NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...

08/03/09

SPEED FINISHES STRONG AT POCONO

+SPEED RUNS STRONG AT POCONO

After starting 37th when rain ruined qualifying and Sunday’s scheduled start, Scott Speed finished 23rd in his return trip to Pocono’s 2.5-mile triangle. He drove into the top 20 before halfway, maintained “reasonable” track position with a loose car in his hands and with 30 laps to go found himself restarting second on pit strategy.

Speed had a front-row seat for an interesting final few stints. The No. 82 Red Bull Toyota tightened up, and Speed pitted to drop to 20th. Moments later, running a solid 17th, he evaded the race’s biggest accident 19 laps from the finish, keeping his car clean during some of the most intense racing at Pocono in recent memory.

“We got a little bit off target with the setup there in the middle, but we were able to keep good, reasonable track position and we set ourselves up for a good, reasonable finish,” Speed said. “At the end everyone was getting a little bit crazy out there, and for us we need to finish races so I took a relatively easy time out there."

“Once you start running up there in the top 17 with guys like Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch you certainly learn a lot more and they’re able to teach you a lot more. It was a good learning experience for us. It was a real solid day and we could do that all year.”