TEAM RED BULL
RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

ENTRIES: Red Bull No. 83 Brian Vickers and Red Bull No. 84 AJ Allmendinger
RACE: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series “The Dan Lowry 400”
TRACK: Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, VA DATES: May 2-3, 2008

+ STATE OF BOTH RED BULLS
The first time Brian Vickers showed up at Richmond International Raceway in May 2004, he won his first pole in the No. 25. His speed of 129.983 mph still stands as the fastest qualifying lap ever turned at the .75-mile, D-shaped oval.

Since then, Richmond has been downright mean to Brian. He hasn’t finished higher than 24th since an eighth-place run followed the pole, but who’s counting when Red Bull Racing’s No. 83 team is coming off a top five at Talladega?

Brian finished fifth in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 despite a lonesome spin leaving pit road, nobody following when he tested the high line in the closing laps and the car losing its rear-end bumper cover. But it all added up to Red Bull Racing Team’s best finish of the season and moved Brian into a tie for 15th in points. He’s only 35 points out of the top 12.

Teammate AJ Allmendinger returned to the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota at Talladega after a five-race hiatus. He qualified a career-best fourth, played it safe in the back, cracked the top 15 midway through the race and led a lap before becoming a victim of circumstance in a last-lap crash. He finished 30th, and the No. 84 remains 40th in owners points. Red Bull Racing Team spent Monday testing at Iowa Speedway, a .875-mile track that’s similar to Richmond in shape, size and banking. AJ qualified for both Richmond races last season, with a best starting position of 13th (spring) and best finish of 23rd (fall).

+ KANSAS KIND TO SPEED
Three months into his first full season in stock cars and Red Bull’s Scott Speed already has experienced a career weekend.

Kansas Speedway was the site of Scott’s first double-duty effort. He won Friday’s ARCA race — Red Bull’s first victory since entering tin-top racing in fall 2006 — and followed it up with an eighth-place finish in Saturday’s Craftsman Truck race.

Scott moved to fourth in the ARCA driver standings, 90 points behind leader Matt Carter heading into Sunday’s Carolina 500 at Rockingham Speedway. The Eddie Sharp Racing No. 2 Red Bull Toyota was fastest during testing there in March.

His next truck race in Bill Davis Racing’s No. 22 Red Bull Toyota comes May 16 at Charlotte.

+ BE THE BALL, SCOTT
If there’s anything Scott Speed envisions himself doing other than racing, it’s playing golf. “I wouldn’t be great at anything other than racing,” he admitted. “Maybe golf if I really worked at it. I would want to be the best at what I did.”

Scott’s golf game, built on accuracy off the tee and around the greens, got a little bit better after he spent two days with PGA Tour professional and Red Bull athlete Camilo Villegas.

In his third full season on tour, the Colombian-born Camilo, 26, sits 84th on the money list and 85th in the FedEx Cup standings with one top 10 in nine events. He’s tied for 23rd in scoring average (70.10), his all-around ranking is 18th and he uses an unusual low-to-the-ground crouching method to read putts that earned him the nickname “Spider-Man.”

A July 2006 article in GQ said, “He’s got a closet full of tight trousers, a set of boxer’s biceps and more screaming female fans than Justin Timberlake.” That same year Camilo was one of the “Hottest Bachelors” in People magazine and Golf Digest’s “most ripped player on tour, Tiger Woods included.”

Scott gave Camilo a look into the world of racing Monday at Red Bull Racing Team’s shop. Roles reversed Tuesday, as Scott shadowed Camilo during his practice round for this weekend’s Wachovia Championship in Charlotte.