Scott Speed featured in ESPN magazine

[VilleneuveTracy]

Last June, The Mag was going to run the following story about the next big thing in Formula One racing. Then, the wheels fell off Scott Speed's wagon. A year later, he's filling in the gaps.

There is nothing subtle about Speed. He is nothing like most Formula One drivers, a group as charismatic as accountants at a tax seminar. He speaks his mind, and it has gotten him into hot water. (SS: True. If I think something, I say it. My whole life, I've never changed for anyone.) Supporters call him passionate and driven; detractors prefer "arrogant" and "*******." (SS: I'm a lot nicer than I used to be. Arrogant? Maybe. I have lots to learn in stock cars, but I know this. An F-1 driver can drive in NASCAR, but there's no way Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson could compete in an F-1 car. It's incredibly more sophisticated.) It wouldn't be much of an issue if Speed weren't under the microscope. (SS: I love that. I'm not under the microscope anymore. I can be an idiot without a problem!) He's the first American on the F1 circuit since the 1993 season, and he's expected to attract the elusive American fan base. As he heads back out to the track, he talks about the difficulties of being a rookie. (SS: My rookie season has been freaking amazing. The ARCA win in Kansas was cool. But the trucks win in Dover was mega-epic, supercool. A surprise? Yea, I'm not the best trucks driver. Not yet. It did get everyone talking about me painting my toenails blue before the race. I like having someone take care of my feet. Hasn't anyone heard of a pedicure?) "I thought I had to fit in more, be nice to people. Now I realize all the bad things about my personality make me a good driver."

Speed's reward? On March 12, 2006, at the Bahrain Grand Prix, he lined up 16th on the grid in his No. 21 Toro Rosso ride, behind the idols he used to watch in his living room: David Coulthard, Jacques Villeneuve and the legendary Michael Schumacher. (SS: The start was intimidating. But I was more nervous at big karting races.) While Speed's car—a 700 hp, 3.0 liter, Cosworth restricted V10—could accelerate from 0 to 160 mph in 3.5 seconds, and brake from 190 to 0 in 2 seconds, little was expected of him. "In F1, there's a different criteria for winning," says Mario Andretti, one of only two Americans to claim the overall F1 championship (in 1978). "It doesn't matter how good you drive. If you're not driving for one of the top three teams, you've got no chance in hell." And Speed wasn't driving for one of those teams. His Toro Rosso equipment was purchased from Minardi, the outfit that had finished last overall three years in a row.

(SS: Final straw? I crashed at the 10th race of the season, at Nurburgring. Lots of drivers did; it was pouring. Afterward, team manager Franz Tost started yelling 'WHAT HAPPENED IN TURN 1?' I said 'Same thing that happened to everyone else.' He said, 'NO! JUST THE ******S!' I walked off, but he shoved me in the back. The whole team's there, and I'm like 'HIT ME! GO AHEAD!' (Tost's take: 'I grabbed him on the arm and said, 'Please stop, because I want to explain this to you.') That week, Franz called and said, 'We don't need you this weekend.' I said, 'Thank you very much.' And I went to see Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz. He hugged me and said 'I'm so sorry, but what do you want me to do? I said, 'Now that you ask? NASCAR.' Six weeks later, I'm testing at Talladega.)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3450185

[Born Racer]

said, 'Thank you very much.' And I went to see Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz. He hugged me and said 'I'm so sorry, but what do you want me to do? I said, 'Now that you ask? NASCAR.'

Well, he did ask.