TEAM RED BULL
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500

ENTRIES: Red Bull No. 83 Brian Vickers and Red Bull No. 84 AJ Allmendinger
RACE: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “Daytona 500”
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
DATES: February 13-17, 2008

+ STATE OF THE RED BULLS
Red Bull Racing Team’s two cars must race their way into the Daytona 500 through Thursday’s 150-mile qualifying races. Brian Vickers, in the No. 83, qualified 16th on Sunday. He’ll start sixth in Duel No. 1 — one spot ahead of teammate AJ Allmendinger, who, in the No. 84, timed in 19th.

+ FRYE, NO. 83 GO WAY BACK
For four seasons (1983-86), Red Bull Racing Team’s general manager and vice president played football at the University of Missouri as a tight end and offensive lineman. It just so happens that Jay Frye’s jersey number was 83, which, two decades later, is the same number as Brian Vickers’ NASCAR Sprint Cup car.

The story behind Frye’s No. 83 starts with Kellen Winslow, an NFL hall of famer who also played tight end for the Tigers. Winslow wore the same number in the late 1970s.

“Kellen Winslow went there, and, of course, he was pretty good,” Frye explained. “There were a couple of guys between he and I who were really good tight ends. When I got there, you’re carrying on the tradition of the No. 83. Ultimately, they retired the number, so I tell people my number is retired. But really there’s a different name on it — Winslow, not Frye.”

+ THE 14 BRAVE SOULS
The over-the-wall crewmen for Red Bull Racing Team’s No. 83 and 84:
NO. 83 NO. 84
Front Changer Brian Haaland (Minot, N.D.) Ryan Langley (Cloquet, Minn.)
Front Carrier Aaron Schields (Goodland, Kan.) Ryan Crellin (Chatham, N.Y.)
Rear Changer Danny Kincaid (Port Byron, N.Y.) Chad Avrit (El Centro, Calif.)
Rear Carrier Jake Brzozowski (Sterling Heights, Mich.) Andy Shahan (Mascot, Tenn.)
Jack Man Shaun Peet (Nanhimo, British Columbia) Andrew Turner (Coloma, Mich.)
Gas Man Doug Newell (Oxnard, Calif.) Aaron Pieratt (Lexington, Ky.)
Catch Can Mike Metcalf (Washington, D.C.) Brian Dheel (Norton, Ohio)
Pit crew coach: Greg Miller, Akron, Ohio
Athletic development/conditioning coach: Ben Cook, Denton, N.C.

+ DALLAS FRIDAY: THE COMEBACK KID
The accolades that follow Dallas Friday’s name border the ridiculous. The Red Bull-backed wakeboarder owns World Cup, X Games and Gravity Games championships, and from 2003-05 she placed first in all but two events she entered. Friday even won an ESPY as best female action sports athlete in 2004.

But behind all the gold medals and trophies stuffed in her mom’s closest is an athlete so driven to win that a freak accident and shattered femur in 2006 kept her off the water for only five months. One year later, she returned to the site of her devastating injury at the World Cup event in Singapore, captured the title and capped off a spectacular comeback.

The effort earned Friday, 21, a trip to Daytona International Speedway as a guest of Red Bull Racing Team. She’ll be joined by fellow Red Bull wakeboarders Adam Errington and J.D. Webb for Thursday’s qualifying races.

+ ON THE NATIONWIDE FRONT
Brian Vickers will drive Braun Racing’s Nos. 10 and 32 Toyotas in 15 Nationwide Series races this season, beginning with Saturday’s Camping World 300 at Daytona. He’ll share the seat with fellow Toyota drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

The 2003 Nationwide Series champion, Vickers earned three top-10 finishes in seven starts last season. Overall, he has three victories and 80 starts that span six years.

BRIAN VICKERS’ NATIONWIDE SCHEDULE
Feb. 16 — Daytona
March 1 — Las Vegas
March 8 — Atlanta
April 5 — Texas
April 11 — Phoenix
April 26 — Talladega
May 24 — Charlotte
July 4 — Daytona
Aug. 16 — Michigan
Aug. 22 — Bristol
Aug. 30 — California
Sept. 5 — Richmond
Sept. 27 — Kansas
Oct. 10 — Charlotte
Nov. 1 — Texas