Speed wins Dover trucks race

[May 31, 2008]  DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Scott Speed celebrated his win as if he was ready to paint the town red. Should work out fine for a driver who already had painted his toenails blue.

Speed made it three straight first-time winners in the Craftsman Truck Series, pulling away to win his first career race Friday night at Dover International Speedway. Speed won in only his sixth career start.

"We had good strategy and an awesome truck," Speed said. "We got everything we could out of it."

Speed had nearly as much fun celebrating the victory as he did driving in the AAA Insurance 200.

When told there was never a repeat winner at Dover, he quipped, "I haven't been back yet." Then he plopped his cap on the head of the Monster trophy.

Later, Speed revealed he had his toenails painted blue on the plane ride to Delaware.

"You've obviously never experienced the joy of having someone take care of your feet," he said, laughing. "My feet were very, very soft, very beautiful for my standards."

Speed followed Donny Lia at Mansfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park and Matt Crafton at Lowe's Motor Speedway as first-time winners in the series. Speed, the former Formula One driver, and Lia are Truck Series rookies.

"Whether we win or not, it doesn't affect my confidence," Speed said. "I don't let results control how I feel about myself."

Of course, a trip to the spa helps him feel good, too.

Kyle Busch looked like he was going to dominate another series race, holding a 5.5-second lead at one point until transmission trouble sent him to the garage. The transmission was changed and the No. 51 returned to the track. Busch led a race-high 96 laps, but finished 27th.

Jack Sprague was second and Ron Hornaday Jr. third. Travis Kvapil and Crafton rounded out the top five.

Hornaday said Speed's quirky personality made him a unique fit in the garage.

"He is a winner now, so he's going to fit in very well," Hornaday said.

Speed was the best-known American in F-1 until he returned to the United States this year to drive stock cars. He competes in the ARCA and Truck Series and knows he might soon be racing in the Sprint Cup Series.

"The learning curve I've had is amazing," he said. "I'm looking forward to continuing on and looking forward to my first Cup race. I'm not in any rush. I'm having the time of my life just coming over here and trying to learn the sport. It's awesome."

Speed's pit crew made a two-tire stop on the No. 22 Toyota late in the race that put him in position to pass Todd Bodine for the lead. He led the final 51 laps and beat Sprague by 3.379 seconds.

"He outsmarted us in the pit stops," Hornaday said.

Hornaday leads the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings by one point over Crafton.

[Associated Press; By DAN GELSTON]

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.