DRIVER, NO. 2
EDDIE SHARP RACING
Birthdate: 01/24/83
Birthplace: Manteca, Calif.
Resides: Charlotte, N.C.
Background: 2007, one ARCA start, Formula One Scuderia Toro Rosso; 2006, Formula One Scuderia Toro Rosso; 2005, finished third in GP2 championship, test driver for Scuderia Toro Rosso at Montreal and Indianapolis; 2004, German Formula Renault and Eurocup champion; 2003, British Formula Three; 2002, winner of Red Bull Driver Search, Barber Formula Dodge and Star Mazda; 2001, Formula Russell champion.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Look beyond the name. It’s nearly impossible, being that this racer goes by Speed — Scott Speed. But there’s plenty behind the last name of the newest addition to Red Bull Racing Team’s trio of stock car drivers.
He never leaves home without his U2-packed iPod. Speed, at 24 years old, still loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and gobbles M&Ms, well, like candy. He enjoys watching the ruthlessness of Al Pacino in “Scarface.” Out of the car, he climbs rocks, plays golf and rides bicycles.
In the car, he is all racer, driving the No. 2 Toyota for Eddie Sharp Racing in the Automobile Racing Club of America.
THE BULL BEHIND SPEED
Speed’s connection with Red Bull runs deep.
After kicking ass and taking names and championships in karting for eight years, Speed stepped up to open-wheel racing in 2001, when he won the Formula Russell title in his first try. In 2002, he continued the climb, competing in the Barber Formula Dodge and Star Mazda series.
That same year, Red Bull began its own version of “American Idol” for single-seat racing. It was called the Red Bull Driver Search, aimed a putting a United States-born hot shoe in Formula One. Speed, at a still-green 19, proved his mettle and won the competition. With Red Bull backing, he crossed the pond for British Formula Three. In 2004, he won the German Formula Renault and Eurocup championships.
He appeared to be getting the hang of this whole racing on European circuits thing, and GP2 came calling a year later. Podium finishes were a regular occurrence, and Speed ended up third in the championship. He got a taste of Formula One, too, running a third car for Red Bull Racing in the North American swing through Montreal and Indianapolis.
A YANK? IN FORMULA ONE?
Believe it. Speed became the first American in Formula One since Michael Andretti in 1993. Red Bull gave Speed one of two full-time seats on its sister team — Scuderia Toro Rosso — for the 2006 season.
He immediately was impressive, when in the third grand prix in Australia, Speed was awarded his first world championship point for eighth place before race stewards discovered he had overtaken Red Bull’s David Coulthard under yellow flags. The ensuing 25-second penalty saw him classified in 11th. Speed, of course, flirted with points finishes a few more times but never scored.
In February 2007, Scuderia Toro Rosso confirmed that Speed would again hold a race seat, but the season was largely disappointing, punctuated with a mutual parting of the ways with the team. After seven races, his home grand prix in Indianapolis being the last, Speed was released from his contract at Scuderia Toro Rosso.
His relationship with Red Bull, however, remained strong, and Speed turned his attention to landing a Red Bull-backed drive in the States.
SINGLE-SEATERS TO STOCK CARS
Speed manned up from an evil stomach bug that once threatened his career’s longevity in 2003, so bouncing back after an exit from Formula One is right up his alley. Red Bull Racing Team has taken on the role of guidance counselor for Speed’s first season in stock cars.
He drives the No. 2 Toyota for the accomplished Eddie Sharp Racing of ARCA — one of the premier developmental stock-car circuits in the United States. There, he’s learning the ways of fendered bullets rather than Earth-bound fighter planes and the essence of ovals instead of tight and tricky circuits. His lone start in 2007 saw him finish seventh at Talladega.
Speed’s ultimate goal is none other than the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Q. How’s the whole career change thing going?
I have more confidence with what I’m feeling and the changes I would want to call out if I was in the middle of the race. From the first time I got in the car, it’s not hard to go fast. My biggest thing is I’m going to be learning, needing time in the car to know what the car feels like, how it should feel in practice and how that translates into the race, to drive the car loose in the opening laps and feel how it gets tighter and how that changes from circuit to circuit.
Q. Do you ever envision yourself doing anything else?
Golf. I wouldn’t be great at anything other than racing, and maybe golf if I really worked at it. I would want to be the best at what I did.
Q. How is the golf game?
Not bad, actually. The Charlotte area affords a lot of opportunities to play.
Q. Is suburban Charlotte treating you well?
I know two of my immediate neighbors — really well at this point. I never knew my neighbors in California. I still don’t know who they are.
Q. So what they say about Southern hospitality is true, right?
They’re all just so nice. They came over with cakes, the stuff you see in the movies. Everyone here is super friendly, and no one has pissed me off at all yet. That was not the case in California. It’s a little bit slower pace here, and it’s really easy to get along with people.
Q. What is the neighbors’ reaction when you tell them you drive race cars for a living?
My neighbors in Austria, they were all my biggest fans. I can relate with them, and I think they have fun telling me what they heard on the news. One of my neighbors came up to me and was like, ‘Dude, I saw this crazy clip of you on the news. It looked like you were yelling at somebody. I was laughing to myself. I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s my neighbor!’ I get that stuff sometimes.
Q. Describe your relationship with Eddie Sharp Racing.
As a racing driver, it’s really important to have a good impression with the team at the beginning so they have respect for you and don’t question your abilities. They respect me, and they don’t question what I feel. It’s nice to have a team treat you like a professional.
Q. You and Red Bull go back a long way. What is it that makes you so Red Bull?
Red Bull has always encouraged me to be myself, to let my personality come out. I’m very honest. I say what I think. I do have a personality, and Red Bull lets me completely be myself and doesn’t put any restrictions on me. It’s such an awesome working experience, such a great situation. I’m super happy to carry this relationship further because everyone at Red Bull has been so faithful to me and so supportive.
Q. Are you tight with any other Red Bull athletes?
I know a lot of the international guys, most of the guys in Europe. In Austria, I lived right next to Red Bull and a lot of the guys came through there.
Q. The premier perk of being a Red Bull athlete is?
If I had free time to go, say, surfing or skiing, you have easy contact to the people who do that for a living and do it at the highest level.
Q. Scott Speed’s driving style in one word.
I always had a very methodical approach to driving. I didn’t really deal with a lot of emotion or aggression. I was very methodical about the decisions I made on the track. I think methodical would be the best way to describe it.
Eventually, Sharp came to his senses. He knew if racing were to become life then hed have to ditch H2O for asphalt. Sharp climbed the short-track ladder doing the weekly thing on Friday and Saturday nights. Next up was road racing, where he drove to the Central Florida GT1 championship in the early 1990s.
Sharp, nicknamed Mr. Diversity at this point, proved he could get it done in any type of vehicle. But if he wanted a shot at the big-time, Florida had to become history in favor of stock-car racings hotbed Charlotte, N.C.
He drove in two NASCAR Busch Series races in 1993 (he finished 14th at Bristol) and spent a few seasons competing in the Midwestern-based American Speed Association.
A new opportunity came Sharps way. The man who had always owned his own equipment decided to give others a chance, as the sign on Sharps office door now read car owner. The decision, as it turned out, was the right one. Sharp led Bill Bairds team to the 1999 ARCA championship.
Sharp then worked with Cunningham Motorsports, where he oversaw the Dodge Motorsports Driver Development program as its general manager in 2005. He expanded his ownership role in 2006, providing drivers Ken Weaver, Ryan Mathews, T.J. Bell and Michael McDowell with top-flight equipment to score six top fives and 13 top 10s.
The 2007 season was even better for the Denver, N.C.- based team. With McDowell, Ken Butler III and Josh Wise wheeling Eddie Sharp Racing Toyotas, the team earned five victories as McDowell finished second in the championship. Just think of what ESR can do with a driver named Speed.
