Golden Corral 500 - Brian Vickers Notes

'25' TEAM AT ATLANTA: During the last four seasons (eight races), the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports team has earned one win, four top-fives and five top-10 finishes at Atlanta Motor Speedway, including a ninth-place finish at the high-speed track in March 2003.

GOING FOR EIGHT: Car owner Rick Hendrick has seven victories at Atlanta, tying him with Joe Gibbs for third on the all-time list. The Wood Brothers have a dozen, while Junior Johnson and Richard Childress have nine apiece.

ATLANTA MARKED FIRST IN '25' FOR VICKERS: Brian Vickers celebrated his 20th birthday last fall at Atlanta Motor Speedway by qualifying fourth for the Cup Series race at the 1.54-mile oval. The October 2003 event marked the first start for Vickers as driver of the No. 25 Chevrolets for Hendrick Motorsports.

VICKERS AT VEGAS: Vickers, a Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender, finished 23rd on Sunday at Las Vegas after running out of fuel on the event's final lap. The Thomasville, N.C., native was 15th at the time in the No. 25 GMAC Financial Services Chevy.

ROOKIE SHOWS QUALIFYING PROWESS: Since climbing aboard as driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 25 entry seven races ago, Vickers has earned five top-five starts, including outside poles at Phoenix and Rockingham, N.C., last fall. He qualified third last week at Las Vegas.

CHASSIS NO. 2551 FOR GMAC RACING: The No. 25 GMAC Financial Services team will field Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 2551 this weekend. While the Atlanta race will be the car's first event of 2004, it was run by Vickers at Phoenix in 2003, finishing 13th. The car also saw action at New Hampshire International Speedway in September and at Pocono Raceway in July, earning third and seventh-place finishes by the team, respectively.

BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES CHEVROLETS: (ON RETURNING TO ATLANTA IN A NEXTEL CUP CAR.) "There's a level of comfort knowing we're going back to a track where I've run before. We qualified well at Atlanta last fall and this No. 25 team seems to run strong there every year. We have every intention of continuing that level of performance."

VICKERS: (HAVE THE FIRST THREE RACES OF THE SEASON GONE AS EXPECTED?) "The beginning of the season has been a learning curve for myself and the team. Even though we worked together for four races last year, we're still developing the lines of communication and chemistry within the team. Nobody is in panic mode based upon our results, because we know and realize our potential."