After five years of getting the cold shoulder from his racetrack mistress in NASCAR, Brian Vickers’ unrequited love for the Darlington Speedway may have finally come to an end on Saturday.
A more welcoming Lady in Black saw Vickers lead laps, battle at the front all night, overcome damage from contact with another car, and finish in the top-10 for the first time at the unforgiving 1,366-mile, egg-shaped circuit.
It was a welcome result for the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota driver, who seemed to have been a hard luck magnet in the past few weeks after a good start to 2010. There’s nothing like a good car, combined with better fortune, to get Vickers feeling racy again after three disappointing results.
“It was the best car we've had," he said after finishing 10th in the Showtime Southern 500. "It was the most competitive we've been in qualifying in a while and in race trim.”
“It feels good, for sure," he continued. "For the first time in a while, I felt like we had a really competitive car to drive to the lead and take it. Other than Talladega of course. It was a good night.”
His Darlington result delivered a four-position jump in the points standings, moving Vickers to 20th overall, just 160 points out of a top-12 Chase for the Cup berth. The result was markedly different from the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega last month, where Vickers battled at the front, led laps, and looked to be ready for a top finish until he got caught up in a nine-car, late-race wreck.
"I feel like we're back on track and headed in the right direction." –Vickers
This time he made the most of the good car on his favorite track after bouncing back from adversity several times during the race. Every time Darlington offered an obstacle, Vickers found a way to fight back and stay in or near the top-10 all night.
Early in the race, Vickers tangled with Jeff Gordon on a Lap 59 restart and damaged the left front fender of the car, creating a tire rub. But some quick work by the Red Bull pitcrew kept Vickers in the hunt for a solid finish.
“I think we got it cleaned up mostly, but it still affected the car some for probably the whole race,” Vickers said. “I don't know what happened there. I gave him plenty of room and he just slid up into me and I couldn't go any higher. I was against the fence.”
Teammate Scott Speed had an eventful race, driving his back-up car that he dubbed 'Nightly.'
“It was for Keira Knightley; she would be very optimistically called my backup wife," he explained. "I would be very pleased with that!"
Things didn’t start well for the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota driver after he lost a lap on the leaders early. He got it back when Joey Logano hit the inside wall 53 laps into the 367-lap race and then went on to lead a few laps just before the halfway mark as the pit stops played out.
Later in the race, Speed was a lap down when he made a commitment line violation entering the pitlane, which delivered a drive-thru penalty that cost him more real estate.
In the end, he finished 28th, four laps down on the leaders. Speed dropped one spot in the points standings to 26th, 227 points out of the top-12.
Stay on track with the latest from nascar.com, or go to the home of the Red Bull Racing team. You can also follow Brian Vickers on Twitter.
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