Luck - as in lucky dog - was on Red Bull Racing Team's side at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Twice each the two Red Bull Toyotas were the beneficiary of NASCAR's free pass to get back on the lead lap, which enabled Brian Vickers and Scott Speed to finish in the top 15 in Saturday nightís Sharpie 500.
Vickers finished 12th, matching his best effort at the high-speed, high-banked bullring. The result also kept Vickers within striking distance of the Chase. He slipped a spot to 14th in the standings, but is still only 39 points out of the top 12 with two races remaining before the Chase begins Sept. 20 at New Hampshire.
Speed earned a 15th-place finish to complete an impressive weekend at one of NASCARís most demanding race tracks. Only three times before had Speed raced at Bristol - in a truck in 2008 as well as a Nationwide-Cup doubleheader in March - but he qualified third and backed it up in the race with the best non-restrictor plate finish of his career.
"We had a great weekend," Speed said. "We made good decisions, we made good changes on the car and we had a really good car for the last 150, 200 laps of the race. It was great."
Vickers, who's closing in on the best points finish in his six-year Cup career (15th in 2006), fought a loose No. 83 for the first two-thirds of the race. And in typical Bristol fashion, the leaders came on fast and Vickers fell a lap down, got it back, fell another lap down and got it back again as a caution for rain waved with 79 laps to go.
By then, the No. 83's handling was coming around, and with the help of the savvy and strategic calls by his crew chief, Ryan Pemberton, Vickers clawed from 22nd after the rain to 12th at the checkered flag.
Driver No. 83 hasn't finished worse than 12th since a multi-car crash took him out of the New Hampshire race on June 28.
"Tonight wasn't one of our best finishes, but it definitely could have been worse," Vickers said. "Ryan made some great calls for track position, and we were able to get the lucky dog twice. The car was the best of the night toward the end of the race, and we were able to rally for a 12th-place finish. Now, our sights are set on Atlanta in two weeks. It sucks losing a spot in the points, but don't count us out, this team doesn't give up. We are still very much in this."
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After the fifth top-10 qualifying run of his rookie season, Speed, too, found himself fighting to stay on the lead lap as the laps clicked off. His No. 82 ran in the top 20 for much of the race, and Speed got his second lap back under the ninth of 11 cautions.
From there, the No. 82 team played it smart, and Speed charged from 22nd to 15th. It all translated into the second-best finish of Speed's brief Cup career (fifth at Talladega in April).
"We had to work to get that lucky dog twice, and we raced guys really hard," Speed said. "When you're out there racing guys like Carl Edwards, I consider myself a lot closer to an equal to these guys now. It's great to come back to these tracks a second time with that experience, and it's really paying off for all of us. We played this race really well. We all did a great job."
The No. 82 remained 36th in the car owner standings - but picked up 45 points - and is 115 out of the top 35.
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