Four races into the 2010 Sprint Cup season, there are indications that Scott Speed has found a home in
NASCAR.

A native of Manteca, Calif., the 27-year-old Speed has a varied background. In 2006-07, he competed in a total of 28 Formula One races, though he never managed a podium finish or earned any championship points. Since making the switch to stock-car racing, Speed has won four Automobile Racing Club of America events and one NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. His best cup finish was a fifth at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2009.

This season? So far, so good. Speed occupies 12th place in the cup point standings after a 10th-place finish at Atlanta.

Asked about the possibility of making the Chase before the season, Speed said, "I’d like to say that we are still improving. I guess if we keep getting better and better, it should be possible, theoretically." Though the current season is only four races old, Speed’s performance has made a chase berth seem a bit more plausible. The long NASCAR schedule hasn’t been a difficult adjustment, though.

"I love the (NASCAR) schedule," said Speed. "I love being able to get out every weekend. I’m having a lot of fun doing it. It’s, like, if you have a good race, you’re ready to get back out there and keep it going. If you have a bad race, in the next weekend you can completely turn the whole thing around. So, you can forget it easily. I love the fact we race so much."

Speed’s first season in the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota was a struggle. The Talladega race marked his only finish in the top 10, and he finished 35th in points.

"Year one was hard," he admitted. "There were a lot of ups and downs. We learned a lot, but I think, as well, we had a lot of bad luck go our way.

"We really had a lot of things that could have gone either way ... that went to the bad way."

Maybe he’s due.