Speed leaves F1 for ARCA

TOLEDO, Ohio -I'm shooting the breeze with Scott Speed in his team's hauler parked outside Turn 3 at Toledo Speedway, which locals like to call the fastest half-mile track in the world.

That's right, Scott Speed, until recently the only American competing in the insanely high-tech and glamorous world of Formula One _ not to be confused with Lake Speed, who finished second to Bill Elliott in the 1985 Daytona 500 and drove in NASCAR in 1980-98, and no way related, I'm told.

Toledo Speedway is a tough, scrappy racetrack, but it's light years removed from the legendary Spa-Francorchamps road course in Belgium or the streets of Monaco, where Speed finished ninth for Scuderia Toro Rosso this year before being released from his F1 contract in July following several crashes and a dustup with the team's boss.

Bumping into Speed at Toledo is akin to meeting the conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra backstage at the old Grande Ballroom on Grand River, where the MC5 and the Stooges once reveled.

But here he was walking across the infield, wearing a black hooded jacket, torn-up white jeans and plaid baseball cap, and going unrecognized by fans and officials.

"What a cool atmosphere," said Speed looking around at the cars that were lined up on the main straight before Sunday's start of the ARCA Re/Max Hantz Group 200. "This track has a lot of history, I'll bet."

On Sunday, Speed, 24, watched Michael McDowell drive to victory against hardened veterans like Frank Kimmel, a nine-time ARCA champion, at Toledo.

On Monday, he tested at the speedway for the ESR Development Team, for whom he'll race full-time in ARCA in 2008.

"I'm happy being back in the U.S.," said Speed after two seasons in F1. "I've just bought a house in Charlotte with my Austrian partner Valentina. My racing goals: I want to win a Nextel Cup championship."

The noise at Toledo is deafening, as the cars roar around the track. In Speed's hauler, he's talking about the challenges of mastering stock car racing and why he left the F1 circuit to run next season at places like Salem Speedway in Indiana, the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois, Berlin Speedway near Grand Rapids and Toledo.

"It was a great experience to be racing against the best F1 drivers_it certainly raised my game," said Speed, who was born in Manteca, Calif. "I was extremely lucky. But I'm happier now than I've been in the last year. There's no more finger pointing. Everyone is super friendly. I like it."

The pressure may not be on Speed anymore as the sole American fighting for respect in F1. But he's got a bunch to learn in stock car racing before he gets the chance to run in Cup. But he's got backing_he brings Red Bull sponsorship with him_and he's got, excuse me, speed, as a seventh-place finish in his first-ever ARCA start a couple of weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway proved.

"I could have walked into any Champ Car or IRL team," Speed said. "But Red Bull is 100 percent behind me and my stock car plans."

Speed says he has picked up some pointers from watching Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart at Talladega ("It is foot to the floor") and Charlotte ("It is survival of the fittest"). But he admits he has a way to go before he races them head-to-head.

"I've got to learn a lot_it's going to be difficult," Speed said. "But I'm going to pursue this thing to the full."

Although coming to America has been a culture shock for Valentina, Speed said he thinks they'll settle down quickly in North Carolina.

"She's doing better with the food," Speed quipped. "She's already become a fan of beef jerky and corn dogs."