Ford 300 - Brian Vickers Notes

DOWN TO THE WIRE: With a sixth-place effort at North Carolina Speedway, Brian Vickers and GMAC Racing regained the lead in the NASCAR Busch Series driver standings with one race remaining. Heading into Saturday's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Vickers now leads second-place David Green by just 22 points and sixth-place Bobby Hamilton Jr. by merely 89, making the 2003 title chase the closest in Busch Series history at this stage of the season. All six teams have a mathematical shot at this year's championship.

FIRST POLE FOR VICKERS: In his 58th career Busch Series event, Vickers earned his first-ever pole position last week at North Carolina Speedway. GMAC Racing's previous best qualifying effort of the season was a second-place start at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Oct. 11. The 20-year-old Vickers has started in the top 10 in all but one of his last 17 races in the No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet dating back to The Milwaukee Mile in June.

SECOND TIME AROUND: Of the eight tracks on the Busch Series schedule that hosted a pair of Busch Series races this season, the GMAC team has posted a better finish at seven of those eight venues the second time around, including wins at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Dover (Del.) International Speedway. The only time the team has not improved its performance during a second visit came at the 1.25-mile Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, where Vickers finished ninth in April and 10th in June.

CHAMPIONSHIP WOULD BE FIRST FOR HMS: Despite winning five NASCAR Winston Cup Series championships and three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series titles, Hendrick Motorsports has never topped the standings in Busch Series competition. This marks only the second season that Hendrick has fielded a full-time Busch Series team, with the first efforts coming in 2002 with drivers Jack Sprague and Ricky Hendrick.

WHAT A COINCIDENCE: Vickers' closest competition for this year's driver championship is David Green (currently second in points), who drove the No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports during the final six Busch Series events of 2002. Green also served as a consultant to Vickers and his family-owned BLV Motorsports Busch Series operation last season.

BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES CHEVROLET: (HOW DOES IT FEEL TO LEAD THE POINT STANDINGS HEADING INTO THE SEASON FINALE?) "I like the fact that we've been able to bounce back from a rough outing at Atlanta a couple weeks ago and put ourselves in this position. It says a lot about the character of this team. This is a championship-caliber group and I'm very proud of what we've been able to do together this season. The leader has been cursed so far this year, but we're going to do all we can to break that trend. There isn't another race after Miami to bounce back from. This is it."

VICKERS: (WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO THE MIAMI RACE? WILL YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY?) "Not really. Our goals all year have been simple and they've taken us pretty far, so there's not much of a reason to abandon them now. All we've tried to do this year is stay out of trouble and finish on the lead lap because we knew if we accomplished those things, everything else would fall into place."

VICKERS: (WHAT WOULD IT MEAN TO GIVE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS ITS FIRST-EVER BUSCH SERIES TITLE?) "It would be a great honor. If you look at some of the drivers Hendrick Motorsports has had over the years and all of the championships and race wins, it's hard to believe that the one thing missing from the trophy case is a Busch Series title. Rick (Hendrick) and Ricky (Hendrick) gave me the opportunity of a lifetime this season and I wanted to do the best job I possibly could for them because they stuck their necks out for me. It would just be great to win this championship for everyone."

VICKERS: (DID YOU EVER THINK YOU WOULD BE IN THIS POSITION AFTER LEAVING THE SEASON-OPENER AT DAYTONA 42ND IN POINTS?) "You would've been hard-pressed to make me believe things would be like they are now. Finishing 42nd at the season-opener with a new team is not how anyone wants to kick off the year, but I knew I had a good group behind me. They're experienced and work well together. The only part that was an unknown was how quickly we would jell. Within a few weeks of Daytona, we started to gain momentum and have been able to keep it rolling. Sure, there's been a couple of speed bumps along the way, but that's to be expected."

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