Speed completes Atlanta truck debut

Speed's race on Friday night was just his third stock car outing and his first in a NASCAR-sanctioned event, following his two participations in the ARCA RE/MAX series at Talladega last year and Daytona last month.

The former Scuderia Toro Rosso Formula One driver started the race from 28th and only with a few practice laps under his belt around the mile and a half oval, also a first for him. He moved up the order to 22nd but had to make an unscheduled stop under green flag which put him a lap down.

Unfortunately he would never get back on the lead lap but stayed out of trouble to see the chequered flag in 27th place, one ahead of fellow rookie and former Grand Am race winner Colin Braun, who is a Roush Fenway Racing development driver.

"It took me a couple laps to get my truck sorted and race-ready," Speed said. "But as soon as I got going, it was a crash course in learning how the truck handles running in traffic with a pack of other trucks.

"It was so cool to race these guys hard, but also cool to watch the more experienced drivers just pick off trucks through the field. It was such a different experience from anything I've ever done before, but I'm always different.

"Come on, I had white hair three months ago."

The race was won by Sprint Cup series leader Kyle Busch, who took his second win in three outings for Billy Ballew Motorsports, and continues to lead the Truck Series standings as well.