BRIAN VICKERS NOTES & QUOTES
A GOOD OMEN FOR VICKERS:
On Thursday, July 7, Brian Vickers will visit the GMAC Mortgage Service Center in Waterloo, Iowa, for an employee event. The office, which employs more than 800 people, hosted Vickers in 2003, two days after winning his first career Busch Series race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
CNBC’S ‘NASCAR GOLD’ TO PREMIERE MONDAY:
CNBC is set to premiere a one-hour documentary about the sport of NASCAR. Reported by Dylan Ratigan, “NASCAR Gold” will feature numerous industry personalities, including the France family and team owner Rick Hendrick. The program will air Monday, July 11 at 8 and 11 p.m. ET.
UP FRONT AT CHICAGO:
Vickers, driver of the No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolets, has started three events at Chicagoland Speedway -- two in the Busch Series and one at the NEXTEL Cup level. In those races, the 21-year-old has posted an average qualifying position of eighth.
HENDRICK AT CHICAGOLAND:
Although Hendrick Motorsports has never won a Cup Series event in the four-race history of Chicagoland Speedway, teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon own the two best average results at the track. With a third-place average, Johnson has never finished worse than fourth in three appearances, while Gordon has started all four events with an average performance of 6.7.
McGREW’S CHI-TOWN SUCCESS:
Crew chief Lance McGrew has been atop the pit box for three races at Chicagoland Speedway -- all in Busch Series competition and each with a different driver. In those events, the Baton Rouge, La., native has three top-10 starts, one top-five finish (2003) and led the most laps (July 2004). He is now a rookie NEXTEL Cup crew chief, leading the No. 25 GMAC Racing team with Vickers behind the wheel.
‘25’ BRINGING LMS CAR TO CHICAGO:
GMAC Racing will field Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 334 on Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway. The car most recently competed at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where it saw action in the NEXTEL Open, the All-Star Challenge and the Memorial Day weekend 600-miler. Vickers raced it to a win in the Open and a third-place finish in the Challenge before leading a race-high 98 laps May 29.
BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC/ditech.com CHEVROLETS:
(RESULTS IN THE LAST THREE RACES HAVE NOT BEEN UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS. IS THERE ANY CONCERN?) “We haven’t been running poorly. During the last three races, the team has given me cars capable of finishing inside the top-10, but we’ve fallen victim to some unfortunate circumstances. At Michigan we had a tire problem. In Sonoma we were hit by a car that lost its brakes. On Saturday night in Daytona we were hit on pit road. At some point, the tide will turn in our favor and we’ll start to get the results we’re capable of. Hopefully, that will come sooner than later.”
VICKERS:
(YOU’VE RUN WELL ON THE 1.5-MILE TRACKS THIS SEASON. IS THERE ANY PARTICULAR REASON?) “There’s nothing special to what we’re doing. Overall, I just think Hendrick Motorsports has a solid aerodynamic and engine package for the mile-and-a-half tracks. Having a bunch of 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule like we do allows us time to learn about what we need to do when we go to a place like Chicagoland or Lowe’s.”
