As the Sprint Cup arrives in Las Vegas for the third race of the 2010 season, Scott Speed looks to be reaping the rewards of the lessons he learned in his rookie year.
Speed’s sophomore Sprint Cup season began with a solid run to 19th at Daytona followed by the second best result of his career last weekend in California, where he finished 11th.
He arrives at the 1.5-mile D-shaped Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend 15th in points and demonstrating that he’s a gifted student. Although Speed accomplished much in his career prior to joining NASCAR’s Team Red Bull, the switch from light and nimble Formula One cars to big, heavy stock cars found the Californian a bit out of his element.
Last year’s trip to the Shelby 427 in Vegas underlined his early struggles. He was off the pace all weekend and finished 21st, one lap adrift of the leaders. Team-mate Brian Vickers fared better, driving to eighth.
Although the more experienced Vickers was always available for advice, Speed has tried to maintain his independence rather than looking to BV to be a mentor. “It’s hard to really gain knowledge or information by asking or talking to another driver, it’s one of those things you have to go out and experience. Someone can tell you how they do it and that doesn’t mean that’s the way you want to do it and everybody’s opinion on something is different,” he explains.
“There is the opportunity to ask questions about something you are not familiar with but going out there and experiencing it yourself is what helps the most. If you could talk to everyone and learn everything from everyone, we wouldn’t have rookies.”
Is it the right way to go? For Speed perhaps, but Vickers did the opposite when he was a rookie at Hendrick Motorsports. Teamed with four Cup champion Jeff Gordon and future four-time title winner, Jimmie Johnson, Vickers took full advantage of the situation.
“There’s no right or wrong way,” says Vickers. “When I was a rookie, I wore Jeff out. I went to Jeff and Jimmie as much as possible trying to learn as much as I could. Every driver is different, and some want to do it on their own.”
'The better he is and the more experience he gets, the more he is going to help the whole team' – Brian Vickers
Vickers hasn’t been a slouch either this year: 15th at Daytona and 12th in California leaves him 14th in points after the first two races.
While Vickers says he and Speed have a good working relationship, he certainly wouldn’t consider himself a mentor to the Californian. But he insists he’s ready to give Speed the benefit of his experience if and when he wants it.
“It's not my job to force that upon him. It’s really his choice whether or not he wants to come to me; the door has always been open and he’s come through it a couple of times,” says Vickers.
And, even if Speed doesn’t work the same way as BV, the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota driver keeps cheering his garage mate’s success. “The better he is and the more experience he gets, the more he is going to help the whole team,” he says.
Speed had a successful rookie year in the Sprint Cup, getting into 35 of 36 races, with an average finish of 29th. And he turned some heads with a fifth place at Talladega last April. Unfortunately, Talladega was the only race in his first 10 where he cracked the top-20. In the end, he finished 35th in the championship.
While some might think moving from road courses to banked ovals and concrete walls would send a former F1 driver into culture shock, Speed insists the biggest challenge was adjusting to the close quarters on track.
“For the most part all the ovals are the same, they aren’t actually that hard to run,” Speed said. “What’s more difficult is how the car reacts in the draft and while you are racing along with other cars: it’s probably the most critical thing about how these cars race and what you need to have your car feel like in a race for it to be good and competitive.”
Although he went it alone most of the time, when Speed did go looking for advice, he often ended up in the hauler occupied by his buddy Kyle Busch.
“When he [Kyle] is out there in a car that’s mediocre, he still makes amazing things happen on the racetrack,” Speed says. “His race craft is the best in the field in my opinion by far. So to learn what kind of manoeuvres he can make to make passes and how aggressive he is – that is just a good learning experience.”
For more, visit NASCAR.com, go to the home of Red Bull Racing Team. You can catch up with Brian on Facebook and, as well as Scott's Twitter page, you can visit his official site.
Getty Images/Red Bull Photofiles
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