NCTS RATINGS ON SPEED UP 13 OF LAST 14 RACES THIS SEASON; LAST WEEK'S EVENT AT LOUDON INCREASED 29-PERCENT OVER 2007

While Scott Speed, a former Formula One driver, has come and gone between the ARCA Series and a part-time venture in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this year, many of his former open wheel counterparts have simply gone by the wayside.

While it's too early to declare Speed the next Mario Andretti or A.J. Foyt in terms of adaptability between different racing disciplines, he certainly appears to have gotten up to speed quickly, carrying the open wheel banner in NASCAR with the help of Sam Hornish Jr., and possibly positioning himself to one day realize the success enjoyed by the versatile Tony Stewart or Robby Gordon.

Dario Franchitti was recently relieved of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series duties at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates and returned to the IndyCar Series; Jacques Villeneuve departed Bill Davis Racing's Truck Series team and NASCAR after just a few races; Patrick Carpentier is now a free agent at Gillett Evenham Motorsports with minimal chance of remaining with the team; and A.J. Allmendinger's career at Team Red Bull remains up in the air. 

Despite his counterparts' struggles, Speed, the current ARCA Series points leader, returns to the Truck Series Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9:30 p.m. ET on SPEED; NCTS Setup with Krista Voda at 9 p.m. ET) in the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota.   With one win, one pole position, three top-five and five top-10 finishes in only nine NCTS starts, what is it about this quaint, toenail-painting California native that jives so well with stock cars?

"One of the things that's probably helpful is Speed hasn't been doing the other forms of racing (open wheel) quite as long as some of the others, such as Dario Franchitti, who hasn't done anything but single-seat racing except for a short stint in German touring car racing 15 years ago," said David Hobbs, SPEED F1 analyst.  "Juan Pablo Montoya never raced much but single-seat cars, so it (transition between series) is more difficult for Montoya because he's more engrained (in open wheel racing).  Speed ran a couple of years of F1 and other open wheel racing, and he's a bit younger and probably a bit more adaptable."

The caliber of ride is also very important, as evidenced by Speed's instant success with a Truck Series win at Dover in top-notch equipment with Red Bull backing.

"I don't think Montoya or Franchitti had very good cars, where the one Speed has is good, which makes a difference," said Hobbs, who raced in F1 and made two NASCAR Cup Series starts.  "If you put some of these other open wheel guys in a top-caliber car, they would have done a lot better."

However you slice it, Speed has succeeded in the Truck Series, simultaneously auditioning for a future Cup ride, for which he has begun testing and is scheduled to turn laps next week at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"Testing has gone really, really well," Speed, 25, said. "We'll go out there for a couple days and see how we fit in with everyone else, see how we compare and run alongside Brian and A.J. and see if my feedback is the same as theirs.  They're (Red Bull's Cup team) a very professional group and they operate at a level that's much closer to what I'm used to.  I like driving the Cup car, too, because I can feel the car better and it's much more sensitive to my input."

Hobbs thinks Speed will be a quick study behind the wheel of a Cup car.

"There is such a huge gulf between open wheel cars and stock cars," Hobbs explained.  "Speed has the hang of stock cars now and won't be starting dead cold.   NASCAR is a very different discipline and he has obviously done very well to succeed like he has in the ARCA car, so hopefully if he transposes that to the Cup car, it will look pretty good for him.  He might put on a surprisingly good show, assuming it's a good enough car and it all jells well for him."

Of course, there is always that extra little "something" Speed brings to the NASCAR table.

"He is a breath of fresh air because he's so different from the other drivers with his F1 experience and his European ways in how he dresses and acts," said Krista Voda, host of NCTS Setup.  "A lot of people might think the drivers don't like him but it's just the opposite - Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday and other veterans love him.  Speed is learning fast and has impressed people because he's picking it up so quickly.  I love watching him because you don't know what he will say or do next, nor do you know what shoes he will wear next.  I spotted him eating a turquoise-colored snow cone at Nashville while wearing perfectly matching turquoise shoes.  How many other rough-and-tumble Truck Series drivers would do that?"

Heading into Saturday's race at Dover, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series continues to enjoy double-digits ratings growth this season and scored a Nielsen Household Rating of .53 (387,000 households) at New Hampshire last week, up 29 percent from last year's .41 (302,000 HH). It marks the 13th time in the last 14 races Nielsen ratings for the series have increased. This year's race peaked at a .71 (518,000 HH), up 36 percent from last year's peak of .52 (379,000 HH).

SPEED, now in nearly 78 million homes in North America, is the exclusive home of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, Gatorade Duel at Daytona, NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The only network delivering  live, at-track programming all season long, SPEED offers the definitive pre- and post-race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series programs - NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane, as well as other popular NASCAR programs including Trackside Live, Tradin' Paint, NASCAR Performance, NASCAR Live!, This Week in NASCAR, NCTS Setup and  Go or Go Home.