TEAM RED BULL
TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY
AARON’S 499 ADVANCE

ENTRIES: Red Bull No. 83 Brian Vickers and Red Bull No. 84 AJ Allmendinger
RACE: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, Aaron’s 499
TRACK: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AL
DATES: April 27-29, 2007

+ AND THE AWARD GOES TO…
Ricky Bobby wanted to go fast. Brian Vickers, maybe, went a little too fast the last time the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series visited Talladega Superspeedway. And so “Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Brian Vickers” story began to unfold. Last fall’s UAW-Ford 500 was worthy of the Speed Performance “Oops” Award, and Brian played the lead. His No. 25 Chevrolet ran just behind leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. and second-place Jimmie Johnson entering the third turn on the last of 188 laps. The rest, as they say, is history. But to recap, Brian and Jimmie’s version of Shake ‘N Bake on Jr. went a little awry when Brian slightly tapped his teammate – not on purpose folks – sending Johnson into Earnhardt and sending both into the grass. Brian carried on like business as usual and took checkers on his first career NEXTEL Cup win. Ricky Bobby said it best – “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

+ NO BRAKES ALLOWED
Nothing can replace running three wide, 12 rows deep in the Dega Draft, but a Craftsman Truck Series experience comes close. AJ Allmendinger now knows what it’s like to never lift off the throttle or relax even for a second throughout a steamy afternoon in central Alabama. He finished fifth in last fall’s truck race — his first crack at the daddy of all super speedways. Not bad for an ex-open wheeler who’s used to riding the brake.

+ QUOTES
Brian Vickers, driver, No. 83 - “Talladega can be a tough race because so much is about being able to run three wide in a huge group of cars. You have to be really careful with every move you make. It can be difficult mentally to race at Talladega, but it’s the challenges that make you a better racer. There’s definitely a technique to drafting at Talladega, but once you get that figured out it’s a pretty easy track to race on.”

Doug Richert, crew chief, No. 83 – “Going into Talladega is like going into every other race track we've been at this year. We have to go there and qualify. It doesn't matter how the car handles, how the car drafts, how the car does anything but run a single lap by itself and hope that we're fast enough to make the race.”

AJ Allmendinger, driver, No. 84 - “After my masterful display of driving skill in Daytona, I feel confident I will be able to display it again in Talladega. Seriously though, I am anxious to see how our cars do at a restrictor-plate race. We didn’t have much time to show anything in Daytona since we were wrecked out of the Duels early. I got a fifth-place finish here last fall in the truck race, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that experience to help the team this weekend.”

Ricky Viers, crew chief No. 84 - “AJ’s good experience in the truck last year in Talladega will hopefully help us this weekend. Since we were not in the Daytona 500, this will technically be our first restrictor-plate race as a team, so hopefully we can make the show and see what we’ve got.”