NNS and NSCS...

+ ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

Red Bull Racing Team driver Scott Speed came from back to front to earn the best finish of his Nationwide Series career Saturday at Dover International Speedway.

Driving the No. 99 Red Bull Toyota with Michael Waltrip Racing, Speed, who qualified fourth, finished seventh after starting from the rear of the field because of an engine change. That gave Speed little time to work his way to the front, but he wasted none of it.

By lap 10, he was running 21st. Twenty-five laps later he was 12th. And by lap 80, he was in the top 10, where he stayed for the remainder of the distance. Only mid-race contact with Carl Edwards’ No. 60 that pushed in the left-front fender slowed Speed’s ascent, as well as a brush with the wall and a rash of cautions in the closing laps.

“It was a good race for us to be able to come from the back and earn a top 10,” Speed said. “We had a really great car. We just got a little bit unlucky. We got up into the wall and had a tire going down in the rear and that led us to go down the wrong path a little bit on a pit-stop adjustment. In the next green-flag run we weren’t able to move forward in the field and just stayed around 10th place. Then there were so many quick runs, we weren’t able to get anyone back. But we ended up seventh and that’s a great day for the team."

In six Nationwide starts, Speed has two top 10s. His previous best finish was eighth in the March race at Bristol. He hasn’t finished lower than 13th in his past three races — 13th at Darlington, 11th at Charlotte and seventh at Dover.

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+ DOOMED IN DOVER

Teammate Scott Speed, after starting 23rd in the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota, encountered engine trouble just past the 100-lap mark. Down on power, the team took the car to the garage. Little could be done, however, as a broken valve spring ended Speed’s day after 118 of 400 laps. pring harlotte

“Something in the engine stopped. We came off a lot of momentum from Charlotte so it stinks to have this happen so early,” Speed said, referring to the positive gains the team made during May race weeks at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Speed finished 37th, and his No. 82 ranks 36th in the car owner standings — 50 points from the top 35.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD AT DOVER...

05/31/2009