Rate this article:
REVIEWED: “Rust In Peace” By Malcolm Tucker
Malcolm Tucker delves into the photographic archives of the celebrated motoring historian Mike Worthington-Williams
Our Price: $49.00
"Le Mans", Starring Steve McQueen
The greatest racing film of all time! Dramatization of a man's tentative participation in the Le Mans race
Our Price: $14.99
“Monaco Grand Prix"
A photographic portrait of the world's most prestigious motor race.
Our Price: $75.00
Signed Bobby Allison Coca-Cola 1/24
1/24-scale die-cast replica is now available and personally autographed by Bobby Allison on the windshield!
Our Price: $54.95
Man-Made Thunder
Examine how the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has transformed from a performance-based sport into a personality-driven enterprise.
Our Price: $49.00
Scott Speed: soon in a stock car near you. (LAT Photo) » More Photos
So, Scott Speed's out of a Formula 1 ride and shopping for a drive stateside. He said so himself: unlike former Scuderia Toro Rosso teammate Tonio Liuzzi, who appears hellbent on holding on to his childhood F1 dreams, Speed seems conformed with the fact it's his still-excellent relationship with Red Bull's upper echelons, and that alone, that will keep his professional-driving career going.
"I have had a great meeting with [Red Bull owner] Dietrich Mateschitz, who became very excited about the possibility of my racing back in the good ol' USA," Speed revealed shortly after his dismissal. "I am coming back to America on a fact-finding, looking at the various racing series, and talking with some of the top American teams. Initial interest has been positive so I look forward to having some productive chats and finding the right fit for me."
In relatively recent times past, which now appear to be ancient history, Speed would follow into the natural footsteps of F1 exiles: land a Champ Car or IndyCar ride. Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansel, Alex Zanardi, Teo Fabi and, more recently, Justin Wilson and Robert Doornbos are just a few in a long list of names who found success stateside after being purged from the pinnacle of motorsport for one reason or another.
But oh, the times they have a-changed. To someone like Scott Speed, a man with a Formula 1 pedigree spanning more than a full season, driving a Champ Car would only come as a last-resort effort. At first that may sound like a contra-sense – aren't Speed's backers financing a PKV Racing Champ Car this season, for the mostly anonymous Swiss Neel Jani? – but the fact of the matter is, Red Bull's sponsorship of one of Kevin Kalkhoven's DP01s has a lot more to do with a three-way deal to prematurely terminate
Dan, Danica and Dario have made no secret about a possible NASCAR switch in the not-too-distant future. (LAT Photo) » More Photos
No: to Red Bull and most other Fortune 500 companies operating in America, U.S. auto racing is now spelled N-A-S-C-A-R. So that's where Speed will land, whether as a replacement to the still-underwhelming A.J. Allmendinger or even, in another strike of typical Red Bull boldness, in a third RB car (he and Liuzzi could perhaps join Vickers and A.J. under an American Toro Rosso banner to form a four-car armada, but I might be way past the daydreaming stage here).
Anyhow, don't take my word for it. Here's Dietrich Mateschitz, founder and owner of Red Bull, on Speed's future plans, speaking to Switzerland's Motorsport Aktuell: "Speed is courageous and his name is a marketer's dream – and with a cowboy hat it is perhaps complete! He would be an asset for us in NASCAR."
Keep ahead of the trends in NASCAR each month in RACER. Ben Blake considers how Dale Earnhardt Jr. fits into the Hendrick Motorsports puzzle in our September issue, on sale now.
Bottom line: if F1's doors close on you, racing two-ton look-alike sedans with 13-inch wheels and carburetors is now the way to go.
The father of all pioneers was, of course, Juan Pablo Montoya, the first top F1 star to claim life at NASCAR was actually, you know, pretty cool. Speed, then, shall follow in his footsteps and go taxicab racing, and here's how things, in a lighthearted exercise in futurology, might pan out from then on:
Page 1 of 2
