Artam. Speed was later promoted to first driver for the team, and ended the season third place in the driver championship standings behind Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen.

At the end of 2005, Speed drove the first three races of the new A1 Grand Prix series for A1 Team USA, achieving a best result of fourth in the Feature Race of the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Portugal, held at the Autódromo do Estoril.

Formula One

Red Bull (2005)

Speed as Red Bull's third driver at the 2005 United States Grand Prix

In 2005 at the Canadian Grand Prix, Speed took part as a test driver for Red Bull Racing;[2] becoming the first American driver to participate in a Formula One event since Michael Andretti's 1993 stint.[3] He was also the test driver at the United States Grand Prix.[2]

Following its purchase of Minardi, Red Bull Racing announced the creation of Scuderia Toro Rosso with Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi as its drivers in 2006 season.

Toro Rosso (2006)

In his debut race at the Bahrain Grand Prix, he finished 13th. A week later at the Malaysian Grand Prix he retired after 41 laps due to a clutch failure.

After the Australian Grand Prix it looked as if he had scored his and Toro Rosso's first point. Later on however, he had 25 seconds added to his race time for overtaking under yellow flags, dropping him to 9th place and out of the points. He was also fined $5000 for using inappropriate language towards David Coulthard during a post-race stewards hearing.

He finished the San Marino Grand Prix in 15th place. A week later and after a decent run at the European Grand Prix he finished 11th. He retired from the Spanish Grand Prix with an engine failure and in his first Monaco Grand Prix he finished 13th.

He retired from the British Grand Prix on the opening lap with accident damage after coming together with Ralf Schumacher. Speed bounced back and ran rather well at the Canadian Grand Prix finishing 10th.

At the United States Grand Prix he qualified a career best 13th only to be taken out in a first-lap collision. In turn 2, McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya nudged his teammate Kimi Räikkönen into a spin. The Colombian then clouted Honda's Jenson Button whose front right tyre got caught by BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld who was launched into a spectacular triple barrel roll. Speed was caught up in the resulting melee. None of the drivers were injured. His teammate Liuzzi finished 8th, and scored the team's first World Championship point.

At the French Grand Prix he finished 10th, matching David Coulthard's pace throughout, after suffering from back pains and breathing problems, consequences from a Friday practice accident. After crashing during the first qualifying session for the German Grand Prix, Speed finished 12th in the race. At the Hungarian Grand Prix he finished 11th and 4 laps behind the leader in very wet and changeable conditions.

At the Turkish Grand Prix, Speed started in 18th and finished 13th, from 15 classified runners. At the next round, the Italian Grand Prix, Speed qualified 15th in Scuderia Toro Rosso's home race and made two places to finish 13th.

At the Chinese Grand Prix, Speed qualified in 11th place in wet conditions, but an equally wet race saw him slip back to 14th by the end. At the next round in Japan, Speed started the race in 19th. Suffering a power steering failure with five laps remaining, Speed was unable to finish. However, as he had completed over 90% of the race distance, he was still classified in 17th place.

Finally, at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, Speed finished 11th of the 17 cars classified after starting down in 17th.

After much speculation, Scuderia Toro Rosso confirmed on 24 February 2007 that Speed had signed to continue driving for the team in the 2007 Formula One season.[4] He would once again team up with Vitantonio Liuzzi.

2007

Speed's 2007 season was largely disappointing, punctuated with poor reliability and several crashes. He had two separate collisions with Alexander Wurz at Silverstone and at Canada which put him out of the race. He then spun off in the wet at the European Grand Prix, in what would be his last race for the team. After the race, it was reported that he was involved in a physical altercation with team principal Franz Tost,[5] although Tost has since denied this.[6] Speed also went on a verbal offensive against the team, claiming that they wanted to get rid of both him and Liuzzi.[7] Speed's future with Toro Rosso remained very much in doubt for the rest of that season.[5] The doubts were seemingly calmed after continued testing for the team. From the pre-season through to the Nurburgring, he and the team had endured constant speculation over the status of his tenure in the no. 19 car.

Speed driving for STR at the 2007 British Grand Prix

However, it was finally announced before the Hungarian Grand Prix that he had been replaced by BMW third driver, Sebastian Vettel. Perhaps the only shining light in Speed's season was a fighting 9th place at Monaco from 18th on the grid, just missing out on a championship point but finishing just ahead of the Hondas of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.

On 31 July 2007 Speed was released from his contract at Scuderia Toro Rosso and replaced by BMW Sauber test driver Sebastian Vettel, who was under contract to Red Bull's driver development programme.[8] Speed has said that no amount of money would get him to work with the Toro Rosso team bosses in the future.[9] Nevertheless, Speed's relationship with Red Bull as a whole remained good, and he secured a Red Bull-backed drive in the U.S. for 2008.[10]

ARCA Re/MAX Series

Speed pits the #2 Red Bull Toyota at Pocono Raceway, during the 2008 Pocono 200.

In preparation for his impending NASCAR career, Speed entered into the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) series in selected races in 2007, and a full season in 2008. Driving the Red Bull-sponsored Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing, Speed finished 5th in ARCA RE/MAX Series points in 2008. Speed, along with car owner Sharp, earned the Hoosier Tire Superspeedway Challenge title in 2008. In 22 career starts since 2007, Speed has 10 top-5 finishes and 18 top-10s including 4 wins at Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Berlin Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway, all occurring in 2008.[11] Speed was a championship contender in the 2008 season, however the season ended in controversy, and without a championship for Speed and Eddie Sharp Racing.

Controversy

During the finale of the 2008 ARCA season, Speed and fellow competitor and championship contender, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., were battling for position. Stenhouse hit the rear of Speed's car, sending him into the wall, effectively ending Speed's chances of a good finish, and possibly a Championship. After visiting the pits for repairs, Speed's car was well off the pace, and was lapped within 2 laps of the restart. As Stenhouse came by to lap Speed, Speed accelerated and slammed his car into Stenhouse, sending both cars into the wall. Neither driver was injured, however ARCA officials parked Speed for the day, which ended his chances for a championship.[12] Speed was widely criticized by his fellow competitors, fans and media, as well as NASCAR drivers, for taking dangerous actions on the track in retaliation.[citation needed]

NASCAR

Speed made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7, 2008 driving for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports #46 Chevy with Red Bull sponsorship. He recorded his first career Top 10 finish in NASCAR in just his second race, when he finished tenth at Martinsville Speedway. On April 25, 2008 he won his first ARCA race at Kansas Speedway in just his fourth start. On April 26, 2008; Speed recorded a back-to-back top ten finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kansas Speedway by finishing in eighth place in the #22 Red Bull Toyota for Bill Davis Racing, and won his first career race the following week at Dover. Two races after his first win, Speed scored another top five at Michigan International Speedway. On July 18, 2008 Speed won his second ARCA race at Kentucky Speedway. On Sunday October 19, 2008, Scott Speed started his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Martinsville Speedway finishing in 30th place. He finished the season in the #84 Red Bull Toyota Camry for the Red Bull Racing Team.

For the 2009 Sprint Cup season, Speed's car was renumbered to #82. He was eligible to race in the 31st Annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, as his car was one of the top 6 Toyotas in points.

He began his quest for Rookie of the Year in 2009. He won his first ever Rookie of the Race honors at the prestigious Daytona 500.

Speed won the pole for the Sam's Town 300 in his Nationwide Series debut on February 28, 2009; he also broke the track record with a speed of 182.451 mph (293.626 km/h) and a lap time of 29.597. Unfortunately, he collided with Kyle Busch early on and finished 40th.

Speed competing in the 2013 STP Gas Booster 500.

After failing to qualify for Darlington and Sonoma, Speed competed in Joe Nemechek's #87 Toyota. He failed to qualify for the April Texas race.

Red Bull Racing's #82 finished 36th in the 2009 owner's points standings, missing a guaranteed entry into the first five races of 2010 by one position. Speed successfully qualified for the 2010 Daytona 500. He led several laps late in the race after not going to the pits with about 19 laps to go. The next week at Auto Club Speedway, during a rain caution, Speed did not pit and it appeared that the Sprint Cup Series was going to have another first-time winner, but Speed ran out of gas. Speed was in the top 12 after the Food City 500 which guaranteed him a spot in the top 35. During the Michigan race in June, an incident occurred between Speed and his temporary teammate Casey Mears: When they were running 34th and 35th respectively, Mears collided with Speed and he spun out, causing a caution. Mears was replaced by Reed Sorensen for the remainder of the season. On November 26, 2010, Speed was released from his contract at Red Bull Racing to make room for the returning Brian Vickers who underwent heart surgery in June 2010; causing Speed to file a lawsuit against Red Bull accusing them of violating his contract.[citation needed] Speed's best finish with Red Bull Racing was fifth at Talladega on April 26, 2009.

Speed was without a ride for most of the 2011 season; he drove for Whitney Motorsports for a number of races at the end of the year. In 2012, he ran a limited schedule for Leavine Family Racing;[13] it was announced in August that he would return to the team for 2013 to run the majority of the season.[14]

Despite scoring Leavine's first top-ten finish at Talladega, Speed was released from the team after Atlanta in September.[15]

IndyCar

Speed attempted to qualify for the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Dragon Racing.[16] However, he struggled to get the car up to speed and was replaced on the final day of qualifying by Patrick Carpentier, who promptly crashed the car in practice. Speed also turned down a chance to earn $5 million as part of a promotion at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for drivers not running the full Indycar season to participate in the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championships. Just hours after the crash that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon, Speed said it was too dangerous for Indy cars to run on oval tracks [17]

RallyCross

Speed won a gold medal at the 2013 X Games in Foz do Iguaçu in his first ever RallyCross race.[18] He won a second gold medal at round 8 of the Global RallyCross Championship in Charlotte Motor Speedway.[19]

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
2002 Formula Dodge National Championship ? 11 5 2 135 3rd
Formula Mazda Doublefield Racing 4 2 1 218 18th
2003 British Formula Three Championship Alan Docking Racing 14 0 0 3 23rd
2004 Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup Motopark Academy 16 9 8 402 1st
Formula Renault 2000 Germany Motopark Academy 14 3 4 293 1st
Asian Formula Renault Challenge Shangsai FRD GT Tires Team 2 1 1 N/A* NC*
2005 Formula One Red Bull Racing Test driver
GP2 Series iSport International 23 1 0 67.5 3rd
2005–06 A1 Grand Prix USA 6 0 0 23† 16th†
2006 Formula One Scuderia Toro Rosso 18 0 0 0 20th
2007 Formula One Scuderia Toro Rosso 10 0 0 0 21st
ARCA RE/MAX Series Eddie Sharp Racing 1 0 0 195 N/A
2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series Eddie Sharp Racing 21 3 4 4925 3rd
Craftsman Truck Series Bill Davis Racing 10 1 1 2058 21st
Sprint Cup Series Red Bull Racing Team 5 0 0 366 55th
2009 Sprint Cup Series Red Bull Racing Team/NEMCO Motorsports (2 races) 35 0 0 2690 35th
Nationwide Series Michael Waltrip Racing 13 0 0 1591 34th
Rolex Sports Car Series Chip Ganassi Racing 1 0 0 21 62nd
2010 Sprint Cup Series Red Bull Racing Team 36 0 0 3178 30th
2011 Sprint Cup Series Max Q Motorsports/Whitney Motorsports 13 0 0 0 68th
Nationwide Series Kevin Harvick Incorporated/Key Motorsports 5 0 0 53 59th
2012 Sprint Cup Series Leavine Family Racing/Go Green Racing 17 0 0 124 42nd
Nationwide Series The Motorsports Group 11 0 0 0 140th

* Ineligible for points due to competing in less than 75% of the races in the championship.
† Includes points scored by other drivers for A1 Team USA.

Complete GP2 series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

IndyCar

Indianapolis 500 results

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2011 Dallara Honda DNQ Dragon Racing

NASCAR

(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Nationwide Series

Camping World Truck Series

* Season in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Scott Speed www.formula1.com. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Speed gets Friday test role". GPUpdate.net. 4 June 2005. Retrieved 1 February 2011. 
  3. "Scott Speed — Ask.com". google.com. Retrieved 2010-07-10. 
  4. "Oh yes, and Toro Rosso confirms Speed". grandprix.com. 2007-02-25. Retrieved 2007-02-25. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Scuffle could spell end to Speed's career". flagworld.auto123.com. 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2007-07-23. 
  6. "Franz Tost denies assaulting STR's Speed". duemotori.com. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 
  7. "Speed says Toro Rosso want rid of him and Liuzzi". uk.reuters.com. 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2007-07-23. 
  8. "Toro Rosso axe Speed for Vettel". BBC Sport. 2007-07-31. Retrieved 2007-07-31. 
  9. "autosport.com — F1 News: Interview: Speed hits back". Autosport. 
  10. Straw, Edd; Noble, Jonathan (August 2007). "STR refugees in hunt for jobs". Autosport 189 (7): 8. 
  11. "ARCAracing.com Driver Biography". ARCAracing.com. Retrieved 2009-06-20. 
  12. Markey, Matt (October 13, 2008). "Speed — Stenhouse feud opens door for Allgaier — Retaliation mars final ARCA event of season" (NewsBank). Blade, The (Toledo, Ohio: The Blade). p. C1. Retrieved 2010-10-04. 
  13. "CUP: Scott Speed Lands Part-Time Ride For 2012". SPEEDtv.com. Fox Sports. December 13, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-14. 
  14. "Scott Speed Re-signs with Leavine Family Racing". Catchfence.com via SPEED Channel/Fox Sports. August 8, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-08. 
  15. "Scott Speed loses drive with Leavine Family Racing NASCAR team". Autosport.com. September 5, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2014. 
  16. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-scott-speed-set-for-indy-debut-with-dragon/
  17. Drivers saw dangers in IndyCar finale.
  18. "Speed storms to Rallycross gold; Strong hurt". ESPN. April 21, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-08. 
  19. http://www.global-rallycross.com/events/charlotte-nc/results/

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Esteban Guerrieri
Eurocup Formula Renault champion
2004
Succeeded by
Kamui Kobayashi
Preceded by
Ryan Sharp
German Formula Renault champion
2004
Succeeded by
Pekka Saarinen
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