Lake Speed

Lake Speed
Speed in the No.9 Cartoon Network-sponsored Ford in June 1998.
Born	Lake Chambers Speed (1948-01-17) January 17, 1948 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Awards	6× United States Karting champion 1978 World Karting Champion
NASCAR Cup Series career
402 races run over 19 years
Best finish	10th (1985)
First race	1980 Winston Western 500 (Riverside)
Last race	1998 Jiffy Lube 300 (New Hampshire)
First win	1988 TranSouth 500 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 75 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
6 races run over 2 years
First race	1983 Miller Time 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	1984 Miller Time 300 (Charlotte)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0

Lake Chambers Speed (born January 17, 1948) is an American retired stock car racing driver. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, scoring one career win in 402 starts.

Background

Lake was named after the best friend of his father, Bob Lake. Lake's father, Leland S. Speed, took office as the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, in 1948, the same year that Lake was born. He started his racing career at the age of thirteen racing karts, much to the displeasure of his family. Over the years, Speed won the International Karting Federation (IKF) National Championship six times and in 1978 he won the prestigious Karting World Championship over, among others, future three-time Formula One champion Ayrton Senna. Speed had been the only American to win the Karting World Championship until 2015 when 14 year-old Logan Sargeant of Florida won the KFJ World Karting Championship.

NASCAR career

Speed's 1983 Cup car

1980–1984

In 1980 after considering racing in other series such as Formula One, CART, and IMSA, and getting advice from current Charlotte Motor Speedway promoter, Humpy Wheeler, Speed chose to go NASCAR racing. According to Speed, "It was the highest mountain to climb." Speed's relative unfamiliarity with the NASCAR scene led him to buy his first car from someone in Chicago. Speed started 19 races in his rookie year scoring an eighth at Darlington Speedway in his third career start. Speed also scored finishes of seventh at the spring Talladega Superspeedway race, eighth at Talladega's fall event, seventh at Charlotte's fall event and eighth at the season ending race at Ontario Motor Speedway. Speed finished 22nd in overall points and second to Jody Ridley in the rookie of the year standings.

In 1981, Speed again ran his own operation starting 27 of the 31 races on the schedule. Lake was unable to qualify for the 1981 Daytona 500, but did manage to win the 30-lap consolation race, leading the race from start to finish. He scored a ninth-place finish in both races at Rockingham and at Bristol. He followed that up with a seventh in Martinsville Speedway's spring event, an eighth at the now-defunct Texas World Speedway and a sixth in the late summer Talladega event. Speed's final top ten would come at Bristol in August where he finished seventh. The final points tally came up with Speed finishing 18th in points. One special footnote for Speed during the '81 season was that he enabled future NASCAR pace car driver Elmo Langley to start his 536th and final NASCAR race at Dover in the Mason-Dixon 500. Langley started 29th and finished 29th completing only six laps before a driveshaft failure.

1982 was Speed's first full year of competition on the Winston Cup circuit. This time, Speed was driving for the first time for another car owner, Roger Hamby. The beginning of the season was a struggle with Speed not obtaining a top ten finish until the 11th race, at Dover International Speedway. In July at Daytona, Speed scored his second top ten finish with a ninth. Speed continued to struggle as the season wrapped up managing to finish sixth in the Southern 500 at Darlington and eighth at the fall event at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. Speed finished 20th in points.

1983 was a year of major change for Speed. He was now driving for an established owner in Hoss Ellington, however on a limited schedule. The team showed promise early in the season scoring a fourth at Rockingham and a sixth at Darlington. It was at Talladega where Speed's life took a major change. Towards the race's end, Speed was leading the field with a chance to win his first Cup race. He was beaten at the end by Richard Petty and Benny Parsons. After the race, Speed decided to change his life and become a devout Christian. The week after Talladega, Speed scored another top ten with a sixth in the World 600 at Charlotte. Speed's final top ten of the season was the August Michigan International Speedway race with an eighth-place finish. Speed finished 27th in the points standings.

1984 was much the same. Starting 19 of the series' 30 races, Speed showed some early season strength with a third at Rockingham, a ninth at Atlanta and a sixth at Charlotte. At the first Pocono Raceway race, Speed qualified second and finished tenth following that up with a fifth at Michigan. Speed finished eighth in the late summer Talladega race and had a near win in the Southern 500 starting second and leading 28 laps before he crashed out. Speed's final top ten was at Atlanta with a seventh-place finish and 26th in points.

Speed also started six races in the NASCAR Busch Series between 1983 and 1984. He only made one start in 1983, at Charlotte in the Miller Time 300, where he finished sixth. In 1984, Speed lost by two feet to Darrell Waltrip in the season opening Goody's 300 at Daytona, and scored another top five in the Mello Yello 300 at Charlotte. Speed's worst qualifying effort was a 13th place start in the season opener. Speed's starts were fifth at Darlington, seventh at Charlotte, third at Darlington and ninth at Charlotte.

1985–1989

1985 was Speed's breakout season in NASCAR. Running a full schedule under the RahMoc Racing banner, Speed started off the season with a second-place finish to Bill Elliott in the Daytona 500. CBS's pit reporter Mike Joy conducted an interview with Speed after the race, during which the emotional driver repeatedly thanked God for the successful showing. He followed that up with a tenth at Richmond International Raceway and a fourth at Rockingham, taking the points lead early in the season. After an engine problem at Atlanta, Speed scored a string of strong runs: seventh at Bristol, ninth at Darlington, ninth at North Wilkesboro, eighth at Martinsville and tenth at Talladega. Speed then finished sixth in the World 600. The stretch run of the season took its toll on the team and Speed's position in the points fell; however, he continued to post strong runs, finishing seventh at Talladega, tenth at Bristol, tenth at Dover and seventh and ninth-place finishes at Atlanta and Riverside International Raceway to round out the season. Overall, it was Speed's best year in terms of points, notching a tenth-place finish.

Speed started off the 1986 season with a tenth in the Daytona 500 and a tenth at Rockingham but after the fourth race of the season, he was ousted from the ride. Speed started one more race that season, filling in for the ailing Rick Wilson in his Morgan-McClure Motorsports ride at Charlotte finishing fourteenth. Shortly thereafter, Speed began working again at starting his own race team.

1987 was a building year in many ways. With sponsorship from Wynn's Car Care products, Kmart and Delco Battery, Speed built an entirely new race team with himself as the owner, and veteran crew chief Darrell Bryant helping him to build the operation. The purple and white Oldsmobile donned the number 83, in honor of the year Lake became a born-again Christian. In his thirteen starts Speed finished ninth in the first Talladega race and followed that up with a third-place finish in the World 600. Speed's other two top ten finishes were at the same tracks, seventh place at both Talladega and Charlotte.

The team's strong 1987 performances continued in 1988. With strong support from the Hoosier tire company, Speed ran strong in the Daytona 500 before dropping out due to an engine failure. The next race, at Richmond, Speed ran up front leading sixty-seven laps but finished sixth. The following race, at Rockingham, Speed again showed power, leading fifty-one laps and finishing second to Neil Bonnett. Speed's first win came March 27 at Darlington in the TranSouth 500. After starting the race eighth, Speed methodically moved his way to the front before eventually taking the lead and running away from the field. Leading 178 of the 367 laps, Speed beat Alan Kulwicki by half a straightaway to secure his first and only NASCAR Winston Cup win. One of the factors in Speed's victory was that he was the only driver who tested the Hoosier tires at Darlington. Where most of his competitors thought that the Hoosiers would blister, Lake and his team believed that they would not.

Speed and Dale Earnhardt race at Bristol in the Busch 500, August 1988

At Dover, Speed finished fourth, following that up with finishes of ninth at Daytona and fifth at Michigan. In the Volunteer 500, Speed led sixty-six laps and looked like a strong contender for the race win before blowing a right front tire and hitting the wall, effectively ending his day. Speed's last top ten came at the 1988 Delaware 500 with a ninth-place effort. The season ended with Speed seventeenth place in the final points rundown.

Speed had strong finishes in 1989 with a Bull's Eye Barbecue Sauce sponsorship Speed said was "worth peanuts." At Rockingham Lake took eighth and a few weeks later he finished tenth Darlington. Speed finished fifth in the inaugural event at Sears Point (now Sonoma) Raceway and a seventh a few races later at Michigan. However, in the July race at Pocono, Speed was injured in a two-car wreck that also injured driver Greg Sacks. Although Sacks' car overturned, Speed was injured more severely, and missed several races. This crash was featured in a 1990 video titled "Champions of the Checkered Flag". While Lake recovered from his injuries, he had several drivers drive in his place including Joe Ruttman at Talladega, Michigan and Bristol; Eddie Bierschwale at Watkins Glen; and Rodney Combs at Darlington. Lake returned to action in the Miller High Life 400 at Richmond to finish 14th. At the final race of the '89 season at Atlanta, Lake was able to conclude a personally disappointing year with a 10th-place run.

1990–1994

In 1990, Speed started only six races with Prestone sponsorship, finishing two of them. The best finish of Lake's abbreviated 1990 season came at Talladega's Die Hard 500 with an eleventh-place effort. Speed also fielded cars for short track ace Tommy Ellis and Phil Parsons in two races. Ellis started the Delaware 500 at Dover in 31st and finished 32nd after an engine failure. In the National 500 at Charlotte, Parsons drove Speed's car with Baja Boats sponsorship to an 18th-place run. 1991 was an improvement in terms of races started. Speed replaced Dick Trickle in Cale Yarborough's car but struggled with mechanical failures throughout his stint with the team. In twenty starts, Speed's best finish was an eleventh at Bristol in August. In 1992, Speed got back to his own team starting just nine races with Purex as his sponsor. The team suffered several mechanical failures and Speed only managed to have a best finish of eighteenth in the final two races of the season at Phoenix and Atlanta.

After driving his own car during a handful of races in the 1993 season's first half, Speed was called to drive for Robert Yates Racing, filling in following Davey Allison's death. Speed qualified fourth at Watkins Glen International. He followed that up with a second place start at Michigan and a seventh-place finish. The next race at Bristol, Speed was running a strong race before contact late with Rick Mast ruined his chances at a top ten finish. After Bristol, Speed was replaced by Ernie Irvan, but less than a week later, on September 3, it was announced that Speed would drive the #15 Ford owned by Bud Moore for 1994, replacing Geoff Bodine, who would depart from Moore's Ford to drive his own team which he purchased following Alan Kulwicki's death. However, two races later at Dover, Speed replaced Bodine in Moore's #15, as Ford allowed Bodine to take over Kulwicki's former #7 for the last seven races of 1993, in preparation for his first full season as an owner-driver. Speed's best finish for Moore at the end of the '93 season was an eleventh at Charlotte.

Speed remained with Moore for the 1994 season starting off with finishes of sixth at Atlanta, fifth at Darlington and third at Bristol, moving up to fifth place in the points. Two races later, Speed finished seventh at Talladega. It was during this time that Speed was inducted into the karting hall of fame. Speed would have to wait until the July Daytona race to get another top ten finish, a tenth. Speed and the team ran good through the summer stretch, often starting near the rear of the field but moving to the front. Unfortunately, Speed did not manage a top ten finish until Dover where he finished ninth. In the final four races, Speed had three great runs. A fifth at Charlotte, a tenth at Rockingham and a fourth at Atlanta where he led twenty laps. It wasn't enough for Speed to finish in the top ten in points. He finished eleventh behind Bill Elliott.

1995–1998

Speed moved over to Melling Racing team for the 1995 season and resurrected the organization. The normally red and white Melling car now was emblazoned with Spam sponsorship and blue and yellow colors. Speed had two top ten runs, at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Darlington in the Southern 500 to finish twenty-third in the points rundown. However, the 1995 season provided Speed with what is perhaps his most famous moment. After the Miller Genuine Draft 400, Michael Waltrip blocked Speed's car in the pits. Waltrip, angry with Speed for blocking him on the track, pulled down Speed's window net and began throwing punches at Speed, who was wearing his helmet. The incident was broadcast in front of a live television audience on the CBS network and resulted in a $10,000 fine for Waltrip.

During the 1996 season, Speed earned his first career NASCAR pole, albeit in a non-points event, the Winston Open. At the Miller 400 at Michigan, the normally blue and yellow Spam Ford was graced in red, white and gold in honor of 50 years of Melling's parts company being in operation. Speed and the Melling Racing team notched an eighth place finish at Pocono in the Miller 500. Speed stunned everyone in qualifying for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis with a third-place effort. During the race, Speed made a daring three-wide pass to take the lead. The finishing order saw Speed finish 13th after leading two laps. At the second race in Michigan, the GM Goodwrench Dealer 400, Speed led seven laps and looked poised to possibly capture his second NASCAR Winston Cup victory before getting caught up in a wreck started by Sterling Marlin. Though Speed qualified poorly for the Southern 500, he quickly moved his way through the field. Just as he neared running in the top ten, a right front tire cut and Lake had to pit under the green flag, losing two laps. However, the strength of the car would prove itself as Speed worked his way back to finish 10th, the final top ten finish of his career.

After the University of Nebraska backed out of their sponsorship, Speed and Melling ran a limited 1997 season. Speed qualified for all 25 races he attempted. Lake and the team raced to a solid 12th-place finish in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, then followed that up with a sixth-place qualifying effort at Atlanta. During the midpoint of the season, the No. 9 car was filmed for the TV movie Steel Chariots. In the Miller 400 at Michigan, Speed earned his and the team's best finish of the season, an 11th. A few races later, Speed finished 12th in the Brickyard 400. At Richmond in the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400, Speed seemed to have one of the stronger cars, leading three laps through a series of green flag pit stops. However, during the stop, the crew bolted the left side tires on the right side and the right side tires on the left, forcing Speed to make multiple pit stops and dropping him out of a chance of having a good finish. A few races later, Lake had a 14th-place run at Martinsville in the Hanes 500. The Melling team was able to get sponsorship for the last four races of the season from Advantage Camo, their best finish being 17th at Rockingham's AC Delco 400. Speed finished 35th in the points standings.

1998 was Speed's final Winston Cup season. Having secured sponsorship from the Cartoon Network, Speed's best finish of the season was in the Daytona 500 where he tangled with John Andretti with two laps to go bringing out the yellow flag that effectively won the race for Dale Earnhardt. The 1998 season proved to be a challenge for Lake and the Melling Racing team. It appeared as if the team was struggling with the new Ford Taurus bodies, and that translated to some poor results. At Sears Point Raceway, Speed appeared to have a chance to turn his season around. He was strong during the first practice session with the second fastest speed behind Jeff Gordon. In the second practice session, Speed ran over debris thrown on the track by a car that had gotten off course, cut a tire and slammed into one of the tire barriers breaking his sternum. Speed missed the event and was replaced by Butch Gilliland, but he returned to the next race at New Hampshire. However Speed was caught up in a wreck not of his own making and aggravated his injury. After the race, Speed felt it best for the team to find another driver. Speed stepped aside and was replaced by Jerry Nadeau. With Speed's age being against him and a push for younger drivers, he effectively retired from NASCAR racing. Though Speed only made 16 starts during the 1998 season, he still finished 43rd in the points standings.

After retirement

In 2006, the International Kart Federation established the Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence karting award in honor of the 1978 World Karting Champion. The award was presented for the first time at the IKF 2-Cycle Sprint Grand Nationals August 3–6 at Fontana, California. The inaugural recipient was Matt Johnson of Las Vegas, Nevada. Nick Johnston of Northridge, California was awarded the honor in 2007. The award went to Taylor Miinch in 2008 and Mike Botelho Jr. in 2009. And youngest winner of the award went to Ryan Schartau of Chino, California in 2013. The recipient of the award could be a driver, team, kart shop or any combination thereof, and the winner is determined primarily on sportsmanship, driving achievement and professionalism during the race event.

On occasion, Speed still drives karts, and has four wins in Historic Stock Car Racing Association events on Daytona's 3.56-mile road course in 2002 and 2003 driving one of his old 83 Purex-sponsored Ford vehicles.

Speed currently races in the World Karting Association's National Road Racing Series schedule, in the Spec 125 TaG 1 and 2 classes. On July 30, 2010 Speed was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Since 2016, he has been an avid follower of the RHPK kart series. In November 2023, he went to Virginia International Raceway and raced his 1993 stock car at the age of 75.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1980	Gordon Racing	24	Olds	RSD 29																																	22nd	1853
	Speed Racing	66	Chevy		DAY DNQ	RCH	CAR	ATL 11	BRI	DAR 8	NWS	MAR	TAL 7	NSV	DOV	CLT	TWS 12	RSD 26	MCH 17	DAY 38	NSV	POC 30	TAL 8	MCH 16	BRI	DAR 27	RCH
	Nelson Malloch Racing	7	Chevy																									DOV 11	NWS 21	MAR 20	CLT 7	CAR 28	ATL 24	ONT 6
1981	Speed Racing	66	Chevy	RSD 34																																	18th	2817
			Olds		DAY DNQ	RCH 12			BRI 9	NWS 23	DAR	MAR 7				CLT 28	TWS 8	RSD			NSV 22	POC 27			BRI 7		RCH 20			NWS 27		CAR 31
			Buick				CAR 9	ATL 35					TAL 18						MCH 16	DAY 33			TAL 6	MCH 15		DAR 13		DOV 27	MAR 22		CLT 34		ATL 14	RSD 16
			Pontiac											NSV 24	DOV
1982			Buick	DAY 41																																	20th	2850
	Hamby Motorsports	17	Buick		RCH 19	BRI 29	ATL 33	CAR 34	DAR 17	NWS 24	MAR 24	TAL 34			CLT 12	POC 20	RSD 31	MCH 34	DAY 9	NSV 13	POC 33	TAL 21	MCH 12	BRI 13	DAR 6				CLT 21
			Pontiac										NSV 30	DOV 10												RCH 10	DOV 22	NWS 8		MAR 29	CAR 33	ATL 29	RSD 32
1983	Ellington Racing	1	Chevy	DAY 25	RCH 15	CAR 4	ATL 15	DAR 28	NWS 8	MAR 23	TAL 3	NSV	DOV	BRI	CLT 6	RSD	POC 12	MCH 19	DAY 29	NSV	POC	TAL 26	MCH 8	BRI	DAR 15	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 11	CAR 28	ATL 12	RSD				27th	2114
1984				DAY 37	RCH 12	CAR 3	ATL 9	BRI	NWS	DAR 22	MAR	TAL 33	NSV	DOV 21	CLT 6	RSD	POC 10	MCH 5	DAY 42	NSV	POC	TAL 8	MCH 16	BRI	DAR 14	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT 32		CAR 29	ATL 7					26th	2023
	Hamby Motorsports	17	Pontiac																											NWS 25
			Chevy																														RSD 17
1985	RahMoc Enterprises	75	Pontiac	DAY 2	RCH 10	CAR 4	ATL 40	BRI 7	DAR 9	NWS 9	MAR 8	TAL 10	DOV 24	CLT 6	RSD 25	POC 12	MCH 14	DAY 34	POC 11	TAL 8	MCH 16	BRI 10	DAR 16	RCH 11	DOV 10	MAR 11	NWS 12	CLT 12	CAR 29	ATL 7	RSD 9						10th	3507
1986				DAY 10	RCH 17	CAR 10	ATL 22	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV																								40th	608
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Olds											CLT 14	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL	RSD
1987	Speed Racing	83	Olds	DAY 26	CAR 12	RCH DNQ	ATL 35	DAR 31	NWS	BRI	MAR	TAL 9	CLT 3	DOV	POC	RSD	MCH 10	DAY 40	POC	TAL 7	GLN	MCH 16	BRI	DAR 30	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 7	CAR	RSD	ATL 41					31st	1345
1988				DAY 37	RCH 6	CAR 2	ATL 38	DAR 1*	BRI 30	NWS 26	MAR 28	TAL 15	CLT 21	DOV 4	RSD 26	POC 23	MCH 29	DAY 9	POC 32	TAL 13	GLN 37	MCH 5	BRI 20	DAR 12	RCH 36	DOV 9	MAR 28	CLT 34	NWS 15	CAR 24	PHO 15	ATL 37					17th	2984
1989				DAY 30	CAR 8	ATL 21	RCH 12	DAR 10	BRI 25	NWS 27	MAR 11	TAL 18	CLT 24	DOV 18	SON 5	POC 11	MCH 7	DAY 24	POC 29	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH 14	DOV 36	MAR 22	CLT 38	NWS 25	CAR 19	PHO 22	ATL 10					27th	2550
1990				DAY 16	RCH	CAR	ATL DNQ	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL 38	CLT 38	DOV	SON	POC	MCH 33	DAY	POC	TAL 11	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR 32	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL					42nd	479
1991	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	66	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	DAR 40	BRI 25	NWS 13	MAR 18	TAL 31	CLT 29	DOV 22	SON 12	POC 17	MCH 18	DAY 38	POC 30	TAL 36	GLN 33	MCH 15	BRI 11	DAR 34	RCH 17	DOV 35	MAR 32	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL					32nd	1742
1992	Speed Racing	83	Chevy	DAY DNQ	CAR	RCH	ATL 34	DAR DNQ	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL																									38th	726
			Ford										CLT 19	DOV	SON	POC	MCH	DAY	POC 36	TAL	GLN	MCH 34	BRI	DAR 26	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT 26	CAR 36	PHO 18	ATL 18
1993				DAY 14	CAR	RCH 30	ATL 28	DAR	BRI 29	NWS	MAR	TAL 34	SON	CLT 27	DOV 30	POC 27	MCH 30	DAY DNQ	NHA 35	POC	TAL 18																34th	1956
	Yates Racing	28	Ford																			GLN 27	MCH 7	BRI 16	DAR	RCH
	Bud Moore Engineering	15	Ford																								DOV 33	MAR 24	NWS 17	CLT 11	CAR 16	PHO 13	ATL 26
1994				DAY 14	CAR 21	RCH 14	ATL 6	DAR 5	BRI 3	NWS 12	MAR 30	TAL 7	SON 32	CLT 14	DOV 12	POC 23	MCH 40	DAY 10	NHA 15	POC 20	TAL 14	IND 15	GLN 13	MCH 13	BRI 25	DAR 40	RCH 21	DOV 9	MAR 34	NWS 25	CLT 5	CAR 10	PHO 14	ATL 4			11th	3565
1995	Melling Racing	9	Ford	DAY 14	CAR 32	RCH 14	ATL 15	DAR 29	BRI 17	NWS 25	MAR 26	TAL 16	SON 40	CLT 8	DOV 34	POC 28	MCH 11	DAY 21	NHA 24	POC 22	TAL 35	IND 34	GLN 20	MCH 17	BRI 29	DAR 9	RCH 21	DOV 32	MAR 20	NWS 35	CLT 21	CAR 24	PHO 22	ATL 19			23rd	2921
1996				DAY 14	CAR 25	RCH 18	ATL 41	DAR 25	BRI 35	NWS 35	MAR 11	TAL 42	SON 16	CLT 35	DOV 26	POC 34	MCH 19	DAY 29	NHA 24	POC 8	TAL 30	IND 13	GLN 17	MCH 32	BRI 16	DAR 10	RCH 31	DOV 13	MAR 28	NWS 25	CLT 12	CAR 35	PHO 28	ATL 19			23rd	2834
1997				DAY 24	CAR 15	RCH 12	ATL 22	DAR 36	TEX 16	BRI 36	MAR 25	SON	TAL 21	CLT 24	DOV	POC	MCH 11	CAL 20	DAY 29	NHA	POC	IND 12	GLN	MCH 21	BRI 29	DAR 18	RCH 36	NHA 18	DOV	MAR 14	CLT 38	TAL 36	CAR 17	PHO 37	ATL 26		35th	2301
1998				DAY 17	CAR 27	LVS 32	ATL 28	DAR 25	BRI 31	TEX 20	MAR 20	TAL 25	CAL 32	CLT 27	DOV 36	RCH 26	MCH 25	POC 25	SON Wth†	NHA 41	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	NHA	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	TAL	DAY	PHO	CAR	ATL	43rd	1297
† - Injured in practice and replaced by Butch Gilliland

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
1980	Speed Racing	Chevrolet	DNQ
1981		Oldsmobile	DNQ
1982		Buick	32	41
1983	Ellington Racing	Chevrolet	16	25
1984			16	37
1985	RahMoc Enterprises	Pontiac	14	2
1986			36	10
1987	Speed Racing	Oldsmobile	33	26
1988			10	37
1989			39	30
1990			14	16
1992	Speed Racing	Chevrolet	DNQ
1993		Ford	13	14
1994	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	22	14
1995	Melling Racing	Ford	16	14
1996			32	14
1997			35	24
1998			16	17

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NBGNC	Pts	Ref
1983	Speed Racing	66	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	NWS	SBO	GPS	LGY	DOV	BRI	CLT	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	CRW	ROU	SBO	HCY	LGY	IRP	GPS	BRI	HCY	DAR	RCH	NWS	SBO	MAR	ROU	CLT 6	HCY	MAR	104th	150
1984		83		DAY 2	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	DAR 25	ROU	NSV	LGY	MLW	DOV	CLT 3	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	HCY	IRP	LGY	SBO	BRI	DAR 26	RCH	NWS	CLT 29	HCY	CAR	MAR							37th	584

External links

• Lake Speed driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Drivers statistics for rare/little known races
• May 10, 2007 NASCAR.com article, "Where is... Lake Speed?"