Speed finishes tenth in truck race

Speed was making just his fourth stock car start on Saturday and had qualified seventeenth for his second ever Truck race, driving the No.46 Morgan-Dollar Chevrolet Silverado, which he had already raced at Atlanta a few weeks ago.

The American tried to drive conservatively early in the race but even doing his best to stay out of trouble he could not avoid being involved in a couple of incidents, one of them as soon as lap 62 when he tapped Brent Raymer's truck into a spin between Turns 3 and 4.

"Those guys are really aggressive," Speed said. "For the first half of the race I was like 'Are you guys kidding me? We've got just 20 or 50 laps in!' Everyone told me going in to be cool, save your brakes and try to keep the car together, and now I know why. It's because everyone's crazy."

Speed was penalised on lap 103 for pitting before pit road was open, but he served his penalty under caution and was able to stay on the lead lap, something he managed to do for the whole race.

A good strategy also helped him move up the field as he raced hard against some of the best drivers in the series.

"The best moment for me was when me and (Jack) Sprague were battling," Speed added. "His car was a little beat up but we were battling and I legitimately got by him so that was for me like 'Alright, we can do this'.

"I know it's going to take sometime to learn it but I feel confident that we're going to make it."

On the final lap of the race he was comfortably running in the top 15, when Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson made contact while battling for second place, triggering chaos on the last turn before the chequered flag.

Speed managed to go through the wreckage and cross the line in a creditable tenth place at one of NASCAR's toughest venues.

"I'm definitely happy," he said. "The patience part honestly, that and being smart and thinking, is the best part of my game, so for me this track plays into my personality. The hard part is to figure out which guys are nuts and which guys are crazy."

The race was won by Dennis Setzer, who is on standby to possibly replace Elliot Sadler in the Sprint Cup series event today. Sadler picked up a back injury during the week and is expected to start the race but Setzer could end up taking over from him if needed.

Kyle Busch was classified only 26th, but he still leads the drivers' standings.