Lake was named after the best friend of his father Bob Lake. Lake's father took office as the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi in 1948. He started his racing career at the age of thirteen racing karts, much to the displeasure of his family. Over the years, Speed won the International Karting Federation (IKF) National Championship six times and in 1978 he won the prestigious Karting World Championship over future Formula One great Ayrton Senna

In 1980 after considering racing in other series such as Formula One, CART, and IMSA, and getting advice from current Lowe's Motor Speedway promoter, Humpy Wheeler, Speed chose to go NASCAR racing. According to Speed, "It was the highest mountain to climb." Speed's relative unfamiliarity with the NASCAR scene lead him to buy his first car from someone in Chicago. Speed started nineteen races in his rookie year scoring an eighth at Darlington Speedway in his third career start. Speed also scored finishes of seventh at the spring Talladega Superspeedway race, eighth at Talladega's fall event, seventh at Charlotte's fall event and eighth at the season ending race in Ontario Motor Speedway. Speed finished twenty-second in overall points and second to Jody Ridley in the rookie of the year standings.

From 1980 to 1998 Lake was a dedicated and proficient driver with one win and several top ten finishes including a 2nd at the Daytona 500. Lake proved to all around him that he was always a driver to be reckoned with.

Lake now speaks about his life on the circuit and the story of determination and perseverance that is necessary to be a first class NASCAR driver. He is a sought after speaker because of his tenacity and because of the popularity that NASCAR brings to those who are successful drivers. He also works as a chaplain on the current NASCAR circuit and speaks to church groups and men’s retreats about his faith and testimony.