Lake Speed

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Lake Chambers Speed (born January 17, 1948) is an American retired

Lake was named after the best friend of his father, Bob Lake.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

In 1980 after considering racing in other series such as

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 was Speed's breakout season in NASCAR. Running a full schedule under the

At Dover, Speed finished fourth, following that up with finishes of ninth at Daytona and fifth at Michigan. In the

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. 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.

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

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.

Speed moved over to

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.

In September 1996, the

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.

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

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