Red Bull's Scott Speed Is Ready To Roll in His Rookie Sprint Cup Campaign

For Scott Speed, the 2008 season was not only to adjust to NASCAR, but also to adjust to being back in the United States.

He's confident and believes he's ready to embark on his rookie season. Having concentrated on learning all the important little details that can make his rookie season easier.

Speed also has spent the off-season bonding with his new crew chief, Jimmy Elledge. Even serviced as Elledge's crew chief for the first annual Polar Bear 150 held at Rockingham Speedway.

He spent 2006 and part of the 2007 season before being released driving for Scuderia Toro Rosso driving in Formula One in one of the two Red Bull Racing teams.

Red Bull would bring Scott Speed back Stateside to race in NASCAR.

In late 2007, Speed and Red Bull Racing would team with Eddie Sharp Racing in the ARCA Re/Max series and ran together in the October race at Talladega.

Speed with no experience on ovals or stock cars, qualified seventh and finished seventh, so you can see why some fans believe him to be a tremendously talented driver and like myself have been hyping him up here on B/R.

In 2008, Speed competed the full season in the ARCA Re/Max Series with Eddie Sharp Racing. He won four races, led the points to the season finale and we all know what happened with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

He also ran in 16 races in the Camping World Truck Series, recorded his first win in his sixth start and ran in five Sprint Cup races.

Speed down plays his success in both ARCA Re/Max and the Truck Series, his team purchased his seat time even sponsored him and he knows it was part of his learning curve to develop him better than most drivers these days.

Plus he knows something's in NASCAR are easy to learn, while other things come harder and more difficult to learn.

One interesting note, Red Bull only plan to run him in ARCA for the year and release him when his contract was up at season's end.

But due to his success, that changed he's now under a long-term contract with the team and he's racing in Cup a year ahead of schedule.

Speed has a very flamboyant personality; he's the opposite of all NASCAR's cookie cutter drivers and will bring a breath of fresh air to Sprint Cup.

"The thing I was the most worried about was people thinking that I was going to be an arrogant F1 driver coming over here with a big ego," he said. "For sure, by the way I look and the way I dress and how I act it's difficult to get away from that. Everyone that has met me so far, I think realizes how humble I am about my abilities in a stock car".

"If you put me in an open-wheel car or a F1 car, I will tell you that I am better than most. In something like this, it's something I'm learning and honestly I think the reaction that I've got from everyone that knows me and the guys that I have hung around with (Kyle Busch, Jimmy Johnson, my teammates) these guys all do whatever they can to help me, and it's really that whole environment. Having people want to see you do well is totally different."

Speed has no intention of changing his personality to fit the stereotypes fans may have, but he plans to fit in with the sports competitive nature of it's drivers.

"Speed says that crew chief Jimmy Elledge has worked with him on somethings, but some are still fairly challenging and he ranks himself as about halfway through the learning curve".

Elledge is a major asset to the team, he's a veteran crew chief. Who not only has worked with other open-wheel drivers in NASCAR but also several rookies and has a realistic out look on things.

"I would say that we certainty have high expectations, but at the same time we're trying to keep in perspective the challenges we're going to have in front of us," Elledge said. 

Speed in his five Sprint Cup races, had four 30th or worse finishes and a 16th place run in the season finale at Homestead.

It wasn't the results, everyone was hoping for, but the team was using the races to assess what changes needed to be made to the cars.

"[There were] things we needed to go through and learn and understand what our strengths and weaknesses were and understand over the winter," Elledge says. "Hopefully we've attacked all those issues and have gotten everything straight and hopefully gone through the normal learning process that Scott will have to go through learning to run and race and getting to be a contender week in and week out."

Both Elledge and Speed are optimistic that they are ready, will give it their best shot, and take the good with the bad.

Speed readily admits his personality may not totally fit in with the other drivers, but he would rather learn the sport and earn the respect of the other drivers in Cup.

While Speed may never fit the image most NASCAR drivers fall into, he'll do all right just being himself and he'll bring a breath of fresh air to a stale Sprint Cup.

Three things to remember with the Speed Demon:

1.) He listens.

2.) He's a fast learner.

3.) He adapts well to new things.

Give him time to learn, he'll earn the drivers' and fans' respect and he'll be a winner.

The Speed Demon is my pick for the Raybestos Rookie honors, won't be shocked to see him win a race at Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Dover or Pocono, see him with one top five, four top tens and 19th to 26th in the points.

Source for this article was scenedaily.com