Scott Speed Finishes In Top 10 At Cayuga
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Jul 01, 2008
Eddie Sharp Racing’s Scott Speed took an early spin on the back stretch of the Cayuga Motor Speedway. Losing five laps while the tow truck pulled the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota out of the mud, Speed restarted the race five laps down on lap 43. Speed regained his lost ground over the course of the remaining 207 laps and finished the Cayuga ARCA 250 in the eighth position. Speed retained his second place position in ARCA RE/MAX Series championship points.
“Today was just a very disappointing day overall for our team,” said Speed. “We were able to save it from a remarkable five laps down to finish in the eighth position. I just want to thank my guys for sticking it out and not giving up.”
Speed qualified the No. 2 Red Bull Toyota in the eighth position with a 20.624 second lap on Saturday afternoon.
ARCA RE/MAX Series teams returned Sunday morning under threatening skies and with fingers crossed that the 250-lap event would be uninterrupted by showers. As crew members set up their pit stalls, rain came pouring down without warning. Teams scrambled for cover and waited for the downpour to stop, returning to work as soon as it ended. The track dried quickly, but the showers during the driver autograph session sent fans and drivers scrambling for cover. This slightly delayed the start of the Cayuga ARCA 250. Drivers lined up for driver introductions at 1:20 p.m. and the race started shortly before 2:00 p.m. ET.
Speed was tagged on the back stretch of the 0.625-mile short track and sent spinning into the mud, bringing the first caution of the race out at lap 36. As the wrecker pulled the No.2 Red Bull Toyota from the swamp, Speed lost five laps to the leaders. Speed came to pit road so the crew could give the Camry some TLC. The team made some adjustments, pulled the fender out, put on four tires, added fuel and sent Speed back out to the track. Speed restarted the race in the 25th position and minus five laps.
For the remaining 207 laps, Speed fought fearlessly to gain each lap back. With 100-laps to go, Speed was up to the 19th position and four laps down.
A caution at lap 192 would have found the No. 2 in the Lucky Dog position, except that ARCA officials reported that the Red Bull Toyota was involved in the cause of the caution and therefore not eligible to receive the Lucky Dog lap.
The caution came quickly again on lap 204 and Speed was back on the lead lap and in the 16th position! From lap 204 until the end of the race, which concluded at lap 257 due to a Green-White-Checkered finish, Speed climbed from the 16th position to the eighth position.
“It was a long day and one that we’re ready to put behind us,” said Speed. “We’ll just look on to Kentucky now. We had a great run there in May and won that race three times before losing it under the third or fourth caution. And that was AFTER the race should have ended. We’re ready to go back and get that win!”
Scott Speed remained second in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Championship point standings, 130 points behind leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
