PREVIEW: BRIAN VICKERS (NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET)
VENUE: DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (2.5-MILE OVAL)
CIRCUIT: NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES (RACE 17 OF 36)
EVENT: SATURDAY, JULY 1 (160 LAPS, 400 MILES)

VICKERS UNRESTRICTED: Only two NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series drivers -- Brian Vickers and Tony Stewart -- posted top-10 results in each of the last three restrictor-place races. Vickers, driver of the No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, finished third at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in May, seventh in the season-opening Daytona 500 in February and sixth in last fall's Talladega event.

'25' TEAM SURGING: The GMAC Racing team heads to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway having scored the ninth-most points (398) in the last three NEXTEL Cup races dating back to Pocono Raceway. Greg Biffle leads the way with 408 markers since Pocono. In the six races following Daytona in 2005, the No. 25 team notched one pole position, four top-10s and six top-15 results.

VICKERS BACK TO BUSCH AT DAYTONA: Vickers will drive a No. 57 Ore-Ida Chevrolet on Friday at Daytona, marking his sixth NASCAR Busch Series appearance of the year. Vickers, who has already seen Busch Series action at Daytona, California Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Talladega and Darlington (S.C.) Raceway this season, has earned one top-five and three top-10 finishes.

WIN WOULD BE HENDRICK'S 11TH AT DAYTONA: Car owner Rick Hendrick is one of three owners with a double-digit win total at Daytona International Speedway. Hendrick, who has 10 NEXTEL Cup victories at the 2.5-mile oval, is joined by the Wood Brothers (12 wins) and Petty Enterprises (11).

CHASSIS 361 FOR '25': Crew chief Lance McGrew has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 361 as the primary option for Vickers and the No. 25 GMAC Racing team in Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona. It's the same car Vickers drove in the 2006 Daytona 500, yielding a seventh-place finish.

TEAMS TEST MILWAUKEE: All four full-time Hendrick Motorsports teams -- Nos. 5, 24, 25 and 48 -- will test at The Milwaukee Mile on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week in preparation for the July 16 NEXTEL Cup event at New Hampshire International Speedway.

* * * * * * * * *

BRIAN VICKERS, DRIVER OF THE NO. 25 GMAC CHEVROLET: (IS SUPERSPEEDWAY RACING A TOUGH SKILL TO MASTER?) "Superspeedway racing is difficult to learn. The reason you see so many veterans excelling at it is because they have the experience at Daytona and Talladega. No other kind of racing can prepare you to race in the draft, and each of NASCAR's top series (Cup, Busch, Truck) all have different aerodynamic characteristics that make it even more difficult to relate one to another. The only way you can get the experience at the Cup level is to get out and race."

VICKERS: (ON RETURNING TO DAYTONA AFTER FINISHING SEVENTH IN THE FEBRUARY RACE.) "I hope we can be competitive again. We've never qualified particularly well at the superspeedways, but the guys on the GMAC team know how to get things right for the race. We had a shot to win at Talladega a few months ago and the same can be said for the Daytona 500. We've been able to put ourselves in a position to win. Now we just have to see if we can take that next step and win one."

VICKERS: (IS THERE MORE TO SUPERSPEEDWAY RACING THAN JUST THE DRAFT?) "There's a lot of strategy involved in how you position yourself for the closing laps of the race. What a lot of people don't see is how much we actually use our mirrors. It's safe to say in a superspeedway race you're looking more out of the rearview mirror than you are out of the front windshield. You always want to see what the guys behind you are doing so you can use them to your advantage."