Brian Vickers
| Brian Vickers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards | 2003 Busch Series Champion | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team |
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| 2006 position | 15th | ||||||
| Best finish | 15th - 2005 (NEXTEL Cup) | ||||||
| First race | 2003 UAW-GM Quality 500 (Charlotte) | ||||||
| First win | 2006 UAW-Ford 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
| Last win | 2006 UAW-Ford 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| 2006 position | 60th | ||||||
| Best finish | 1st - 2003 (Busch Series) | ||||||
| First race | 2001 GNC Live Well 250 (Milwaukee) | ||||||
| First win | 2003 Kroger 200 (Indianapolis) | ||||||
| Last win | 2003 Stacker 200 (Dover) | ||||||
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Brian Lee Vickers is an American NASCAR driver, from Thomasville, North Carolina. Vickers was the 2003 Busch Series champion, and at age 20, the youngest champion in any of NASCAR's three top-tier series. He currently drives the #83 Red Bull Toyota Camry for Team Red Bull.
Career
Early Years
Vickers began running go-karts in 1994. Over the next three years, he won eighty races in the World Karting Association, and won three championships. In 1998, he moved to the Allison Legacy Series, and won five races during the course of the season. After competing in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series in 1999, he moved to USAR ProCup, winning Rookie of the Year and two races in 2000. The next season, he won five more races and finished second in points.
In 2001, Vickers made his Busch Series debut at the GNC Live Well 250 in the #29 owned by his father, Clyde Vickers. He qualified 30th but finished 37th after a crash. Vickers ran three more races that season, his best finish a 25th at North Carolina Speedway. In 2002, Vickers began running the Busch Series in his father's #40 Dodge Intrepid. He drove in 21 races, and his best finish was 7th at the Hardee's 250, his only top-ten of the season.
Hendrick Motorsports
Due to a lack of funding for his family-owned team, Vickers was hired to replace Ricky Hendrick in the #5 GMAC Chevrolet, owned by Hendrick Motorsports. Vickers won three races in 2003, and won the Busch Series championship by 14 points over David Green, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the series at age 20.Vickers made his Cup debut at the 2003 UAW-GM Quality 500, qualifying 20th and finishing 33rd in the #60 Haas Automation Chevy. He ran four more races that season in Hendrick's #25 UAW Delphi Chevy, qualifying in the top-5 each time, but posting only one top-20 finish.
In 2004, Vickers ran the #25 in the Cup series full-time, carrying sponsorship from Ditech and GMAC. He won two poles, had four top-tens, and finished third to Brendan Gaughan and Kasey Kahne for Rookie of the Year. The next season, Vickers won the NEXTEL Open exhibition race, which qualified him for the annual All-Star Challenge, in which he finished third. Vickers finished the year 17th in Cup points, scoring ten top-tens, including his then-career best finish of second at the Pocono 500. He also returned to the Busch Series in a limited capacity in 2005, driving in six races, and finishing third at Watkins Glen.
The season 2006, statistically, was Vickers' best yet. Vickers finished 7th in the Daytona 500, gathered nine top-tens, and got his first victory at the UAW Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. However, the season was marred by conflicts within Hendrick Motorsports. On June 25, Vickers announced that he would leave Hendrick and drive for the new Team Red Bull team in 2007. In the UAW-Ford 500, Vickers was running third when he bumped teammate Jimmie Johnson on the last lap, causing both Johnson (who was second), and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the leader, to spin out. Vickers went on to score his first victory. Johnson was livid with Vickers, and both he and his crew chief Chad Knaus questioned Vickers' motives with the bump, [1], with Knaus stating that Vickers had "run out of talent" prior to wrecking his teammate.[2] However, both Johnson and Vickers had a long discussion about what had happened and decided that it was best to move on. This was easily conveyed when Vickers came to congratulate Johnson and Johnson gave him a hug when Johnson won the Nextel Cup championship at the Ford 400.
Team Red Bull
In 2007, Vickers will drive the #83 Red Bull Toyota Camry for a new Cup team, Team Red Bull. His new crew chief for 2007 is Doug Richert, who spent the last three seasons with Greg Biffle. He will also be a teammate to incoming rookie driver/Champ Car World Series star A.J. Almendinger whom will drive the #84 Red Bull Toyota Camry for Team Red Bull. He did not qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500, snapping a streak of 112 consecutive races made in a row. In Vickers' first race with Team Red Bull, he finished 10th in the Auto Club 500, Toyota's first Nextel Cup Top 10. In the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway he became the first Toyota to lead a lap in the Nextel Cup Series.
On May 27, 2007, Vickers gave Toyota its best race and finish ever, leading more than 70 laps and finishing 5th in the Coca-Cola 600. Toyota brought a new engine to Lowe's, and Vickers showed its new horsepower, with Vickers having a car with the potential to win the race. This race was highlighted by the fact that Vickers lost his power steering near the midpoint of the race, and was forced to fight through the turns. This performance cemented him as one of the premiere racers in NASCAR. The finish was bittersweet though, as Casey Mears, driving in Brian's old No. 25 car, earned his first career NEXTEL Cup win.
Trivia
- Vickers is part-owner of the Hollywood Fame, a 2006 expansion franchise of the American Basketball Association.
- On July 26, 2005, Vickers appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, during which he was interviewed by Samantha Bee regarding the "new face of NASCAR."
- Vickers was the first driver in NASCAR history to attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 in a Toyota.
- Vickers scored the first top 10 (Fontana) and also the first top 5 (Charlotte) for both Team Red Bull and Toyota in the Nextel Cup Series.