With pressure on, Speed steps up performance

Up until now, Scott Speed has been best known in the NASCAR world for painting his toenails.

Or for wearing fashionably goofy hats.

Or for his shoe collection.

Or for marrying his smoking hot PR chick.

So far, it’s been Speed’s quirky personality and zany antics that have attracted the most attention in the NASCAR world.

He kept fans and the media at Las Vegas entertained with his Twitter survey about whether or not people pee in the shower.

“So the official results are 90% plus people pee in the shower. I feel a lot better now!” he tweeted on Feb. 27.

Fans and the media have taken an interest in Speed’s diverse lifestyle and off-the-track adventures because he is one of the most colorful characters and unique personalities in NASCAR.

They followed him, though, with mild curiosity and a heavy dose of skepticism, knowing that the California native and former Formula One driver might not cut it in stock cars.

And after a rocky rookie season in 2009, it looked like Speed might have a better chance as a fashion designer or interior decorator than sticking in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.

But, as it turns out, the dude can drive.

After three races, Speed has been NASCAR’s most surprising driver this season.

After failing to qualify for three races and finishing 35th in driver points last season, Speed has finished 19th, 11th and 22nd this season and is 16th in points, two spots ahead of Red Bull Racing teammate Brian Vickers, who made the Chase for the Sprint Cup last year.

What’s even more impressive is that he has led all three races. He has already led as many laps this season (19) as he did all of last year.

Sure, he took the lead by staying out on the track while the leaders pitted, but at least he was on the lead lap and close enough to the front to make the move.

And when he has taken the lead, he has stayed there for at least a lap or two, including an impressive 12-lap stretch in the Daytona 500.

Speed has gotten off to an impressive start despite having his back to the wall. He finished outside the top 35 in owner points last season, forcing him to qualify on speed for the first five races this year.

If he can hang on for two more weeks, he will be locked into the top 35 and have a guaranteed starting spot.

A bit of the pressure will be off too.

Led by veteran crew chief Jimmy Elledge, Speed is ecstatic with his team’s performance so far this year.

“For this being the beginning of my second year here pretty much, I’m really, really happy,” he said after his 11th-place run at California Feb. 21.

Speed and his team have improved so much that he was disappointed with Sunday’s 22nd-place finish at Las Vegas.

“It was not our finest hour by any means and we still ended up 22nd and 16th in points,” he said. “If our bad days are 22nd, then we’re doing something good.”

Speed has won open-wheel and sports car races and drove two seasons in Formula One, so he is an accomplished driver.

And despite last year’s struggles, he has shown a knack for stock cars. He won four ARCA races while preparing for NASCAR and won a Truck series race in just his sixth start.

Last year’s ups and downs were not unexpected. Both Vickers and AJ Allmendinger struggled in their first seasons with the still-young Red Bull team.

“Year one was hard,” Speed said. “There were a lot of ups and downs. We learned a lot, but I think we had a lot of bad luck our way.

“We really had a lot of things that could have gone either way that went the bad way. (But) I think we ended with a lot of momentum and we ended a lot more competitive to where we could run and we could compare a lot more things to Brian. That’s going to help us a lot this year.”

It already has, and Speed is proving that he can not only drive a stock-car but that he just might have a bright future in NASCAR’s top series.

With the sport’s attention focused squarely on IndyCar star Danica Patrick, Speed has been quietly sneaking up on the competition, showing that another former open-wheel standout has the talent to make it in NASCAR.

And he can match her in designer clothes and colorful toenails as well.