TEAM RED BULL
BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SHARPIE 500

ENTRIES: Red Bull No. 83 Brian Vickers and Red Bull No. 84 AJ Allmendinger
RACE: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, “Sharpie 500”
TRACK: Bristol Motor Speedway
DATES: August 24-25, 2007

+ TWO BULLS BACK AT BRISTOL
It’s the little victories that count for first-year Red Bull Racing — two laps led in the Budweiser Shootout, the first top 10 at California and a fifth-place display of endurance in NASCAR’s longest race. And then there was Brian Vickers’ eighth-place run only a day ago when Mother Nature finally allowed the boys outside to play in the Irish Hills.

Lost in the shuffle, however, is a sunny March afternoon in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. AJ Allmendinger, with DNQ No. 5 staring him in the face, pulled off the lap of his stock car life to qualify at Bristol Motor Speedway. AJ flirted with the edge, even scraping the wall a few times, to make his first Nextel Cup race.

Sure, Bristol bit the rookie on multiple occasions, but it was a banner day for Red Bull Racing. Both Red Bulls competed together for the first time. AJ ended up 40th, and BV, nearly choking on exhaust fumes, hung tough and finished on the lead lap in 15th.

+ KILLER Bs: BRIAN, BRAUN AND BUSCH
How many laps will Brian Vickers turn this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway? Put it this way — a lot. Some eight and a half hours of practice — not to mention 750 laps of racing — are scheduled for Brian, who will wheel Braun Racing’s No. 10 Toyota in Friday night’s Food City 250 along with his Nextel Cup duties as Red Bull Racing’s driver of the No. 83. He’ll also drive for Braun in Busch Series races Sept. 1 at California and Sept. 7 at Richmond.

The 2003 series champion hasn’t raced at Busch car at Bristol since August of that year, but he owns three top-15 finishes in four starts.

+ TRUCKIN’ THROUGH TENNESSEE
AJ Allmendinger returns to the friendly confines of the No. 00 Aaron’s Lucky Dog machine for Wednesday’s Craftsman Truck event. The Darrell Waltrip-owned Toyota Tundra has the speed and handling to challenge Bristol’s high banks, as AJ was seventh fastest in the July 23 test. In seven truck starts this season, AJ has two top 10s and finished second in May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

+ QUOTES
Brian Vickers, No. 83 driver – “It’s been awhile since we’ve raced on a short track, so I’m excited to switch it up a bit and get back to short-track racing. Of all the short tracks we go to, Bristol always gets me excited to race. The track has been resurfaced since we last went there, so I’m curious to see how it’s changed. I’m running both the Busch and Cup races this weekend, so I’ll get even more track time to figure the new surface out. We had one of our best runs in a COT the last time we went to Bristol, so I’m hoping we can improve upon that and bring home an even better finish.”

Doug Richert, No. 83 crew chief – “I feel really good about going back to Bristol. We’ve made some gains on our Car of Tomorrow program since the last time we raced there, so I think we’re capable of having a good run again. We finished 15th in our last run at Bristol, but I think our car was good enough to bring home a top 10. We’ll set our goals for this race for a top 10, improve upon our performance and come away with more points.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 84 driver – “We are returning to the track where I made my first Cup race, and I’m looking forward to taking it on again — twice! The truck race Wednesday will be fun, and I know we have a truck capable of a top-five finish. As far as the Cup car, this is the weekend the No. 84 team is going to get back on track and start making races again. And there is no better place to do that than Bristol. It is just a fun place to race. Anytime you have that many vehicles crammed into such a small place things are bound to get a little wild.”

Ricky Viers, No. 84 crew chief – “AJ will do well at Bristol this weekend. Looking at the schedule, he will get in six hours of truck practice plus 200 more miles in Wednesday’s truck race before getting into his Cup car. He will be more than prepared for Saturday’s Cup race. The last Cup race the No. 84 qualified for was the last time AJ was in a truck. It makes a huge difference when he gets laps under different circumstances. I am looking forward to racing again Saturday and showing everyone what this team can do.”