More from The Q&A: Scott Speed
Scott Speed is part race car driver, part wild man.
The up-and-coming driver will race next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in the Dickies 500, but before that, he chatted with me for my weekly Q&A.
Here’s more from our conversation:
Jenni Carlson: So, I hear you rode a mechanical bull earlier this week. Is that correct?
Scott Speed: Hopefully, we get to do a real one later.
JC: So, you want to ride a live one?
SS: We were supposed to do it this time, but I got overruled by the powers that be. But I definitely want to try it.
JC: Did you do well on the test run?
SS: That’s what Tuff (Hedeman, former bullriding champion) said, so he’s the boss. He says I’m ready for a real one for sure, so I’m definitely excited to get out there with him.
JC: Your form and everything checked out OK?
SS: My groin didn’t. I am sore. I only rode the thing three times, and man, I am all kinds of sore. But that’s good because when I go to ride the real one, I know what I’ve got to go work on. I’ve got to go home and incorporate some groin exercises in my routine. When I come back, Tuff’s gonna be like, “Man, what did you do?” I just want to impress the guy. That’s my whole goal right now.
JC: Any chance pro bull riding might become a new career?
SS: They are brave. They are very brave. And I am … let’s just say I think motor racing is a lot safer.
JC: Now, wait. There’s lots of people that would say race car driving takes a lot of bravery.
SS: Maybe it’s just because I’ve done it my whole life, but for me, I don’t think it’s very dangerous at all.
JC: Tell me when you first started racing.
SS: My dad raced go-carts when I was a kid. I followed him around at the go-cart track since I was 3 years old. He was a three-time national champion, and when I first started racing, right away I was pretty decent at it. At that time, I played football and baseball, and I was pretty decent at everything, but I was definitely good at racing.
When I was 11, my dad said, “OK, if you want to keep doing this at a national level and try to compete for national titles, you’re going to have to give up all this other stuff.” I decided I wanted to. By the time I was 17, I was very, very successful. Then Red Bull came along with this driver search. I came from a family where we couldn’t afford to go race cars. We didn’t have $100,000 to put down to go race in some open-wheel series. So when Red Bull came along with program, it was a huge opportunity for us. We just got lucky. I was one of the 16 best open-wheel guys in
JC: They had to have liked your name.
SS: Red Bull’s obviously pretty savvy in its marketing department.
JC: That’s just coincidence, right? Your dad didn’t change the family name to Speed when he got into racing, did he?
SS: No, no. He was Speed as well.
JC: What do you think has helped you get to this point in your racing career? Are there certain characteristics you have to have?
SS: My hand-eye coordination is really, really good. My reaction time is really, really good. And my personality is that of someone who is going to be successful in something. I have that obsessive-compulsive behavior, the ADHD, the general psychological make-up of most good athletes.
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