BRIAN VICKERS NOTES & QUOTES
TOP-10 AT THE GLEN:
On Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Brian Vickers recorded his first-ever top-10 result at a road course in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competition. His previous best at a non-oval came at Infineon Raceway in 2004 when he crossed the line in 22nd position.
SUCCESSFUL ‘ROAD’ TRIP FOR VICKERS:
Vickers top-10 finish Sunday wasn’t his first of the weekend at Watkins Glen. Driving a No. 5 Chevrolet in Saturday’s Busch Series event, Vickers led an event-high 24 of 82 laps en route to a third-place finish. The race was his first on a road course in Busch Series competition.
HENDRICK AT MICHIGAN:
Car owner Rick Hendrick has three career NEXTEL Cup victories at Michigan International Speedway. Jeff Gordon owns the two most recent wins (1998 and 2001), while Ricky Rudd holds the other (1993).
MOMENTUM BUILDING FOR ‘25’:
Dating back to Chicagoland Speedway, GMAC Racing has scored five consecutive top-15 results, including two top-fives and three top-10s, while maintaining an average finishing position of 8.0. The recent success has also vaulted the No. 25 team from 22nd to 18th in the NEXTEL Cup standings.
VICKERS PULLING MIS DOUBLE:
Driving a No. 57 Ore-Ida Chevrolet this weekend at Michigan, Vickers will make his fifth Busch Series appearance of 2005. The 21-year-old, who won the 2003 Busch Series championship, is scheduled to run two additional races in the No. 57 Chevy: Sept. 24 at Dover, Del., and Nov. 19 at Homestead, Fla.
VICKERS JOINING ‘INSIDE NEXTEL CUP’:
Beginning Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET, Vickers will join the cast of SPEED Channel’s longest-running show, “Inside NEXTEL Cup.” The program breaks down racing action with insight from a panel of drivers.
CHASSIS 334 FOR GMAC RACING:
GMAC Racing crew chief Lance McGrew has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 334 for this weekend’s NEXTEL Cup festivities at Michigan. The car most recently saw action at Chicagoland Speedway, where it qualified fifth and finished fourth.
AGENCY WINS GMAC PROMOTION:
GMAC Insurance has declared the Thomas Tucker Insurance Agency of Belleville, Mich., as the winner of the Michigan Independent Agency Pole Position promotion. As part of the grand prize, the agency will be honored with its name on the television panel of Vickers’ No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet for Sunday’s NEXTEL Cup event at Michigan International Speedway.
VICKERS’ CREW WORKING OVERTIME:
Vickers won’t be the only one on the No. 57 Busch Series team pulling double duty this weekend. On Saturday, Vickers’ Ore-Ida Chevy will receive service from his NEXTEL Cup over-the-wall pit crew.
BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC/ditech.com CHEVROLETS:
(ON HIS FIRST-EVER TOP-10 FINISH ON A ROAD COURSE.) “I’m sorry it’s taken so long, but it feels good to have a strong finish at a road course. I’m fortunate to have been able to run the Busch race at Watkins Glen on Saturday, because I think it helped a lot. All of the guys on the GMAC Racing team did a good job of making some changes from the last road race at Infineon. We learned a lot from that race and applied it to Watkins Glen.”
VICKERS:
(ON THE TEAM’S MOMENTUM.) “The team is coming together. The communication is there and the results reflect that. Our pit crew has worked hard in the gym and has been great when it comes to the races. Their dedication and the hard work from everyone at Hendrick Motorsports really has people believing that we can run up front every week.”
VICKERS:
(ON RETURNING TO MICHIGAN.) “We have to redeem ourselves. I feel like we had such a good car there in June, easily a top-five or top-three car, but we blew a tire early on and that ruined our chances of a good finish. I’m looking forward to getting back to Michigan and hopefully we’ll have as good a car, if not better than our last trip.”
