Target House 200 - Brian Vickers Notes

MILE-TRACK SUCCESS: Saturday's third-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway extended GMAC Racing's success on one-mile ovals this season. In five NASCAR Busch Series starts on one-milers, driver Brian Vickers has posted one win and five top-five finishes. The team's worst performance yielded a fifth-place result at Dover (Del.) International Speedway in May.

GMAC RACING RETURNS TO 'THE ROCK': Vickers and GMAC Racing posted their first Busch Series top-10 result of the 2003 season at North Carolina Speedway in February, finishing eighth. Since then, the No. 5 team has earned a series-leading 13 top-five finishes and 19 additional top-10s.

VICKERS THIRD AFTER 32: With two races remaining, Vickers ranks third in the Busch Series championship standings, 21 points behind leader Scott Riggs. The separation between Riggs and fifth-place Jason Keller is just 60 points, making the 2003 title chase the closest in Busch Series history at this stage of the season.

VICKERS EARNS 21ST TOP-10 START: With a sixth-place qualifying effort at Phoenix, Vickers earned his series-leading 21st start inside the top 10. The 20-year-old has started in the top 10 in all but one of his last 16 races in the No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet dating back to The Milwaukee Mile in June.

GOING FOR 17: A triumph on Saturday at Rockingham would be the 17th Busch Series victory in the history of Hendrick Motorsports. Vickers' trio of wins this season marks the most for a Hendrick-owned team since Brett Bodine won three back in 1985.

DOVER WINNER AT ROCKINGHAM: GMAC Racing will field Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 172 on Saturday at Rockingham -- the same car that most recently was used to win at Dover in September.

TWO MORE CUP RACES FOR VICKERS: Driving the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet at North Carolina Speedway, Vickers will make his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series start on Sunday. He will also pilot the No. 25 Chevy at the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, before going full-time next season with primary sponsorship from GMAC Financial Services.

BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 5 GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES CHEVROLET: (ON THE CLOSENESS OF THE POINT STANDINGS.) "There are two races left and none of the teams competing for this year's title can afford to have any bad luck. Any way you cut it, the championship is not going to be determined until after the final race in Miami. The points battle can't be won right now, but it can easily be lost and I think you'll see things get really interesting during the last two races."

VICKERS: (WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO THE LAST TWO EVENTS?) "We have to run our own race and not worry about what the others are doing. As easy as that sounds, it can be difficult at times because of how tight things are. A slip of five or six spots in the finishing order can easily drop you three or four positions in the standings -- something that will be difficult to overcome with two to go."

VICKERS: (ON MOVING INTO THIRD IN THE POINT STANDINGS.) "Our finish at Phoenix is exactly what we needed. We accomplished the simple goals we've been working from all season, which have been to complete every lap and stay out of trouble. The guys in the pits really rose to the occasion, too, as we didn't lose a single position on pit road all day."

VICKERS: (ON ROCKINGHAM.) "There's a comfort level for us going to Rockingham, knowing we finished eighth there earlier this year. We can't take anything for granted, though, and we have to show up and better, or at least repeat, our spring performance."

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