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Tag: Amanda Speed

  • On the Edge with Ed: Kevin Harvick Edition

    On the Edge with Ed: Kevin Harvick Edition

    Last weekend, after a dominating win at the Phoenix International Raceway, Kevin Harvick’s crew chief Rodney Childers got up in front of the assembled media and said, “I know it didn’t seem this way, but we actually struggled a little bit.” Childers, who saw his driver lead 224 of the scheduled 312 lap affair continued, “Fault some of our tools and different things that weren’t matching up with the car this weekend. Finally we had to kind of wing it late model style. Finally got it going really good in Happy Hour. The guys at the shop have built great cars. You know, everything just went our way all weekend. You come to these deals, and some weekends it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t whether you got a fast car or not.

    Childers went on to speak about the added demands of competing at Phoenix, saying, “just proud of all the guys back at the shop that have worked so hard, and of course Kevin. I think his record speaks for itself at this place. I said a minute ago, somebody asked me what was wrong with me this morning. I said that I felt more pressure to win this one race at Phoenix than I did to win the race at Homestead. When you bring him here, I think everybody expects him to win. I didn’t want it to be my fault if we didn’t. Just proud of everybody, like I said.  Just a great effort.”

    It was a great effort. The thing is Harvick has dominated the Sprint Cup Series since last season when he ended the season with two wins and the Sprint Cup championship. In fact Harvick has had seven top-two finishes in his last seven races dating back to last season. The last guy that accomplished such a feat was Richard Petty, who had 11 consecutive top-two finishes back in 1975. Harvick said after being told that fact, “When you said the Richard Petty part, that just gives me chills.”

    Runner-up in Phoenix, Jamie McMurray, said after the race, “That was a fun battle with Kevin (Harvick). Those are the kinds you wish you could do over again, because I would have slid up earlier. It’s similar to plate racing with the engine package we have now, where if you don’t get the guy cleared he can kind of stall you out a little bit. And I saw Kevin coming and I thought I could slide up in front of him, but I also knew it was for the win and that we would probably have wrecked there. But it was a good team effort with great pit stops all day. Our team is as good or better than where we left off last year, and it’s a great feeling.”

    Harvick’s teammate, Kurt Busch, racing for the first time this season due to his well documented off track problems finished fifth in Phoenix. He said about his team, his car and his owner after the race, “It means I’ve got a strong team. And personally it’s great to get back to them and produce a result like this on our first day back. It’s a quality car. Haas Automation and Gene Haas and everybody that’s there; I went over and visited the headquarters this week and I can’t thank them enough for believing in me. The truth will be shown later on. But, the way that we raced today, it was with heart. And I thought there had been enough good will in the bank to try to bring home a win. But Kevin (Harvick, race winner) was tough. Congratulations to my teammate, Kevin Harvick, for winning. We had a great day. To run up there and almost lead a lap; I was just too loose on restarts and couldn’t quite capitalize on some of those positions that I needed to gain early in a run. But thanks again to all my sponsors and Chevrolet and everybody that’s part of our team and the whole group at Stewart-Haas. Thank you.”

    Their teammates, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick finished 39th (accident) and 26th respectively and sit 36th and 23rd in points respectively. Busch’s finish has him at 33rd in points after the Phoenix race. What is odd to me is the fact that Harvick’s dominance isn’t really odd in the sport. In 1998, on his way to his third championship Jeff Gordon tied Richard Petty, in the modern era, with 13 victories. Since then Jimmie Johnson’s dominance in the Chase secured him multiple championships, most notably in 2004 and 2007 when Johnson needed those victories to storm back from early chase mediocrity. Also, let’s not forget Tony Stewart who just weeks before the chase started in 2011 said to us in Bristol that his team was not “chase worthy” and then rattled off five victories, including a nail biter in the final race at Homestead to break a tie with Carl Edwards for his third championship.

    Some will say that Harvick’s peaking too soon this season and that there are many teams that will fill the gap before the season’s end. However, I look back to just last season, when they ran a completely different race package and the fact that Harvick dominated many races that resulted in poor finishes due to equipment failure, poor strategy or pit stops and he still won his first championship with a brand new team. Right now the usual suspects will be chasing Harvick. Jimmie Johnson, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. and even sentimental favorite Jeff Gordon should be in the mix by the time the chase starts but I fully expect that Harvick will be a factor in who wins the 2015 championship.

     

     

     

     

  • Amanda Speed Juggles Racing Husband and New Motherhood

    Amanda Speed Juggles Racing Husband and New Motherhood

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Ashley Wise” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Amanda Speed is not only juggling the role of wife to NASCAR racer Scott Speed, but also being a new mom to their daughter Juliet.

    And while she misses being as consistently present at the race track and as involved in Scott’s career, she is enjoying all the challenges of having a little one in the house and, in fact, looking forward to planning for another.

    “It has changed everything, let me tell you,” Amanda Speed said. “You think you remember, but you don’t. You can’t even take a shower unless you have her occupied somehow.  But it’s fun.”

    “She is not sleeping at night so we’re not getting any sleep,” Speed continued. “She likes to eat a lot so she eats every two hours at night.”

    While Speed loves being a new mom, she has indeed missed going to the race track with her husband. Yet, traveling with a baby has brought its own set of challenges.

    “Not being able to go to the track as much has also been an adjustment,” Speed said. “I went to Texas earlier this year with her and, man that was a handful.”

    “Since we don’t have the motor home anymore, when she took a nap we had to go sit in the car,” Speed continued. “She loves the noise and thinks it’s cool, but it’s just more of a hassle now.”

    “Between the plane ride and the time change, it’s just a lot different now that she’s here,” Speed said. “You don’t realize how difficult it is taking her to the track until I did it.”

    As if the Speed family did not have enough stress in their lives, they also recently moved to another home, closer to family.

    “That was the most stressful thing I’ve ever done,” Speed said. “We’ve been looking to move closer to family and found the deal we wanted.”

    “So, we ended up moving,” Speed continued. “Jules cannot crawl yet and I’m glad she can’t, especially as we moved.”

    “I don’t recommend moving with a baby to anyone.”

    Although Juliet is Amanda and Scott’s first child together, Amanda is also mom to son Rex. And she admits that she couldn’t handle new motherhood without the help of Juliet’s big brother.

    “Rex loves being a big brother,” Speed said. “If I need help, he is like taken her under his wing. He is so good with her I can’t even explain.”

    While Rex may be the doting big brother, husband Scott has definitely embraced the new daddy role as well.

    “It was funny because when I was pregnant, Scott was always real squeamish,” Amanda Speed said. “He loved me being pregnant but he thought he would be the one passing out during the birth. But he pulled her out and changed her first diaper.”

    “This morning she looked at him and said ‘Da da’ and he just melted,” Speed said. “When she can really start talking and say ‘I want, I want’, we’re going to be really broke.  He won’t be able to say ‘no.’

    “He’s a big kid too,” Speed continued. “I always say I have three kids.”

    While keeping extremely busy juggling the new home and the new baby, Amanda Speed has also tried to stay as involved as possible in husband Scott’s racing career. And she admits that has had many ups and downs, from the not so easy parting of the ways with Red Bull Racing to now running part-time with Leavine Family Racing in the No. 95 race car.

    “I try to be involved as much as we can,” Speed said. “We have more people helping us now but I still do his schedule and communicate with the team.”

    “In the beginning, it was hard,” Speed continued. “Running part-time and with a new team, there’s a lot of unknowns and a lot of ‘what ifs’.”

    “But they have figured each other out and are running really well now together,” Speed said. “Things are much better now.”

    “The team believes in him and he believes in the team,” Speed continued. “It was definitely a struggle at first but now things are starting to click. Everyone is excited and pumped up every weekend.”

    The couple has also learned many lessons together as they have endured the ups and downs of NASCAR racing. They have a sense of closure now that the Red Bull lawsuit has been settled and is in their rear view mirror.

    “Obviously we can’t go into detail about that, but the fact that the lawsuit was closed gave Scott closure,” Speed said. “That’s what he needed because he was pretty pissed off at the way it ended.”

    “But in the end, they came to terms with each other and that brought a ton of closure and a weight off his shoulders,” Speed continued. “The whole process wore on both of us, so much. It was the most difficult thing we’ve gone through together for sure.”

    “We’ve learned you can never fully put your trust in anyone, so you have to just back each other,” Speed continued. “Scott and I are our own best friends.”

    “Certain friends we have had out there, we also didn’t expect the things to have happened that have happened,” Speed said. “So, I guess to say to just trust and believe in each other and not put your trust in anyone else is the biggest lesson learned.”

    While Amanda Speed has been taking it one day at a time with juggling her role as racing wife and new mom, she also is very much looking forward to the future, personally and from a racing perspective.

    “In my crystal ball, we are getting pregnant again quickly,” Speed said. “If it were up to Scott, he would probably be pregnant right now and have a whole litter.”

    “And I’m pretty sure things are going better with the team and I hope we can find more sponsorship to run more races,” Speed continued. “This team really, really wants to run the whole season.”

    “So, hopefully the crystal ball brings sponsorship and a full season of racing.”

    “We’re in a good place right now,” Speed said. “Everyone believes in each other right now.”

    “It’s good that Scott’s getting his fire back in his belly,” Speed continued. “He felt like he lost a lot of that and he’s up for proving himself again.”

    “So, hopefully we’ll be back racing competitively and have lots of children around us.”

    As Amanda Speed continues her juggling act, she has just a few words for the Amanda and Scott Speed fans.

    “I’d like to say thank you for supporting us, especially through everything we’ve been through,” Speed said. “There are some die-hard fans and they still believe in us.”

    “Thanks for sticking with us and for understanding us.”

  • Amanda Speed Is Keeping It All In Perspective

    Amanda Speed Is Keeping It All In Perspective

    [media-credit name=”ScottSpeed.com” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]In spite of the trauma of husband Scott losing his Cup ride with Red Bull Racing last season, Amanda Speed is keeping the couple’s spirits up, preparing to have their child, and coping with her mother-in-law’s cancer.

    And even with those major highs and lows in their lives, Amanda Speed is working hard to keep it all in perspective.

    “Well the day he got the fax from Red Bull was the same day we found out his mother had cancer,” Speed said. “So that put things into perspective real quick.”

    “Scott and I have always been the type that love to enjoy life no matter what we are doing,” Speed continued. “So spending time with our family and friends is what is helping this process.”

    Speed may have perspective but she is still understandably shaken by the seemingly abrupt firing of her husband in November 2010. The fact that the news was delivered to them via the fax machine was especially distressing.

    “I was sick to my stomach honestly,” Speed said. “Especially with the way it was handled, I mean, a fax… Come on seriously.”

    “You renew his contract halfway through the year, fit him for his 2011 firesuit in October and then a week after the last race of the year, you fire him through a fax,” Speed continued. “Just unbelievable.”

    In response to being released from Red Bull Racing, the couple decided they needed to take action. Scott Speed filed a $6.5 million lawsuit against the race team, alleging breach of contract.

    Amanda Speed admits that the filing of a lawsuit has not been easy for her husband or for her. She also noted that the experience has changed how they relate to people, particularly in the racing world.

    “It is difficult that’s for sure, and I will be glad when it is over,” Speed said of the lawsuit. “But Scott would have never filed the suit if he was not 100% sure of it.”

    “You can only take so much of being run over,” Speed continued. “In the long run I think it has made us both stronger, but also both very conscious of the people that we are around.”

    “We have always been people who trust everyone until they break that trust,” Speed said. “However, now it is the opposite. You will now have to gain our trust. It is just really hard.”

    Although the experience of the firing, the breaking of trust, and the lawsuit have been most difficult, the Speeds have some good news recently.

    Scott Speed reached an agreement with Kevin Harvick, Inc. to run two Nationwide Series races, one at Iowa Speedway on August 6th and the other on the road course in Montreal on August 20th.

    Amanda Speed is thankful for the new ride coming Scott’s way, especially since it will return the couple to the race track.

    “It is so hard not being at the track each weekend,” Speed said. ” Before I met Scott I was working at the track, and I grew up at the drag races, so to not be at a racetrack at all is wearing on us both.”

    “I hate watching the races on television,” Speed continued. “It is very hard.”

    “The thing I miss most about being at the track is just the racing,” Speed said. “I live for that competiveness, heck we both do.”

    The couple did take in the Daytona 500 this year and also plan to get to a few more races this season before Scott Speed gets behind the wheel of the KHI Nationwide car.

    “We both went to Daytona,” Speed said. “It was very different, very emotional being at a racetrack and not racing, but we talked with a lot of people, so it was good to be there.”

    The Speeds also recently announced their most special news, that they were expecting a baby together, due in September. The newest Speed will join big brother Rex, Amanda Speed’s child from a previous relationship.

    “The pregnancy was actually a BIG surprise,” Speed said. “I mean, we had been trying, but we thought it wasn’t possible, so it was definitely a surprise.”

    “We don’t know yet what we are having, but we will find out soon,” Speed continued. “Rex is very excited. He wants a girl and Scott wants a boy.”

    “I just want it to be healthy, so it is going to be very entertaining when he/she gets here.”

    Speed has also been very busy during this time with her marketing efforts, taking every opportunity to keep her husband’s name and his brand present in the racing marketplace.  She and Scott have also been active in the social media world, keeping up with fans via Facebook and Twitter.

    “I do as much as I can on contacting media reps and people from different areas of racing,” Speed said. “I try to do what I can to keep him out there.”

    “We have also got a guy redesigning his website, and other people that are out seeking sponsorship,” Speed continued. “We are all working very hard.”

    “The fan support has been overwhelmingly good,” Speed said. “Scott is so grateful for that.”

    “He has a great following on Twitter, and he is very glad to see his fans stick by him through this crazy period in his life,” Speed continued. “For all the haters, he will be glad to get back out on the track and say, “I told you so.”

    In spite of it all, Amanda Speed acknowledged that there have been many life lessons in this whole process, some positive and some more difficult.

    “I think there is always a life lesson in any step you go through in life,” Speed said. “The darkest moment through all of this was finding out Scott’s mom had cancer,” Speed said. “One minute she is as healthy as a horse, and the next minute, she is getting chemo and radiation.”

    “It was just very devastating to us all,” Speed said. “It’s like, how did this happen so quickly?”

    “Obviously finding out that I am expecting is very exciting and rewarding,” Speed said. “But I would have to say that the most triumphant moment has not come yet, but it will soon and we both can’t wait for that moment.”