Lake Speed: Driven By Something Bigger

Dale Earnhardt Jr. welcomes former Cup Series driver & 1978 Karting World Champion Lake Speed to the studio to learn about his path from karts to Cup. Without the support of his parents, Lake had to chase the racing dream on his own, and started a karting business out of his house to fuel the fire. After finding success stateside, Lake ventured to Europe to pursue the ultimate achievement in karting: The World Championships. After a few embarrassing first attempts racing internationally, Lake finally won it all in 1978, beating future F1 Champion Ayrton Senna.  

After achieving the highest honor in the karting world, Lake shares why he wanted to move to NASCAR, and looks back at the moment he busted his ass in his first handful of laps in a Cup car. Lake opens up on his deep connection to faith, and how he learned to trust the inner voice in his head. Once he started trusting that voice, everything changed for him, and he went on to deliver an impressive second place finish in the Daytona 500 and a win at Darlington several years later. Dale & Lake close out the interview by discussing his relief efforts following Davey Allison’s passing, his fight with Michael Waltrip, and his experience working with the Motor Racing Outreach. Even at 77 years old, Lake still races. That alone should tell you this is a conversation you have to hear.