Kris Johnson: NASCAR needs a heaping dose of Speed
Scott Speed is likely coming to a track near you in 2009, and for this, you and NASCAR should be glad. With a Craftsman Truck Series win at Dover International Speedway coupled with four victories in ARCA competition this year, Speed appears ready to make his run at NASCAR’s highest level.
Although no formal announcement has been made by Red Bull Racing, Speed is all but assured of being tabbed to replace the outgoing AJ Allmendinger.
Whatever he accomplishes on the track is sure to be matched by his uniqueness away from it. The sport has its resident villain now in Kyle Busch, along with a host of other drivers donning the good guy’s white hat: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton among them.
What it doesn’t have is a true free spirit such as Speed, someone who is sure to liven up the increasingly bland media sessions that have become the norm in NASCAR.
The closest the sport has come in recent years is Boris Said, but unfortunately for Saidheads across the country, his fledgling No Fear Racing team has not found the corporate backing to compete full time at the Cup level. Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose is another candidate to provide a future breath of fresh air, but arguably you have to go back to the 1980s to find NASCAR’s last true renegade in Tim Richmond.
Forget Speed’s outlandish sense of fashion or his proclivity for pedicures, it will be the 25-year-old driver’s candor and thoughtfulness
that makes him a boon for the sport. Bows, backflips, burnouts, snow angels and fence-climbing have lost their novelty in recent years. When was the last time you saw a winning NASCAR driver strike a pose as Rodin’s “The
Thinker,” as Speed did after his truck win at Dover? The answer: Never.
Sponsor Red Bull, which stuck by Speed after his Formula One fallout, is the perfect corporate backer in his case. He might not win during his rookie Cup season, but this much is certain: There will not be a better sponsor-driver pairing in the Sprint Cup Series garage.
As the old adage goes, Red Bull gives you wings. In this age of political correctness, Scott Speed could do the same for stock-car racing’s elite circuit, taking NASCAR to new heights with a personality it has never seen before.
