'Man of Action' Scott Speed Has Next Racing Challenge in Sight
It would take most of cyberspace to fully summarize Scott Speed’s resume in world-wide motorsports.
So many teams and cars. So many sanctioning bodies and series. So many bosses and crew chiefs and teammates. So many races at so many venues. So many changes. So much success. So much failure. But perhaps surprisingly, so few regrets.
For example, beginning in 1993:
Like untold tens of thousands of California kids, Speed had a championship-caliber go-kart career that lasted into his late teens. That led to rides in Formula Dodge; Barber Star Mazda; A-1 Grand Prix; British Formula-3; German F-Renault; Asian F-Renault; F-1 with Red Bull; Red Bull-sponsored ARCA stock cars; NASCAR entries in the Gander Outdoor, Xfinity, and Cup series; X Games Rallycross; Global Rallycross; Formula E; Lamborghini Super Trofeo; GP-2; Audi Sport TT; IMSA Rolex Series; and most recently at age 37, American Rallycross with Team Subaru.
Alas, that last entry comes with an asterisk.
Like many motorsport series this year, rallying has largely been grounded by the COVID-19 virus. The series has run a handful of iRacing-type simulated events, but nothing in the great outdoors like God intended. Speed has tested “real” race cars for Subaru on “real” venues, but not in a timed, competitive environment. Like most drivers, he itching for racing to resume.
When it does, he’ll compete for Subaru Motorsports USA in the Nitro Rallycross (NRX) series. Rallies are usually held in forests, while rallycross events are held at race tracks or stadiums… where Speed has been almost unbeatable at times. He won the 2015-2016-2017 championships in Global Rallycross (GRC) and the 2018 championship in Americas Rallycross (ARX), winning 19 races along the way. Those titles are in addition to German Renault and European Renault championships, plus another in Asian F-Renault. And just for kicks, he won oval-track races in ARCA and in NASCAR’s third-level Gander Truck Series.
He’s the only American and one of two men—the other being Colombian native Juan Pablo Montoya—to have run full schedules in Formula 1 and the NASCAR Cup Series. Born and reared in California but now living in the greater Charlotte environs, Speed is happy with his life, even while casting an eye toward new challenges with the NHRA and stage rally. He recently spoke with Autoweek while attending a go-kart meet in North Carolina.
Autoweek: How difficult has it been this year away from actual race tracks, a first for you in, what, 27 years?
Scott Speed: “I wouldn’t label it difficult because being a race-car driver is a privilege and (the COVID-impacted season) is the same for everybody. I don’t have any reason to complain. It’s different not having a race to go to every weekend so the daily life is definitely different. But we’ve been able to do some testing for whenever it shakes out, for whenever we can go out again.”
AW: Any hope that things will open up this summer and fall so you can get to race outdoors?
SS: “I’m a super-optimistic person and I try to take things week by week. I always think there’s hope in something. I’ve always tried to not worry about things I can’t control… and I’m far from being able to control this situation.”
AW: Of everything you’ve done through the years, what series or discipline has been the most fun and rewarding?
SS: “Man, they’ve all been so different and I’ve enjoyed them all. First and foremost, I’m an open-wheel race-car driver. That’s what I can do best at a high level on a world-wide stage. I’m more comfortable in open-wheel, whether it’s Formula 1 or what have you. But I also like being uncomfortable, which is why I really enjoyed my time in NASCAR. That was a huge joy because I was 25 when I started and it was difficult and not natural for me. Was I ever going to be the best NASCAR driver? Heck, no… but I was way better toward the end of that career than I was at the start. I enjoyed getting better and learning more about it.”
AW: Some racers want to stay inside their comfort zone and not try anything new. Apparently, that’s not you.
SS: “I’m so glad I decided at age 25 to change paths and not follow open-wheel for the rest of my life. I was fortunate enough at 23 to have reached the pinnacle of motor racing (F1). I knew I’d done enough that I didn’t have to prove to myself that I was a good race-car driver. When I felt that on the inside, it opened up the possibility of so many other things because I’m really addicted to learning about motor racing and getting better. I definitely wasn’t the best rally driver when I started, but I’m now at the point after five or six years where I’m one of the best in the world. Rallycross is so much fun because the cars are a handful and when you go to the line, you have no idea what’s about to happen. To me, not being good at something at the start and working hard to get better is so enjoyable.”
AW: What’s still out there that you haven’t done? What’s next for the man who’s done damn-near everything?
SS: “Well, you may not know this but my wife’s family is renown in big-time drag racing. My father-in-law is (Pro Mod and Pro Stock star) Rickie Smith and my brother-in-law is (three-time NHRA Pro Bike champion) Matt Smith. So, drag racing—one of the things I haven’t tried—is definitely not off the table since my wife’s whole family has NHRA in its blood. But as for right now—among what I haven’t done—is stage rally. I think I’ve become pretty efficient at rallycross, but stage rally is so different from anything I’ve ever done. (He once called it “100 million percent different”). The cars are similar but the style of racing is so totally different. (Rallycross is timed, point-to-point racing with jumps, banked dirt turns, sections of gravel and tarmac around the closed course, with only the driver. Stage rally is on a series of closed public roads, racing from one surface to the other, carrying a navigator).
AW: Do you follow NASCAR or Formula 1 at all?
SS: “I’m more a man of action than a watcher. I don’t watch much motor racing or any sport, for that matter. I’m good friends with Denny Hamlin’s crew chief (Chris Gabehart), so even though I don’t sit and watch a lot I still hear about what’s going on. I have a good relationship with (Haas F1 Team principal) Guenther Steiner, so I sort of keep up to see how they’re doing. But, so far as knowing what’s going on with them, I’m way out of the loop. I’m more interested in how my friends are doing.”
AW: Looking back on everything, do any regrets come to mind?
SS: “My life has been a journey and I’ve enjoyed the ride. I’ve had so many things in my career that went right to get me where I am today. I don’t think I could have been any happier or any less happy if there had been more success or less success anywhere along the way. I got to meet so many incredible people and see a lot of motor racing, a lot of different cultures all over the world. I really feel super-blessed and fortunate to have seen everything I’ve seen and been everywhere I’ve been. I’ve loved it all and don’t know if I would have done anything different. Sure, some things could have gone better here or there; that happens in everybody’s career. I’m still happy with my life.”
AW: Of all the trophies and hardware and podiums and championship stuff you’ve collected, what stands above the rest?
SS: “First off, I don’t keep a lot of stuff in my house. My wife has some of my rallycross trophies, but not many. As far as trophies are concerned, the ones I keep in my office are the X-Games Gold medals (2013, 2014, 2015). They’re so different from anything else and that was the coolest stuff I’ve ever done. Growing up I never, ever expected to achieve anything like that.”
AW: What does Scott Speed think is the best version of Scott Speed?
SS: “No question, without a doubt, for sure… it would be the open-wheel championships and the trophies I won in Europe. The best representation of me and my career would be that I won open-wheel championships in Europe.”
