Jay Frye: Scott Speed key to Red Bull Racing
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Red Bull Racing general manager Jay Frye stopped short Friday of declaring Scott Speed the driver of the team’s No. 84 Toyota next season, but called Speed, “a very key and important part of our program going forward.”
Frye’s assessment of Speed’s role with the group comes three days after it was announced the team will part ways with driver AJ Allmendinger at the end of 2009, and perhaps even earlier.
Allmendinger’s move would allow Speed - who is part of the team’s driver development program in the ARCA/ReMax Series and a part-time driver of the Red Bull-sponsored Bill Davis Racing entry in the Craftsman Truck Series - to possibly take over Red Bull Racing’s open seat in the Sprint Cup Series next season.
“What we’ve always said we were going to do with him was we were going to take it slow and as he progressed, we would graduate him when he was ready,” Frye said. “Every time we’ve graduated him, he’s far exceeded any expectations. The other night at the [Cup] test at [Lowe's Motor Speedway], he was phenomenal. We had high expectations for the test and he exceeded them again.”
Frye was particularly impressed by how Speed handled himself during the test and interacted with Red Bull’s other drivers.
“He was good all weekend,” he said, noting that he expects crew chief Jimmy Elledge to work with the new driver of No. 84 car next season. “In two days, every time he went out he got better. He has a pretty methodical approach, how he goes about his business, and he’s just a professional. All three teams … worked together really well. It was a really, really good test.”
Frye said he expects to have a plan for the No. 84 team for the rest of the year announced early next week, and Allmendinger indicated Friday morning that change could occur by next week's race at Talladega Superspedway – whether Allmendinger has secured a new ride or not.
Obviously if he secures a new ride, Allmendinger would like to start that immediately. Allmendinger is considered a candidate for the No. 41 Chip Ganassi Racing entry to be vacated by Reed Sorenson, who is moving to Gillett Evernham Motorsports next year.
“If you just look at the all the pieces of the puzzle and, supposedly, if AJ’s going to the 41, supposedly and supposedly [Sorenson is] going to another team, then supposedly we’re going to need another driver for next year, too,” Frye said. “Well doesn’t it just make sense for all of us to just do it now? Obviously, there’s a lot of pieces to that. We only control one thing of that scenario. That scenario that we control is the 84 car.”
Frye, meanwhile, had little to say about the impending departure of Allmendinger, who began his Cup career with the team at the beginning of 2007. Allmendinger said Friday he has talked with several teams but had not reached a final decision about where he will drive in 2009.
“He ended up getting to go do something that was going to be really good for him and and we’re happy for him,” Frye said. “That’s really about it.”
