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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Vickers Dodges A Bullet
A dropped lugnut cost Brian Vickers 19 places in New Hampshire, but he rallied back for a top-15 finish...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 21, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Brian Vickers expects to race again next season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Brian Vickers survived New England to fight another day. And that suits the driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota just fine.

Vickers, the last man to get into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, on Sunday became the first one to dodge a major bullet with an 11th-place finish in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. That left him eighth in points, 90 behind series leader Mark Martin with the first of 10 Chase races in the books.

And while 11th isn’t typically the kind of finish drivers celebrate, Vickers had good reason to smile, because he came through all manner of turbulence that well could have derailed his first Chase appearance almost before it started.

The Thomasville, N.C, native came into New Hampshire with the worst finishing average of any of the 12 Chase drivers at the 1.058-mile track. And from the time he rolled off the trailer, Vickers appeared to be in deep trouble.

He missed a large portion of Friday’s first round of practice as a mysterious fuel delivery problem dogged his Toyota. And when qualifying rolled around later that day, we has a mere 26th-fastest, worst of the Chasers.

Just before the halfway point of Sunday’s race, disaster struck during a pit stop on Lap 142, when a lugnut fell off, dropping Vickers from 11th to 30th. Errors like that can cost a championship, but Vickers was able to recover and finish 11th, the 10th race in a row in which he has finished 12th or better. All things considered, that OK, especially since NHMS historically has been a weak track for Vickers.

“It’s not a bad way to start the Chase,” said Vickers, who is the youngest national champion in NASCAR history, having claimed a Nationwide Series title at the age of 20 in 2003. “It’s a good solid finish.”

Still, Vickers allowed as how he might like a mistake-free weekend this around when the series moves to Dover, Del., for the AAA 400. “We’re not making it any easier on ourselves as a team,” he said. “We started the weekend off and had a lot engine problems in the first practice that put us about an hour and a half behind the competition. Then in the race, we had a lot of problems in the pits and some other problems that I think cost us an opportunity at a top five.”

And that means there’s work to do for Vickers and the team if they are to have any hope of making a serious title run. “We still rallied for close to a top 10 and I’m really proud of that, but if we want to win this championship we have to stop beating ourselves,” he said. “That’s kind of been our motto and we’ve done a really good job the past 10 weeks.”

On balance, though, Vickers will take it and move on.

“It could’ve been a lot worse. We could’ve had a bad day,” Vickers said. “We’re pleased, but we’re not satisfied. We need to be better, and I know that we can be better.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief 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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