TEAM RED BULL
CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY
SHARP AQUOS 500

ENTRIES: Red Bull No. 83 Brian Vickers and Red Bull No. 84 AJ Allmendinger
RACE: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, “Sharp Aquos 500”
TRACK: California Speedway, Fontana, CA
DATES: August 31 - September 2, 2007

+ FONTANA: FIRST FOR EVERYTHING
As soon as Brian Vickers crossed the finish line 10th at California Speedway, the Red Bull began flowing. Red Bull Racing finally came full circle. In its first Nextel Cup points race — February’s Auto Club 500 — the No. 83 started up front, stayed and finished there.

It was the culmination of more than a year of work just to get to that point, and when it counted, Red Bull Racing and Toyota Racing Development brought their “A” game from start to finish. First race, the team’s first top 10, Toyota’s first top 10 … it made the red-eye flight back to North Carolina that much easier to stomach.

The No. 83 Red Bull Toyota returns to the Inland Empire this weekend, and all signs point to another strong showing. BV, whose average start at California is 9.0 with a pole in 2004, is returning with the same Camry that finished eighth Aug. 21 at California’s sister track in Michigan.

Freshman AJ Allmendinger started his fall semester when the No. 84 returned to action Saturday night at Bristol. AJ missed the first race in Fontana, but he tied a career-best finish of 31st at Michigan in June.

+ AJ SCORES SOME SEAT TIME
Laps are still what AJ Allmendinger is searching for. He found plenty of them in the Busch Series, landing a five-race deal to drive the No. 42 Dodge owned by Chip Ganassi Racing.

AJ will begin his Busch career with this weekend’s Camping World 300 at California Speedway. The 25-year-old also will compete in four other companion events. The No. 42, previously run by Juan Pablo Montoya to assist with driver development, will carry a Memorex paint scheme with Texaco/Havoline as the associate sponsor.

+ 300 MILES BEFORE 500
Braun Racing’s Dave Blaney earned Toyota’s first pole in the Busch Series in February at California. Now it’s Brian Vickers’ turn, as the 2003 series champion will drive the No. 10 in Saturday’s Camping World 300. In his three Busch starts this season, BV has finished 13th, sixth and 36th. He’ll also drive for Braun on Sept. 7 at Richmond.

+ QUOTES
Brian Vickers, No. 83 driver – “We are going to start right where we left off at Michigan, but we’re trying to put together a car that’s not so loose. California Speedway has a lot of those same trends track-wise as Michigan, so we think we’ll be in good shape to qualify into the race and have another good run there like we did back in March.”

Doug Richert, No. 83 crew chief – “We ran really well the last time we raced at California. It was our first top-10 finish. It was our first race we made it into. We’ve done well on the two-mile tracks, and we hope to continue that this weekend.”

AJ Allmendinger, No. 84 driver – “Getting back to racing is what is important. After making Bristol, we should have some momentum going forward to make the race this weekend. Brian ran well in Michigan, so we are planning to run a similar setup to his in California. We were only able to get in eight laps the first time in California due to being held up in the tech line for 50 minutes at the beginning of the first practice. This weekend will almost feel like seeing the track for the first time. Confidently optimistic is the best way to describe how I feel going into the weekend.”

Ricky Viers, No. 84 crew chief – “We are taking a brand-new car to California this weekend. Building off our Bristol run should give us momentum moving forward. We ran well last weekend even though our finish doesn’t fully reflect it. AJ is confident and excited to get back to his home state of California and make the race this weekend. The No. 83 had a good setup in Michigan and Charlotte, and we should be able to use some of the things they learned.”