IKF Scouts for Third Lake Speed Excellence in Karting Recipient

The International Kart Federation (IKF) continues a legacy of tradition this summer with the presentation of the Lake Speed Achievement of Excellence award. The perpetual award, honoring the 1978 World Karting Champion, will honor its third recipient at the Wayne Brown Memorial 2008 IKF 2-cycle Sprint Grand Nationals July 30-August 3 at Santa Maria Kart Track located in Santa Maria, Calif.

The 2007 recipient, Nick Johnston of Northridge, Calif., and the 2006 recipient, Matt Johnson of Las Vegas, Nev., will help select the future recipient who could be a driver, team, kart shop or combination thereof. The former recipients, along with a panel of scouts, will determine a winner based on a multitude of criteria including sportsmanship, competitive achievement, benevolence and professional appearance during the race event.

“We wanted to recognize excellence in the 2-cycle sprint division with a long term award similar to the Troy Ruttman and Jim Clark award established many years ago for the road racing division,” said the late Wayne Brown, as IKF President. Lake exemplifies what karting should be all about – honestly, integrity, overcoming adversity, sportsmanship, professional attitude, appearance, a willingness to help others and so much more,” Brown added before the 2007 event.

“There are so many exceptional people in karting and we feel the award should be based not solely on achievement, but on a well-rounded package representing everything good about kart racing,” Speed said. “I understand last year’s decision was extremely difficult and I’m pleased there were so many qualified candidates to select from,” Speed added.

The award is a work of art; weighing in at 20 pounds and standing at just over two-feet in height. The cup, manufactured by the same company who produces the Oscar and Emmy, is made of solid brass and mounted on a three-tier solid-walnut base. On the base, each recipient’s name will be etched in gold on a small black plate. Johnston has kept the award since last June and will pass it along to the 2008 recipient. Every winner will also receive a smaller mock version of the award to keep as a lifetime memento.

“We encourage everyone at the nationals to help us be on the look-out for potential candidates. As the event unfolds, we want to hear about the extraordinary circumstances surrounding each driver and fairly consider all. Last year’s recommendations were phenomenal and touching,” said Rhonda Mims-Brown , who assists in the administration of the award.  

Special recognition and gratitude for sponsorship of this award goes out to Art and Rod Verlengiere of R.L.V. Tuned Exhaust, Lynn Haddock of Haddock, Ltd., Speed’s long-time friend and crew chief in his 1978 world championship win, Rhonda Mims-Brown and her late husband, Wayne Brown.

Fast Facts – Lake Speed
DOB: Jan. 17, 1948
Resides: Kannapolis, NC
Hometown: Jackson, Miss.
Wife: Ricé – Children: Lake Speed, Jr., Maurie, Sarah Ann & Christopher

Lake Speed began his karting career at the age of 13 and achieved six IKF Grand National titles. In 1978, he won the ultimate karting title of CIK World Champion in Le Mans , France with the help of his long-time friend and tuner, Lynn Haddock. This was their sixth attempt at the World Championship title and the duo took off for Europe after a last minute decision to give it one more try. Speed was truly an underdog at the event. With only three engines and a tireless kart, they arrived at the circuit with their kart mounted on top of a rental car. Speed scored two firsts and a fourth in the three main races contesting against 94 drivers representing 26 countries including the late Aryton Senna. Thus far, Speed is the only American driver to achieve this title. He contested with a Birel direct drive chassis powered by a Parilla TT-22 100cc engine.

Speed went on to contest in NASCAR’s Grand National series, later known as the Winston Cup, in 1980. With 402 starts and over $5 million in earnings, he retired from NASCAR in 1998 with one win at Darlington , a second in the Daytona 500 and 14 top fives. Speed has recently returned to karting and enjoys racing in the 125cc TaG class and is a vintage karting enthusiast in both the sprint and road race divisions.