Brian Vickers
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| Born | October 24, 1983 |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Thomasville, North Carolina |
| Awards | 2003 Busch Series Champion |
| 2005 Sprint Cup position | 17th |
| Best cup position | 17th - 2005 (NEXTEL Cup) |
| Statistics current as of March 4, 2007. | |
Brian Lee Vickers is an American NASCAR driver.
Vickers, from Thomasville, North Carolina, was the 2003 Nationwide series champion, the youngest NASCAR Series champion in history, at age 20. Vickers drives the #83 Red Bull Energy Drink Toyota for Red Bull Racing. Vickers has 87 Nextel cup starts and 6 top 5's and 17 top 10's in Nextel Cup. He has a career best finish of 2nd. He won the Nextel Open in 2005 and finished 3rd in the same year's Nextel All-Star Challenge.
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."
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[edit] Beginnings
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. That same year, he made his Busch Series debut at the GNC Live Well 250 in the #29 owned by his father. He qualified 30th but finished 37th after a crash. He ran three more races that season, his best finish a 25th at North Carolina Speedway.
[edit] Nationwide Series
In 2002, Vickers began running the Busch Series in the #40 Dodge Intrepid owned by his family. He drove in 21 races, his best finish being a 7th at the Hardee's 250, his only top-ten of the season. Because of a lack funding, Vickers was preparing to shut his team down, when he was called to replace Ricky Hendrick in the #5 GMAC Chevrolet. 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. Vickers did not run the Busch Series again until 2005, driving for Hendrick in sixth races, his best finish a third at Watkins Glen International. He will continue to drive the #57 Ore-Ida/Mountain Dew Chevy in 2006.
[edit] Sprint Cup
Vickers made his Cup debut at the 2003 UAW-GM Quality 500, qualifying 20th and finishing 33rd in the #60 Haas Automation Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. He ran four more races that season in Hendrick's #25, qualifying in the top-5 each time, but posting only one top-20 finish. He moved into the 25 full-time in 2004, winning two poles and finishing third to Brendan Gaughan and winner Kasey Kahne for Rookie of the Year. In 2005, he improved to 17th in points, posting ten top-tens. He also beat out Bliss to win the Nextel All-Star challenge qualifier Nextel Open in 2005. So far in 2006, he has three top-ten finishes.
On June 9, 2006 It was reported that Vickers would leave Hendrick and Casey Mears will take his place. On June 25, He announced that, in 2007, he was joining Team Red Bull's Toyota program. On October 8 2006, Vickers got his long-awaited first career victory at Talladega in controversial fashion. On the last lap, while drafting with teammate Jimmie Johnson he accidentaly taged Johnson into the wall and Johnson's car took out leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Vickers took the lead and the win.
[edit] Teams
| Year | # | Sponsor | Make/Model | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-present | 83 | Red Bull | Toyota | Team Red Bull |
| 2003-2006 | 25 | GMAC | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
