BRIAN VICKERS NOTES & QUOTES
VICKERS WANTS ANOTHER JULY TOP-10:
Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolets, has made two July starts at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway -- one in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2003 and another in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competition last season. Vickers earned top-10 finishes in both mid-summer events.
PLATE-RACE IMPROVEMENT:
Last July’s ninth-place finish by GMAC Racing at the 2.5-mile Daytona oval was the best result in a restrictor-plate race for the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports team since 2001, when Jerry Nadeau finished sixth in July.
CHASSIS 308 FOR ‘25’:
GMAC Racing will field Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 308 for this weekend’s Pepsi 400. The car was driven by teammate Jimmie Johnson in May at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where it qualified sixth and finished 20th.
VICKERS AT PEPSI STAGE SATURDAY:
The 21-year-old Vickers is scheduled to appear at the Pepsi Stage on Saturday at 4:40 p.m. ET. The stage is located in the display area outside Daytona International Speedway.
HENDRICK HOPING FOR DAYTONA REPEAT:
During last year’s Pepsi 400, all four Hendrick Motorsports teams -- Nos. 5, 24, 25 and 48 -- finished inside the top-10, with Jeff Gordon winning the event.
DAYTONA DOUBLE FOR VICKERS:
Driving a No. 57 Ore-Ida Chevy at Daytona, Vickers will make the third of his six scheduled Busch Series starts this season. The Thomasville, N.C., native qualified eighth and finished 13th in his most recent event in the series May 28 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Vickers’ fourth Busch outing of 2005 is slated for Aug. 20 at Michigan International Speedway.
BUY THOSE FRIES (FOR A GOOD CAUSE):
Ore-Ida announced Monday that it will donate a portion of the proceeds from July 2-4 sales of its Extra Crispy Easy Fries to the Hendrick Marrow Program. The Hendrick Marrow Program aids patients who need marrow or blood-cell transplants to treat leukemia and other blood-related diseases.
TWICE IS NICE:
Vickers won’t be the only one on the No. 57 Busch Series team pulling double duty this weekend. On Friday, Vickers’ No. 57 Ore-Ida Chevy will receive service from his NEXTEL Cup over-the-wall pit crew.
VICKERS SIGNING AT WAL-MART:
Vickers will be at the Wal-Mart in Ormond Beach, Fla., on Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. ET signing autographs.
BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC/ditech.com CHEVROLETS:
(WHAT GRADE WOULD YOU GIVE YOURSELF AND THE GMAC RACING TEAM FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE NEXTEL CUP SEASON?) “There’s been a lot of hard work put in by a lot of people to get us to this point in the season. New cars, new bodies, and new relationships -- all those things are starting to come together. We should have better finishes to show for it, but we’re learning. All of it is starting to come together. That’s been obvious by some runs at Charlotte (N.C.), Dover (Del.) and Pocono. I hate to give a grade because there’s more to it than just that. We’ve had some bad luck so far this season that often gets overlooked when it comes to statistics, but this team has a lot of potential and I think we’re going to continue getting better.”
VICKERS:
(ON RETURNING TO DAYTONA.) “We had a good finish at Daytona last July. Actually, all of the Hendrick teams did. I know we only finished 21st at the track in February, but we couldn’t avoid getting a piece of the big accident late in the race. The same holds true for our luck at the other plate race, Talladega, in May. We were running really well there. My concern isn’t so much about not having a good car because I know we’re going to be just fine. My concern is being able to avoid the pileups.”
