We're getting within sight of the end of the season, and so it's time to begin our look back. In a feature shamelessly ripped from Puck Daddy's Death Watch and Big League Stew's Walk Toward The Light, we'll be counting down each and every car that fell short of the Sprint Cup this year. And yes, I know there aren't taillights on Sprint cars. It's a metaphor. Roll with it.

Driver: Scott Speed

Record: 32 races (at this writing), one top-5 finish

Season summary: It's been a season to forget for the Red Bull'er, who hasn't quite panned out the way his teammate Brian Vickers has. Speed has hung around the No. 35 spot all season long, and is in jeopardy of falling out of the top 35 to start 2010.

Where it went right: At the Aaron's 499 at Talladega in April, Speed notched a fifth-place finish, largely because he followed the old "keep your head while everyone else is losing theirs" strategy. Sadly, that was pretty much the only high point of the year for Speed.

Where it went wrong: Pretty much everywhere else. Speed was involved in wrecks all over the schedule, and the sight of his devastated car getting hauled off the track soon became a familiar one. (Hope the hipsters keep drinking Red Bull and vodka; the Red Bull folks need the cash infusion.) Speed has had exactly one finish inside the top 20 -- a 15th-place finish at Bristol -- since May. Not exactly the roll that you want to get on in a Sprint Car. 

Prospects for 2010: Red Bull is committed to Speed, who would seem to be a marketer's dream -- but as good as his last name is, it ain't Earnhardt, so there's only so long that a team is going to stick with him, particularly with up-and-comers in the hunt. Speed's going to have to step it up, pronto, or risk losing his seat.

Next up: Robby Gordon. Strap in!

Related Speed posts from 2009:
Kyle Busch and Scott Speed, teammates? The horror! The horror!
C-a-c: No, Scott, I will not pull all four of your fingers
Wreck of the week: Kyle Busch, Scott Speed in track ballet

And, of course, the classic:
Scott Speed will make your ears bleed ("Cereal and milk!")

Related: Robby Gordon, Brian Vickers, Scott Speed