RRUSA Media
This week the Inside Florida Racing show special guest is Lake Speed.
In 1978, a young American driver traveled to Lemans, France, and pulled a huge upset, winning the Karting World Championship race. On that day he bested, among others, the future Formula One star Ayrton Senna. And, he is still the only American to have won the Karting World Championship. That driver was Lake Speed.
The Karting World Championship began in 1964, and is ruled by the CIK-FIA. It takes place once a year, each year in a different country, and is the kart racing flagship event. Lake won six International Karting Federation championships in his early karting days.
Lake Speed – NASCAR & Karting Star
In 1980 after considering racing in other series such as Formula One, CART, and IMSA, and getting advice from current Lowe’s Motor Speedway promoter, Humpy Wheeler, Speed chose to go NASCAR racing. According to Speed, “It was the highest mountain to climb.”
He had 402 Winston Cup starts from 1980 through 1998.
His lone victory came in the 1988 TransSouth 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, driving an Oldsmobile for his own No. 83 racing team sponsored by Wynns. After starting the race eighth, Speed methodically moved his way to the front before eventually taking the lead and running away with the show. Leading 178 of the 367 laps, Speed beat Alan Kulwicki by half a straightaway to secure his first and only NASCAR Winston Cup win. One of the factors in Speed’s victory was that he was the only driver who tested the Hoosier tires at Darlington. Where most of his competitors thought that the Hoosiers would blister, Lake and his team knew that they would not.
He posted 75 top-10 finishes during his Nascar Cup career.
After leaving Nascar, a friend of his called one week, and asked him if he’d like to race a kart that weekend. Lake realized then how much he missed the fun of karting, and he’s never stopped since! He races with the WKA National Dunlop Tires Road Racing Series.
That’s just what a racer does.
Monday night fans will also get a preview of the 14th Annual Powell Memorial at Ocala Speedway. Stars from the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series will compete for the $5000 winners share of the purse on Friday June 5. Two top racers from the UDLMCS will talk about this event on IFR Monday night. Lee Arnold, President of the V-8 Stock Car Series, and ASA Late Model star Dustin Dunn also will appear on the show.
Inside Florida racing can be heard every Monday live on www.realracinusa.com 7-9 PM and all shows are archived on the site and on Itunes for later listening.
