Scott Speed obtains lien on Red Bull property in North Carolina

    Former Red Bull Racing driver Scott Speed has obtained an order of attachment against his former employer, placing a lien on the organization’s real property in North Carolina until Speed’s lawsuit against the team is resolved.

    The order was served Tuesday of this week and such orders can be issued only in very limited circumstances in North Carolina.

    The order covers the Red Bull shop itself in Mooresville, N.C., and the property on which it sits, which was purchased for approximately $3.3 million.  

   After he was fired as one of the team’s drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, Speed sued Red Bull in December for breach of contract and sought damages of at least $6.5 million. In March, a N.C. judge denied Red Bull’s request to dismiss the suit.

   A discovery motion in Speed’s case is scheduled to be heard 10 a.m. on July 11 in Iredell County Superior Court in Statesville, N.C.

   William Bray, Speed’s attorney in the case, said his client sought the order because of Red Bull’s recent announcement that it was looking to end its ownership role in NASCAR at the end of the 2011 season.

   “It certainly appears to us looking at the many options Red Bull has discussed that one of them may well entail the sale of its assets,” Bray said. "We’re simply trying to ensure Scott is able to collect should his lawsuit prevail.”

   Red Bull can attempt to contest the order, but as of Friday had not done so.

  
   Through a spokesperson, the team said it would not comment on any pending litigation.

  
   Speed spent seven years with the Red Bull organization, driving for the team in Formula One in 2006 and 2007 and in the Automobile Racing Club of America and NASCAR Trucks series in 2008 as he prepared for a full-time move to the Cup series.

   Speed finished 35th in the Cup standings in 2009 and 30th last season. In 76 series starts, he had one top-five and three top-10 finishes.

Dale Jr. would rather look out for No. 1

   It's no secret Dale Earnhardt Jr. is no fan of the new two-car drafting tandems that currently dominate the racing at Daytona and Talladega. He has said many times that he preferred racing in the large pack of cars to having to depend on another driver for much of the race in hopes both get a good outcome.

   On Friday at Daytona International Speedway, Earnhardt expanded a little on his reasoning, basically indicating that the two-car drafts goes against what he believes is the bottom line in racing - looking out for No. 1.

   “I’d rather have control of my own destiny and be able to go out there and race and just do my own work and worry about my own self. It’s really weird and kinda wrong on some levels to race that way and to think like you think. You take care of somebody and you feel this obligation to take care of them and then worry about having them take care of you and how that makes them feel," he said.

   "Been growing up all these years racin’ for number one-lookin’ out for number one. Doing my job. This is what I need to do. I need to do this to get up through the pack. This is how my car drives and now you are doing it so different. Your thought process and everything you think about during the race is nothing near that. It is just different and weird. It won’t be like that forever I assume and hopefully I am alive and still racin’ when it goes back to the way it was because I just really enjoy lookin’ out for number one, man.

   "If you had a car that drive up through there and you were smart about drafting and knew what you were doing, you could make some cool things happen and that was pretty fun.”