MAY 31, 2008

Speed up to speed

Former F1 driver Scott Speed has competed in just six races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this year but at Dover, in Delaware, he scored his first victory, beating Kevin Harvick Motorsport drivers Jack Sprague and Ron Hornaday Jr (the current champion) is his Bill Davis Racing, Red Bull-sponsored Toyota. He was the third new winner in as many races, following in the footsteps of Matt Crafton at Charlotte and Donny Lia at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in Ohio. Speed is using the Truck Series to learn the ropes about NASCAR and hopes to move up to either the Nationwide Series or Sprint Cup next year. He is also racing in the ARCA Re/Max Series, another championship used by rising stars, and has won in that.

Speed's ultimate goal is to be at the forefront of NASCAR and as Team Red Bull probably needs to expand to three (and perhaps even four) cars if it wishes to be competitive in the Sprint Cup, he is obviously going to be top of the team's list of drivers.