During the 1996 season, Speed earned his first career NASCAR pole, albeit in a non-points event, the Winston Open. 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. Speed and the Melling Racing team notched an eighth at Pocono in the Miller 500. Speed stunned everyone in qualifying for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis with a third-place effort. During the race, Speed made a daring three-wide pass to take the lead. The finishing order saw Speed finish 13th after leading two laps. 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. Though Speed qualified poorly for the Southern 500, he quickly moved his way through the field. 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. However, the strength of the car would prove itself as Speed worked his way back to finish 10th, the final top ten finish of his career.