BRIAN VICKERS NOTES & QUOTES
‘25’ PILING UP POINTS:
Despite not being one of the 10 competing for this year’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series title, Brian Vickers and his No. 25 GMAC Racing team have accumulated 662 points since the Chase for the Championship began. That total is seventh-best among all teams and just 70 markers fewer than co-leader and teammate Jimmie Johnson.
HENDRICK GETS 138TH CUP WIN:
Jimmie Johnson’s first-place performance Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway marked the 138th Cup-level victory for Rick Hendrick, who is now one win from tying legendary team owner Junior Johnson for second on the all-time list. Hendrick leads all owners in victories in NASCAR’s modern era (1972-present) and is third all-time (1949-present) behind Junior Johnson and first-place Petty Enterprises.
HENDRICK GOING FOR 13TH MARTINSVILLE WIN:
Hendrick Motorsports is one of just three teams with double-digit Cup wins at Martinsville. Rick Hendrick is credited with a dozen car-owner victories there, which ties him with Junior Johnson for second on the all-time list. Petty Enterprises is first with 19.
VICKERS NOW 15TH IN STANDINGS:
Vickers’ 12th-place result at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was the fifth consecutive top-15 finish for the 21-year-old NEXTEL Cup sophomore. In the last 14 races dating back to Chicagoland Speedway, his No. 25 team has finished outside the top-15 on just two occasions. That consistency has moved the team from 22nd to 15th in the series standings, just 63 behind 11th-place Elliott Sadler.
VICKERS AT MARTINSVILLE:
Vickers has competed in three different racing series at Martinsville. His NEXTEL Cup track debut at the paper-clip-shaped oval yielded a 13th-place result in April 2004, and he previously made appearances in NASCAR’s Late Model division (1999) and the Allison Legacy Car Series (1998).
MARTINSVILLE TEST FOR ‘25’:
Vickers and his No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports team spent two days testing at Martinsville in September as part of a Goodyear tire test.
BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC/ditech.com CHEVROLETS:
(HOW DIFFICULT IS MARTINSVILLE TO GET AROUND?) “Martinsville is a tough track to navigate, as most short tracks are, but the flat, tight corners really make it challenging. It’s a race track that suits the veteran drivers -- the guys who have run there for a lot of years -- because they typically have a lot more patience than the younger drivers when it comes to backing the corner up and waiting on the car before getting back to the throttle. In just the few races I’ve run there in a Cup car, I feel like I’ve come a long way.”
VICKERS:
(HOW DID THE GOODYEAR TIRE TEST GO AT MARTINSVILLE?) “I feel good about how things went during the test and can honestly say the car we primarily used was the best I’ve ever driven at the track. At the end of a 100-lap run, we were posting lap times faster than when we tested there earlier this season. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
