UPDATE: NASCAR driver Scott Speed filed a $6.5 million breach-of-contract lawsuit Friday afternoon against Red Bull Racing, the team that released Speed following the 2010 season. In the lawsuit, filed in North Carolina Superior Court in Statesville, N.C., Speed claims that Red Bull did not fund the team as necessary to compete at the Cup level. According to the lawsuit, Speed signed a three-year deal in September 2007 for a salary of $300,000 in 2008, $500,000 in 2009 and $1 million in 2010. He would receive 50 percent of prize money for each top-10 finish, 45 percent for finishes 11th-20th and 40 percent of prize money for finishes of 21st or worse. In June 2008, the deal was amended to include 2011 at a salary of $1.5 million and options for 2012-2013 at raises of $500,000 annually. In January 2010, the deal was revised to cut Speed’s pay from $1 million to $500,000 for 2010, according to the complaint. In May 2010, Red Bull picked up Speed’s option through 2013, according to the complaint, but then fired him Nov. 23. The $6.5 million figure represents the salary Speed would have received from 2011-2013, in addition to the $500,000 reduction for 2010. Speed said Wednesday that the filing of the lawsuit was in hopes of being able to pay bills due next year, given that the chances of now getting a ride for 2011 are slim
Scott Speed Sues Team Red Bull
Can’t say I didn’t see this one coming.
Scott Speed, former driver of the Team Red Bull no. 82, publicly announced a lawsuit against his former employers on Wednesday. Speed was let go by the organization that he has driven for since its Formula One inception in 2006.
Tweeting to his followers on Twitter, Speed said, “today should be the day my lawyer files this lawsuit against Red Bull...Had to tell my loyal twitter followers before they saw it online”.
In a later post he made clear that he is looking for a ride for next season, “Sure not easy to find something when u start looking in December but we workin on it! Ill keep ya posted. sure we will find something”.
In 2008, Speed made the jump from open-wheel cars to the Arca/ReMax Series for TRD (through Eddie Sharp Racing), winning four races in that same year. Speed has also enjoyed success in the Camping World Truck Series, having won a single race in four tries.
His Cup career has not ran as smoothly. He finished 30th in Sprint Cup standings, a disappointment for a team who made the Chase for the Championship with Brian Vickers in 2009. But Speed was disappointed over the way he was let go, telling Scene Daily:
“I’m obviously stupid disappointed that I didn’t even get a phone call, not a conversation, not anything from anyone from Austria,” Speed said Wednesday in a phone interview. “They all showed up at Miami. None of them spoke a word to me. I got a fax.”
Speed has said he had a contract for 2011 declined to discuss details, saying he has spoken to a lawyer about his options.
“I can’t describe how upset I am just over the morality of it,” Speed said. “I don’t understand how you can treat people like this. Whatever. I know that’s not how I treat people.”
We spoke with Speed last February and asked him if he had the support of Team Red Bull in his ongoing NASCAR tutelage. His response seemed overly optimistic.
“I know 110 percent that Red Bull has my back,” Speed said. “I’ve known these guys for a long time. We’re both really excited about this deal moving forward.”
The season began with high promise for Speed, who had three top-20 finishes in the first four races to reach 12th in points, even leading a large stretch at Daytona. But he struggled after that, posting just four top-20 finishes in the next 12 events.
Speed has been replaced by former Richard Petty Motorsports Driver, Kasey Kahne in 2011. Vickers suffered blood clots in May and should finally be healthy enough to return by next February’s season-opening Daytona 500.
Matt Weaver is the Sports Editor for The Vanguard (USA) and can be reached at jmatthewweaver(at)aol.com
