The beginning of the season was a struggle with Speed not obtaining a top ten finish until the 11th race, at Dover International Speedway.

Speed continued to struggle as the season wrapped up managing to finish sixth in the Southern 500 at Darlington and eighth at the fall event at the North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Speed's final top ten of the season was the August Michigan International Speedway race with an eighth-place finish.

Starting 19 of the series' 30 races, Speed showed some early season strength with a third at Rockingham, a ninth at Atlanta and a sixth at Charlotte.

Speed finished eighth in the late summer Talladega race and had a near win in the Southern 500 starting second and leading 28 laps before he crashed out.

In 1984, Speed lost by two feet to Darrell Waltrip in the season opening Goody's 300 at Daytona, and scored another top five in the Mello Yello 300 at Charlotte.

Running a full schedule under the RahMoc Racing banner, Speed started off the season with a second-place finish to Bill Elliott in the Daytona 500.

CBS's pit reporter Mike Joy conducted an interview with Speed after the race, during which the emotional driver repeatedly thanked God for the successful showing.

He followed that up with a tenth at Richmond International Raceway and a fourth at Rockingham, taking the points lead early in the season.

The stretch run of the season took its toll on the team and Speed's position in the points fell; however, he continued to post strong runs, finishing seventh at Talladega, tenth at Bristol, tenth at Dover and seventh and ninth-place finishes at Atlanta and Riverside International Raceway to round out the season.

Speed started one more race that season, filling in for the ailing Rick Wilson in his Morgan-McClure Motorsports ride at Charlotte finishing fourteenth.

With sponsorship from Wynn's Car Care products, Kmart and Delco Battery, Speed built an entirely new race team with himself as the owner, and veteran crew chief Darrell Bryant helping him to build the operation.

The following race, at Rockingham, Speed again showed power, leading fifty-one laps and finishing second to Neil Bonnett.

After starting the race eighth, Speed methodically moved his way to the front before eventually taking the lead and running away from the field.

Leading 178 of the 367 laps, Speed beat Alan Kulwicki by half a straightaway to secure his first and only NASCAR Winston Cup win.

In the Volunteer 500, Speed led sixty-six laps and looked like a strong contender for the race win before blowing a right front tire and hitting the wall, effectively ending his day.

While Lake recovered from his injuries, he had several drivers drive in his place including Joe Ruttman at Talladega, Michigan and Bristol; Eddie Bierschwale at Watkins Glen; and Rodney Combs at Darlington.

Speed replaced Dick Trickle in Cale Yarborough's car but struggled with mechanical failures throughout his stint with the team.

The team suffered several mechanical failures and Speed only managed to have a best finish of eighteenth in the final two races of the season at Phoenix and Atlanta.

After Bristol, Speed was replaced by Ernie Irvan, but less than a week later, on September 3, it was announced that Speed would drive the #15 Ford owned by Bud Moore for 1994, replacing Geoff Bodine, who would depart from Moore's Ford to drive his own team which he purchased following Alan Kulwicki's death.

Speed remained with Moore for the 1994 season starting off with finishes of sixth at Atlanta, fifth at Darlington and third at Bristol, moving up to fifth place in the points.

Speed and the team ran good through the summer stretch, often starting near the rear of the field but moving to the front.

Speed had two top ten runs, at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Darlington in the Southern 500 to finish twenty-third in the points rundown.

At the Miller 400 at Michigan, the normally blue and yellow Spam Ford was graced in red, white and gold in honor of 50 years of Melling's parts company being in operation.

At the second race in Michigan, the GM Goodwrench Dealer 400, Speed led seven laps and looked poised to possibly capture his second NASCAR Winston Cup victory before getting caught up in a wreck started by Sterling Marlin.

Just as he neared running in the top ten, a right front tire cut and Lake had to pit under the green flag, losing two laps.

Lake and the team raced to a solid 12th-place finish in the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, then followed that up with a sixth-place qualifying effort at Atlanta.

At Richmond in the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400, Speed seemed to have one of the stronger cars, leading three laps through a series of green flag pit stops.

Having secured sponsorship from the Cartoon Network, Speed's best finish of the season was in the Daytona 500 where he tangled with John Andretti with two laps to go bringing out the yellow flag that effectively won the race for Dale Earnhardt.

The recipient of the award could be a driver, team, kart shop or any combination thereof, and the winner is determined primarily on sportsmanship, driving achievement and professionalism during the race event.