Ulcerative Colitis

''Because of the bleeding, you lose a lot of blood and you lose bowel control,'' Speed said.

``So I basically ran around for a year and a half wearing diapers and being anemic.

``It's something that was a huge character-builder, when you can walk around the racetrack and still perform wearing diapers and have self-dignity.''.

Speed nearly had surgery to remove his colon, which would have ended his career, but he found a doctor in Vienna, Austria, who he said cured him using ``cutting-edge treatment.'' BIGGER PLANS Part of Dan Wheldon's decision to race for Chip Ganassi could stem from a desire to race in NASCAR's Cup series.

Wheldon, 2005 Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series champion, left Andretti Green Racing during the offseason to join Ganassi, who owns two IRL teams and three Cup teams.

Wheldon's former owner, Andretti, told The Express-Times of Easton, Pa.: ``That was part of the deal.

That was one of the reasons he went there.'' If Wheldon is NASCAR bound, he's not saying.

During preseason testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Wheldon said: ``anything in my contract is between me and Chip.'' Would Wheldon consider racing Cup in the future?

''It's certainly the biggest stage in America, but with the IndyCar series the way it is, I need to be focused on that because it's going to be competitive, so that's what we're focusing on ri...

``The reputation of American drivers in Europe is not the best,'' said Speed, who drives for the new Italian-based team of Scuderia Toro Rosso.

``But I don't worry too much about it.

I'm just hoping to change some opinions.'' In the realm of international auto racing, Yanks are considered driving-impaired.

There have been only two Formula One champions from the United States - Phil Hill in 1961 and Mario Andretti in 1978 - and no American has even been behind a wheel in the prestigious series since Michael Andretti in 1993.

Now along comes a Northern Californian with the perfect name for racing.

But Speed's coming-out party will occur with precious little fanfare in this country, and that's exactly why much is riding on his success or failure.

Formula One is considered the glamorous, globe-trotting pinnacle of auto racing, competing in exotic locales like Monaco and the small Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain.

But it's barely a blip on the U.S.

sports radar - where NASCAR Nation rules - because the best drivers traditionally are from Europe and South America.

One indication of just how dismissive other Formula One drivers are of Americans came last summer when Englishman Jenson Button was asked how Speed had performed after he had an opp...