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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Oh, So Close
In the closing laps of the Kobalt Tools 500, Brian Vickers had leader Kurt Busch squarely in his sights and was running him down...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 09, 2009   Harrisburg, NC
Brian Vickers entered pit road a close second but exited sixth. He would go on to finish fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Kobalt Tools 500 (Photo: John Harrelson/Getty Images)

It should be a measure of just how very far Red Bull Racing has come that Brian Vickers was actively angry with his fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Two years ago, in the team’s maiden season, Vickers would have killed for a top five. Last year, he would have been elated, as he had just three top fives all season. But after Sunday’s race, he was left to ponder the might-have-beens, the woulda, coulda, shouldas that the 42 racers who don’t win think about after every Sprint Cup race.

In the closing laps of the Kobalt Tools 500, Vickers’ Red Bull Toyota had leader Kurt Busch squarely in his sights and was running him down for what seemed like a typical last-lap Atlanta dogfight for the victory.

But on Lap 323 of the scheduled 325-lap race, NASCAR threw a track-record 11th caution flag for debris. Because all the teams were close on fuel anyway and the race distance would be extended for a green-white-checkers finish, Busch, Vickers and the rest of the lead-lap cars headed down pit road for gasoline and tires.

Vickers entered pit road a close second to Busch; he exited sixth, with no hope of meaningful advancement in the final two laps. And although he did pick up one spot at the end of the race to score his third consecutive top-10 finish and move to 11th in points, Vickers understandably was bitterly disappointed with the outcome of the race.

“We would’ve finished first or second — or wrecked trying,” Vickers said. “We obviously had the better car there at the end. Kurt and I were running the same line, so it wasn’t going to be easy to pass him. He was driving his butt off as well. I’m really proud of the Red Bull guys. I had a great car all day.”

And although Busch had the dominant car of the race, leading 234 of 330 laps, Vickers seemed to be the one driver who had his measure in the race’s closing laps. Alas, he never got the chance to find out.

“We always seemed to have one of the best cars — if not the best car — at one point throughout a run,” Vickers said. “I was really hoping it would stay green. It was going to be a great race to the finish with Kurt and I.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE RESULTS: ATLANTA


Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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