Scott Speed: The American Who Raced in Formula One, NASCAR and Rallycross

Scott Speed is an American driver who has raced in open-wheel, stock car and rallycross events. In 2006 an American returned to the Formula One grid for the first time since Michael Andretti in 1993, when Speed debuted for Toro Rosso at the Bahrain Grand Prix. He later built a NASCAR career and won global rallycross titles.

Who is Scott Speed?

Scott Andrew Speed was born on 24 January 1983 in Manteca, California. His schooling at East Union High ended in 2001, by which time karting had already carried him through a long run of titles. His later career covered Formula One, GP2, A1 Grand Prix, ARCA, NASCAR, IndyCar, rallycross and Formula E.

A serious illness shaped the middle of his early career. In 2003 doctors found he had ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel condition, which forced him back to America for treatment.

The first American in Formula One since Michael Andretti in 1993, who later became one of rallycross's most successful drivers.

How did Speed climb through karting and formula racing?

Speed began karting at ten and raced in the sport from 1993 until 2001. In 2000 he took the SKUSA Super Pro crown for JM Racing, in a Honda-powered Tony Kart. He also collected two IKF Grand National titles and three IKF regional titles, and he won the 2002 Rock Island GP in the 125cc Shifter class.

In 2001 he moved into formula cars and became champion of US Formula Russell. The following year he finished third in the Formula Dodge National Championship and eighth in Star Mazda, which set up his move to Europe.

In 2003 he won the Red Bull Driver Search programme and raced for Alan Docking Racing in British Formula Three. That same year he fell ill and had to leave for American treatment.

How did Speed reach GP2 and then Formula One?

After returning in 2004, Speed won the Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and then the Formula Renault 2000 Germany title, despite the colitis. Those results earned him a place in the inaugural GP2 Series season in 2005, with iSport International.

He began as the second driver at iSport but was soon promoted to first driver for the team. He logged five podium finishes and twelve top-five results across 24 starts, and he finished third overall, a place behind Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen.

In the closing weeks of 2005 he drove the first three races of A1 Grand Prix for A1 Team USA, with a top finish of fourth in the Portugal feature race. That same year he worked as a Red Bull Racing test driver at the Canadian Grand Prix and tested at the United States Grand Prix too.

Those test appearances made him the first American to take part in a Formula One weekend since Michael Andretti's 1993 stint. Red Bull then announced a Scuderia Toro Rosso line-up with Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi for 2006.

What was Speed's 2006 Formula One season like?

Speed started 2006 with Scuderia Toro Rosso, the team formed after Red Bull bought Minardi, and he partnered Liuzzi. His debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix brought thirteenth place. A week later at Malaysia he retired after 41 laps with a clutch failure.

The early races were promising but costly. At the Australian Grand Prix he appeared to have scored Toro Rosso's first point, but 25 seconds were added to his time for overtaking under yellow flags, which dropped him to ninth. He was also fined $5000 for inappropriate language towards David Coulthard at the post-race hearing.

Other results were mixed. He finished 15th at San Marino, 11th at the European Grand Prix and 13th at his first Monaco Grand Prix, then tenth in Canada. A retirement followed at Spain, and at the British Grand Prix he went out on the opening lap after colliding with Ralf Schumacher.

The United States Grand Prix produced his best qualifying performance of the year, a career-best thirteenth on the grid, but a first-lap accident ended his race. Liuzzi finished eighth there and scored Toro Rosso's first World Championship point.

In the second half of the year his results were steadier. He was eleventh in Hungary, four laps down, and thirteenth in Turkey and Italy, while the Chinese race saw him slip to fourteenth. He ended the season eleventh of the seventeen classified cars in Brazil, after starting well down the grid.

In February 2007 Toro Rosso confirmed that Speed would continue with the team, again alongside Liuzzi.

Why did Speed leave Toro Rosso in 2007?

His 2007 season was disappointing and unreliable, with several crashes. He was released from his contract on 31 July 2007 and replaced by Sebastian Vettel, a BMW test driver tied to Red Bull's development scheme.

His best finish in 2007 was ninth at Monaco, from 18th on the grid, which narrowly missed a championship point. He had two collisions with Alexander Wurz, at Silverstone and in Canada, which put him out of those races. He then went off in the rain at the European round, which turned out to be his final race for the team.

After one race it was reported that he had a physical confrontation with team principal Franz Tost, though Tost has since denied this. Speed also spoke out, claiming the team wanted to get rid of him and Liuzzi. He later said no amount of money would persuade him to work with the team's bosses again.

Vettel's arrival was announced before the Hungarian Grand Prix. His ties with Red Bull as a company stayed warm, and the company backed him in a United States drive for 2008.

How did Speed's ARCA career develop?

Speed entered the ARCA Re/MAX Series in selected races in 2007 and ran a full season in 2008. He drove a Toyota with Red Bull branding for Eddie Sharp Racing, alongside Ken Butler Jr and Pierre Bourque, and finished fifth in the series points.

Together with car owner Eddie Sharp, he took the Hoosier Tire Superspeedway Challenge in 2008. Across 22 career starts from 2007 onwards, he had ten top-five results and eighteen top-ten results. He won four races in 2008, at Kansas, Kentucky, Berlin and Nashville Superspeedway.

He was in contention for the championship going into the final race, but Ricky Stenhouse Jr hit the rear of his car while the two were battling for position. His car, now well down the order, was lapped inside two laps of the restart.

When Stenhouse caught up to lap him, Speed drove into his car, sending both into the wall. Neither driver was hurt, but ARCA officials sat him out for the rest of the day, ending his title hopes.

What did Speed achieve in NASCAR?

Speed made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series at Atlanta on 7 March 2008, driving for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports. He recorded his first top-ten finish in only his second race, a tenth at Martinsville. On 26 April he finished eighth at Kansas for Bill Davis Racing, and the following week he won his first Truck race at Dover.

His first Cup Series start came on 19 October 2008 at Martinsville, where he finished 30th. In 2009 his car was renumbered 82, and he took Rookie of the Race honours at the Daytona 500.

He claimed the pole for the Sam's Town 300 on his Nationwide Series debut, setting a track record at 182.451 mph (293.626 km/h) with a lap of 29.597 seconds. He collided with Kyle Busch early in the race and finished 40th.

After failing to qualify at Darlington and Sonoma, he drove Joe Nemechek's No. 87 Toyota for a spell. Red Bull Racing's No. 82 had finished 36th in the 2009 owner's standings, missing out on a guaranteed spot in the early 2010 races by a single place.

In 2010 he qualified for the Daytona 500 and led laps late in the race after staying out. At Auto Club Speedway he did not pit during a rain caution and ran out of fuel. At Michigan in June he collided with Casey Mears while the two were running 34th and 35th, causing a caution. Reed Sorenson replaced Mears for the rest of the season.

On 26 November 2010 Red Bull released Speed to make room for Brian Vickers, who had undergone heart surgery in June. Speed filed a lawsuit accusing the team of violating his contract. His best Red Bull result was a fifth-place finish at Talladega, in the Aaron's 499 of 2009.

He was without a ride for most of 2011 and drove for Whitney Motorsports late in the year. In 2012 he ran a reduced programme for Leavine Family Racing, driving the No. 95 Ford, and he was released in September 2013. He has not raced in NASCAR since.

Did Speed race in IndyCar?

Speed made an attempt at the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Dragon Racing, but he lost the seat on the final qualifying day. Patrick Carpentier took over and crashed in practice. He also declined a $5 million bonus offer tied to a Las Vegas event for drivers not running the full series.

After Dan Wheldon died in a crash, Speed argued that oval racing had become too risky for IndyCar. He made that point within hours of the accident.

How did Speed win titles in rallycross?

Speed took gold at the X Games in Foz do Iguacu in 2013, in his first rallycross race. A second gold came at Charlotte, in round eight of the global series. He joined Andretti Autosport in 2014 in a factory-backed Volkswagen Polo, later switching to a Beetle.

That first season with Andretti ended third in points, with three wins. Titles followed in 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the global series, with ten wins across those years. In 2018 he took the Americas Rallycross crown while racing for Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross, winning twice.

A move to Subaru's American rally squad was confirmed on 1 November 2018 for the 2019 season. In August 2019 he fractured vertebrae in a crash at Nitro World Games, which ruled him out for the rest of the Americas season while he was the points leader.

He was back with Subaru's factory squad in 2021, racing in Nitro Rallycross. He finished second in the standings, with one victory and four podiums across five starts.

Did Speed race in Formula E?

Yes. Miami hosted the fifth round of the 2014-15 Formula E season, and Speed raced there for Andretti Autosport, partnering Jean-Eric Vergne and replacing Marco Andretti. Starting from 11th, he moved forward through the pack to take second behind Nicolas Prost.

Which series did Speed race in, and with what results?