Daniel Ricciardo was content to settle for second or third, but a late race reliability issue for one of the Mercedes drivers allowed him to take the lead and score the victory.
Sebastian Vettel suffered race-ending damage after contact with Nico Rosberg in turn 1 on the first lap of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images
Typically, most Formula 1 races see the game-changing moments in the dash towards turn 1 on the first lap, and there was also that in this race.
Going into turn 1, Sebastian Vettel got in too hot and made contact with Nico Rosberg. He sent Rosberg spinning while he bent the left-front wheel of his car and retired from the race. This required a virtual safety car period.
After the race went back to green, it settled into the typical follow the leader routine, only interrupted by Romain Grosjean locking up the brakes, going off track at the final turn, retiring from the race and prompting another virtual safety car period.
Rosberg spent the whole race working his way from the rear of the field back up to the front. During his run to a third place finish, he was handed a 10-second time penalty by the stewards for contact with Kimi Raikkonen just past halfway.
Lewis Hamilton’s championship hopes took a hit when he retired with a blown engine with just over 20 laps to go in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Photo: Charles Coates/Getty Images
It was on lap 40, however, when it became anyone’s race because pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, who had the field in check from the start, suffered an engine failure on the pit straight and retired from the race.
This prompted another virtual safety car period. Red Bull Racing brought both cars onto pit road to change onto soft tires. Ricciardo, who overtook his teammate for second on lap 39, assumed the lead and got first dibs on tire service.
The race went back to green a few laps later and Ricciardo drove on to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.
As has become his custom of late, Ricciardo celebrated with a “shoey” (chugging champagne from his shoe). Teammate Verstappen, team principle Christian Horner and even Rosberg also took a shot of champagne from Ricciardo’s shoe.
Verstappen took the second step on the podium and Rosberg, who had a 10-second penalty, finished 13 seconds ahead of Raikkonen and retained his podium finish.
Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top-five.
Sergio Perez finished sixth, Fernando Alonso finished seventh, Nico Hulkenburg finished eighth, Jenson Button finished ninth and Jolyon Palmer finished in the points for the first time in his career with a 10th place finish.
Rosberg leaves with a 23-point lead over Hamilton with five races remaining in the 2016 season.
Two NASCAR stars, Brian Vickers and Trevor Bayne, were sidelined due to serious illness just a few years ago. Now both drivers are looking to heal their careers in the Nationwide Series this season.
In May of 2010, Cup driver Brian Vickers was visiting Washington, DC when he began to experience chest pains and trouble breathing. Initially, Vickers downplayed his symptoms, especially since he was young and in great shape.
But when the pain persisted and even intensified, the driver of the then No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota sought emergency medical treatment. It was then determined that Vickers was suffering from blood clots in both lungs and also in his leg.
Vickers knew almost immediately that this would impact his racing career. In fact, he almost delayed seeking treatment because he was fearful of losing his Cup ride.
“I didn’t want to go to the doctor because they were going to take me out of the car,” Vickers said at the time. “Going through the CT scans, they found the blood clots in both lungs and my left leg.”
Because Vickers was put on Coumadin, a blood thinner, to treat the clots, it was determined by his medical team that he indeed did have to step out of the race car and focus on his physical healing. Vickers ended up being out for the remainder of the season, watching only as a supporter of his beloved race team.
But Vickers health challenges continued after a clot was discovered in a finger in his left hand. At that time, the driver underwent further testing to be diagnosed with May-Thurner Syndrome, a rare condition causing clots, as well as having a hole between the right and left atrium in his heart.
Vickers then decided to undergo heart surgery to fix the hole, as well as have a stent placed in his left leg to assist with his circulation. Vickers made the difficult decisions about the surgeries after learning that he was at high risk for stroke without it.
“I would rather die than have a stroke,” Vickers said at the time. “I don’t want to run the risk of living like a vegetable.”
This additional surgery ensured that Vickers would not be ready to get back on the race track until the 2011 season. Unfortunately, Vickers dreams of returning in triumph were not to be, starting with involvement in the ‘big one’ at Daytona and then having issues and run-ins with several drivers, most notably Matt Kenseth.
Vickers finished the 2011 season in the 25th position in points, with just seven top-10 finishes. The year ended even more dismally when his team, Red Bull Racing, folded up their NASCAR tent and left the sport.
For the 2012 season, although Vickers started without a ride, Michael Waltrip snatched him up and put him in the No. 55 MWR Toyota for several races. Vickers showed his talent in the shared ride with Mark Martin, with three top-5 and five top-10 finishes in eight races.
With redemption and career healing in mind, Vickers will be back behind the wheel of a race car full-time for the 2013 Nationwide season for Joe Gibbs Racing. He will also return to MWR for nine Cup races in the car shared again with Mark Martin.
“I’m looking forward to being back in the Nationwide Series and in NASCAR,” Vickers said. “I learned a lot over the last three or four years, from being taken out of the car being sick to not being full-time this past year with everything that happened leading up to the season.”
“My perspective on life changed through all these events,” Vickers continued. “There are no guarantees in life.”
“I’ve learned that the hard way,” Vickers said. “My focus is on 2013 and I think the success this year will lead to great opportunities next year.”
Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images North America
Like Vickers, Trevor Bayne is also looking to heal and rejuvenate his racing career by competing in the Nationwide Series full-time in 2013. But Bayne, like Vickers, went from being on the top of the world in 2011 as the Daytona 500’s youngest race winner to being hospitalized with double vision a few short months later.
Bayne’s medical drama began just as suddenly as Vickers’ issues when he complained of numbness in his arms while competing in the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Bayne initially thought his problems were due to an insect bite but he continued to experience nausea, fatigue and vision issues and was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic for further testing.
Although his doctors never officially confirmed it, the young Roush Fenway driver said that Lyme disease had been causing all of his problems.
“They wouldn’t confirm it because it’s such a hard thing to define,” Bayne said. “Lyme is something that hides in your bloodstream.”
“It is hard to diagnose,” Bayne continued. “But if they treat it and it goes away, to me that seems like a pretty good answer.”
Sadly for Bayne, however, his illness caused him to be sidelined just enough so that others were behind the wheel of his race car. And he had to stand by and helplessly watch while his rival and teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr. catapulted to fame after clinching the Nationwide title.
Bayne’s 2012 season was not much better as the youngster had just six Nationwide starts, all because of lack of sponsorship. With no funding, Bayne had just one more start before the season ended, again with his teammate Stenhouse Jr. holding the 2012 championship trophy.
“If you would have told me it would look like this, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Bayne said. “It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster.”
Bayne is especially ready to start the 2013 season, knowing that he can not only compete full-time with sponsorship but that he now has a chance at the Series championship himself.
“I still want to make it in this sport,” Bayne said. “And I want to be a top name that is contending for championships.”
“This is my opportunity to do that.”
Bayne will be working with Stenhouse’s former crew chief Mike Kelley, as well as one of his sponsors, Cargill. The youngster will also be running a part-time Cup schedule for the Wood Brothers, with whom he won that unforgettable Daytona 500.
After both drivers’ medical battles, there is no doubt that both Bayne and Vickers are beside themselves with hope for their 2013 healing season prospects.
“I think as a person, you grow and evolve through life experiences,” Vickers said. “Every day is an audition.”
“I think we’ve got a lot to show here,” Bayne said. “I’m competitive and I want to be a part of the championship at the end of the year.”
The Red Bull Racing team of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne need to be recognized for their effort on Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Kahne started 26th, Vickers 30th, and used the two-car tandem to push their way into the top-five within 10 laps. They had troubles with the two-car tandem on Lap 159, when Kahne spun across the nose of Vickers race car to bring out the caution.
[media-credit name=”Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]However, with 50 laps to go, the pair had already hooked back up and was heading to the front. Unfortunately they just couldn’t catch the RCR duo of Clint Bowyer and RCR, but still came home with fifth (Vickers) and sixth (Kahne) place finishes.
Red Bull will be leaving the team at season’s end, with no word yet on if the team will continue on. Kahne will be taking his business over to Hendrick Motorsports where he will drive the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet. Vickers has yet to announce what his plans are for the 2012 season.
Dave Blaney’s third place finish at Talladega became Tommy Baldwin’s Racing’s best finish yet at the Cup level. This isn’t the first time Blaney has run well at restrictor plate tracks. He also was a front-runner in the Daytona 500 and the spring race at Talladega this year, but didn’t get the finishes he deserved. This is a big step for a small organization, with a short history in the sport. Team owner Tommy Baldwin hopes this is just the beginning for improvement in preparation of the 2012 season.
Underdogs Landon Cassill and Casey Mears had strong race cars at Talladega and were front-runners all race long. Before the first lap of the race was even complete, Mear’s No. 13 GEICO Camry had moved from its 42nd starting position into 26th. On Lap 3, Mears paired up with Cassill, who qualified 38th, to race to the front. They spent most of the race in the Top 10 and eyed the lead on multiple occasions. This continued until Lap 174 when Cassill was collected in a turn two crash involving Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch. This separated the pair and forced Mears to find another dancing partner. They eventually found each other at the end of the race to finish in 16th (Cassill) and 17th (Mears)position.
For the third week in a row, Kasey Kahne has finished in the top-5 among the Chase contenders. At the beginning of the race, Kahne did not have a great race car. He complained of “rear-end up and front-end down” handling issues. After green flag pit stops with 139 laps to go, the No. 4 crew made adjustments to correct the issues. “Oh yea, it’s going now” Kahne replied to the crew after exiting pit road. After pit stops, Kahne was in ninth position and was the fastest car on the track. On the fifth caution of the night, Kahne’s Red Bull crew was able to get him out of the pits in third position, securing him a finish of fourth position. Kahne won the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race award for the Bank of America 500. Given to the winner of the race, or the next highest finishing driver with the Mobil 1 decal on their race car. Kasey moved up one spot in standings to 15th position.
Marcos Ambrose
Richard Petty Motorsports driver Marcos Ambrose was destined to do well at Charlotte Motor Speedway, having ten top-10 career finishes at intermediate tracks coming into this race. Ambrose celebrated his fifth top-5 of the season at Charlotte Motor Speedway Saturday night. Ambrose qualified his Stanley Tools Ford in 12th position and was a front runner throughout the race. Although there were a few late-race cautions, Ambrose was able to hold his position and stay at the head of the field. Marcos finished the race in fifth position, his third straight top-10 of the season. The crew chief of the No. 9 car, Todd Parrott, received the Moog Problem Solver of the Race award. Given to the crew chief that improves the most from the first half of the race to the second half, utilizing the 40 best laps times(improving 0.155 seconds). Marcos moved two spots up in the points standings, to 18th position
AJ Allmendinger
Although AJ Allmendinger battled handling issues during the race, he was able to keep his Best Buy Ford in the top-10 throughout the night. On Lap 127 Allmendinger pitted to try and correct these handling issues, but couldn’t quite seem to get it fixed. AJ remained in the top-10 until just after Lap 200, when he fell to 12th position. The team remained patient, pitting again under Lap 238 to make more adjustments. With 100 laps to go, Allmendinger’s No. 43 car came to life, allowing him to finish the race in seventh position. This marks AJ’s eighth top-10 of the season. Leaving Charlotte, he rests in 14th position in points standings.
Kasey Kahne has been the highest finishing non-chase driver for the second week in a row. He finished fourth at Dover International Speedway and kept his momentum going heading to Kansas. Kahne finished second to future teammate Jimmie Johnson in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, giving Red Bull Racing their best finish of the season.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”208″][/media-credit]An incident on pit road on lap 21 set Kahne back from his fifth-place starting position. Under the first caution, Kahne pitted for two tires, only to have the jack break. Then as he was attempting to leave his pit, he was blocked in by the No. 48 car. The No. 4 team decided last minute to take four tires, restarting back in 40th position.
From there, Kahne raced his way from 40th position to sixth position, getting himself back into contention late in the race. Kahne gave up his position to pit when the fifth caution came out with 28 laps to go. Crew chief Kenny Francis made the call to pit for four tires and a splash of fuel, to restart the race in 12th position. Kahne quickly raced to fifth after the restart and found himself in second place with 10 laps to go.
With two laps to go the final caution came out, eliminating Johnson’s two second lead. Kahne was able to clear a group of cars on the green-white-checkered restart, but came up short finishing the race in second position.
On the restart Brad gave me a good push, and I had a shot at Jimmie,” said Kahne. “I just couldn’t really get to him. I thought maybe getting to (Turn) 3 I would go high, and he kind of entered into the middle and then just crept his way to the top and just really didn’t have a shot there at him. But I think we had a good Red Bull car. The guys did a nice job today.”
At the end of the season, Red Bull will be leaving the team with no word yet whether they will continue as a one car operation. Kahne will be leaving the team to start his new ride with Hendrick Motorsports, extending through the 2015 season.
Scott Speed, now driving the No. 46 Red Line Oil Ford for Whitney Motor Sports, is back at the track after being losing his Red Bull ride to Kasey Kahne last year.
[media-credit id=62 align=”alignright” width=”216″][/media-credit]Yet in spite of being back in the competition fray, the 28 year old former Formula 1 driver seems unfazed, still maintaining his laid back, mellow persona, at least in every way but one.
Speed definitely is laid back as far as being at the track. Yet he has also missed much when he was away, more than he even realized.
“It feels great to be back here,” Speed said. “It certainly gives us something to do on the weekends.”
“I have a lot of friends out here,” Speed continued. “I forgot how many actually.”
“There are a lot of people here and I know a lot of them,” Speed said. “And to be back in sort of a routine that’s normal for me is for sure nice.”
Speed is back in the race saddle thanks to a thirteen race Cup deal with Whitney Motorsports, driving for owner Dusty Whitney.
“I really like Dusty and his guys,” Speed said. “They work really hard with the little amount they have.”
“There’s a lot of passion over here and I love how tight a group we are,” Speed continued “We’re the underdogs and I love it.”
“We’re going to run a couple more full races and start and park the rest,” Speed said. “We’ll just keep trying to build it.”
“We have so little people, and help and money,” Speed said. “We’re just trying to make it by in this tough economy.”
For Speed, getting back behind the wheel of a stock car proved easier than he had anticipated. And as usual, Speed approached getting back at it with his typical laid back style.
“I felt like I might be a little rusty, but we were still pretty quick right away,” Speed said. “It’s one of those things where I don’t think you forget.”
Did Speed learn any lessons on his hiatus away from the track?
“You learn a little bit every day,” Speed said. “Nothing really sticks out that I can recall. I don’t take anything for granted but then again I never have.”
Speed has, however been keeping himself occupied throughout his time away by pursuing one of his primary passions, golf, as well as picking up a new hobby or two.
“I’m still golfing and still getting better,” Speed said “And I’ve been cycling a lot.”
“Me and Josh Wise have been riding our bikes around Charlotte,” Speed continued. “Just staying fit and staying busy.”
Speed is also doing some mentoring of his own, taking fellow up and comer Josh Wise under his wing. Wise made his second Cup start at Loudon behind the wheel of the No. 37 Front Row Motorsports Ford.
“He’s doing good,” Speed said of Wise. “We’re good buddies. We’re kind of teammates at the moment. I help him out as much as I can.”
Although he maintains a good relationship with his former team, Red Bull, Speed is also laid back about his continuing legal battles with them. In spite of that unfolding drama, he remains relatively unfazed.
“I have a good relationship with a lot of the guys there,” Speed said. “We’re still in the law suit. It’s going slowly but surely.”
“And it’s all looking really good at the moment,” Speed continued. “I couldn’t be happier at this point.”
Although Speed is set for this season, his future plans remain unsettled. Yet again, he tries not to stress about that.
“I don’t know,” Speed said of his future. “Right now I hope we can grow this into something that’s better for next year where we can run more races and be more competitive. That would be the best thing.”
While Speed is laid back about most everything else, there is one thing that revs him up significantly. He cannot wait for his wife Amanda to have their daughter Juliet, due at any minute.
“The baby is coming Monday at the latest,” Speed said. “We’ll be induced. Amanda’s doctor is good and has been able to schedule it for us.”
Will Speed be a laid back new father? And will he still be behind the wheel of a race car as their child grows up?
“Hopefully, I’ll be just like my dad,” Speed said. “But I don’t plan on being the dad that when my daughter is at that age of ten to thirteen and starts to be really be active and do sports, I won’t still be racing.”
“I can’t miss every single weekend of my child’s life doing what I want to do,” Speed continued. “My dad did that for me and I’ll do that for my daughter for sure.”
Speed is also not laid back about pressuring his child to pursue a career in any form of racing, no matter how athletic or competitive she turns out to be.
“No, absolutely not,” Speed said when asked about racing as a future for his daughter. “I would push her the other way.”
“It would take me a lot to put her in a car,” Speed continued. “I know how it is. I’m not rich. I don’t have a dad that can sponsor me halfway up, which is what you need to have these days.”
“I got really lucky to make it from what we had. I’ll push my daughter into something more reasonable like tennis or golf,” Speed said. “I’m sure she’s going to be really athletic and competitive knowing myself and Amanda.”
“So, if she wants to do that, then sure,” Speed continued. “It’s whatever she wants. I’m certainly not going to push her.”
While Scott may be laid back in his approach to all things racing, there is one thing that he is most passionate about, greeting his soon-to-be daddy’s little girl.
[media-credit id=18 align=”alignright” width=”189″][/media-credit]Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, has been juggling to keep many balls in the air as he motors into Pocono race weekend.
One of the balls that he has been most worried about juggling is qualifying well at the ‘Tricky Triangle’. But Kahne need not have worried as he scored the outside pole, his 10th top-10 start in 16 races at Pocono.
“It’s always good to start up front at this place,” Kahne said. “You can definitely pass here but it’s good to start up front too.”
Kahne will turn his attention next to another critical ball to juggle, staying good throughout the 200 lap, 500 mile Good Sam RV Insurance race.
“I’ll just try to get through the corners,” Kahne said. “It’s such a rough track.”
“We looked at notes from earlier in the year and what we struggled with or were good at and what we’ve learned since then,” Kahne said. “We will take all that knowledge and hopefully make ourselves better.
“This has been a great track for myself and for our team and I think we can do good.”
Some of the other balls that Kahne is juggling are his intense attempts to make the Chase, finishing out with Red Bull and transitioning to Hendrick Motor Sports, managing his own sprint car team, as well as trying to raise money for the Kasey Kahne Foundation.
As far as the Chase, Kahne firmly believes that he and his team are still in the hunt. But he also acknowledges that he will not make it in on points.
“For us, we just need to win a race,” Kahne said. “If you can win two, you’d be a lock at this point.”
“But things can change so we just have to figure out how to win to get in the Chase,” Kahne continued. “We just got a little too far behind in the points to race our way in points wise.”
If he does not qualify for the Chase with his Red Bull team, Kahne will be disappointed, but not bereft.
“If we don’t make the Chase, it won’t be a horrible season,” Kahne said. “But it definitely won’t be what we shot for.”
“And we’ll just still have to finish the season as strong as we can and try to win.”
Another ball that Kahne is juggling is his transition from Red Bull Racing, his place holder team this season, to his more permanent gig at Hendrick Motor Sports in 2012.
“We’re always preparing for next year,” Kahne said. “Kenny Francis (crew chief) is going with me next year and we’re going to work together.”
“It can all benefit us for next year.”
Kahne admits that he will really miss Red Bull Racing, from the excitement of their brand to the special friends that he has met.
“Red Bull is a really cool partner and a lot of fun to work with,” Kahne said. “They’re exciting and they enjoy life and racing and all that.”
“I think I’ll miss some of that and some of the new people that I’ve met and been able to work with,” Kahne continued. “There are some really good people that are there. I’ll miss that kind of stuff.”
“As far as Hendrick, I’m looking forward to the best opportunity I’ve ever been given in Cup racing,” Kahne continued. “When you get an opportunity like that, it’s up to you to take advantage of it.”
Another ball that Kahne has been juggling is ownership of his own sprint car team. This has been especially difficult as his driver, Joey Saldana, recently wrecked and is out for the season and Kahne took his own wild ride in his car, flipping out of the Williams Grove track.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Kahne said. “Joey’s out of the hospital but he’s really banged up.”
“He got crushed pretty much by another car,” Kahne continued. “So, he’s out for the season.
As for his own condition after his wreck at the Grove, Kahne admitted that he had “about a three day soreness.” Kahne also realized that he created a firestorm of discussion as to whether or not Cup drivers should be taking those chances racing in lower divisions.
“Yeah, I got a call from Rick Hendrick,” Kahne admitted. “And I got calls from just about everybody.
While Kahne continues to juggle those calls, his final ball that he is keeping in the air is one that he is intensely passionate about, the Kasey Kahne Foundation.
“We’re still really after it and doing as much as we can for underprivileged, chronically ill children through the Kasey Kahne Foundation,” Kahne said. “One thing that’s really neat is what Sprint’s doing, giving us the opportunity to win a lot of money, a million dollars, for our Foundation here in the next five races.”
“We got a chance to do that since these are really good tracks for us,” Kahne continued. “Sprint’s really put up a neat program for everybody to shoot for. It’s pretty awesome.”
“So, that definitely motivates me,” Kahne said. “To win a million for yourself is great, to win it for a fan is awesome but to win it for chronically ill, underprivileged children would be the best.”
After weeks of speculation about his future with Joe Gibbs Racing, particularly in light of the Carl Edwards’ contract negotiations, Joey Logano made a statement about his place in this weekend’s race festivities.
[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”207″][/media-credit]The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet scored the coveted pole position at Pocono Raceway, with a time of 52.309 seconds and a speed of 172.055 mph.
This was Logano’s third pole in 96 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and his second pole and 10th top-10 start in 2011. This was his first pole at Pocono and he also took the honors of becoming the youngest pole winner ever at Pocono at the age of 21 years, two months and 13 days.
“It’s a really big deal,” Logano said of his pole run. “We’ve been doing a good job and building momentum. Confidence in the team is up, especially in me.”
Logano acknowledged hearing the rumors about Carl Edwards potentially taking his place at Joe Gibbs Racing. In spite of that, he refused to give in, focusing instead on getting all he could out of the ‘Tricky Triangle.’
“As far as I knew, they were just rumors,” Logano said of Edwards assuming his ride. “I focused in 100% and tried to make myself the best race car driver I can and it’s been paying off.”
“It’s in the back of your mind. When you’re watching TV, how do you not think about it,” Logano continued. “But if your owners are behind you, what do you have to worry about really?”
“I’ve learned a lot through the downs we had this season,” Logano said. “I have become a leader.”
Starting on the outside pole for the 38th Annual Good Sam RV Insurance 500 is Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota. With a lap of 52.433 seconds at a speed of 171.648 seconds, this was Kahne’s 12th top-10 start in 2011 and his 10th in 16 races at Pocono Raceway.
“It’s definitely good to start up front,” Kahne said. “I felt really good.”
“Our lap was good but Joey’s was just better.”
Kahne acknowledged that although he was pleased with the outside pole, there were many more challenges yet to come throughout the lengthy Pocono race.
“So many things will happen throughout the race and it will be like that here,” Kahne said. “We have to stay on top of it and make good decisions so maybe we will be there at the end.”
Martin Truex, Jr., behind the wheel of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota, scored the third spot on the starting grid. At one of the tracks that he considers ‘home’, Truex, Jr. ran a lap of 52.480 seconds and a speed of 171.494.
“It’s been a while since I’ve qualified up front,” Truex Jr. said. “We had an interesting day yesterday and everyone knows how tricky Pocono is.”
“We struggled but worked on the car and got it the way we wanted it,” Truex continued. “We went into qualifying with an entirely different package.”
“It wasn’t a perfect lap but it’s nice to start up front at Pocono.”
Carl Edwards, driving the No. 99 bug-on-the-side Ortho Home Defense Max Ford, and Kurt Busch in the yellow No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge, rounded out the top five.
This morning Jay Frye, General Manager and Vice President of Red Bull Racing Team, had a teleconference to answer questions from the media concerning the story that surfaced last week about Red Bull Racing possibly leaving the NASCAR series.
Frye started off the 40 minute conference by saying that Red Bull Racing is looking for a potential investor or sponsor to take over the day to day operations of the organization for the upcoming 2012 season.
[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Frye did mention the team would continue until the end of the current season under the Red Bull Banner, and could possibly field a two-car race team next season to give them more time to find an investor by financing the team for one more year.
Frye did say said that, “There are some potential investors outside of motorsports who might be willing to invest in the team”, which would include the race shop, as well as the cars and other equipment that would be needed to run the team.
Frye added that, “We’re very enthused and excited about some of the prospects and things we have got going on. This process has just started, and there have been a lot of inquiries based on what happened yesterday, in addition to some other people we already were talking to.”
As far as which manufacturer or eventual sponsor the new team owner would work with, Frye said that decision would be left to the new owner. As far as the speculating that surrounded Kasey Kahne signing with Hendrick Motorsport to take over Mark Martin’s seat in 2012, then driving for RBR in 2011 with the possibility that Hendrick might be interested in starting a satellite team in 2012.
That theory was quickly put to rest when Frye said that, Hendrick’s involvement was purely based on his 30 years of knowledge in the sport, and that Hendrick never showed any interest of wanting to buy the team.
Frye also said that he was hoping to begin talking with an investor within the next 30-45 days, but knew that it’s impossible to put a time frame on when and where any negotiations will actually take place.
With Kasey Kahne moving over to Hendrick Motorsports, and Brian Vickers contract running out at the end of the year, that would leave the team without a driver for next season. The focus right now is first get an investor, then worry about who will drive for them which shouldn’t be a big problem when you look at the talent coming up from the Nationwide and Truck series. “We’re very keen and very encouraged about the prospects of everything moving forward.”
[media-credit name=”Ed Coombs” align=”alignright” width=”236″][/media-credit]Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, is still flying high after skydiving into Daytona International Speedway. He is now hoping that the exhilaration will just continue right into one of his better tracks Pocono Raceway.
“It was incredible,” Vickers said. “To be able to jump into Daytona was amazing.”
“Jumping into any other track would have been incredible but Daytona is the biggest event and the biggest track,” Vickers continued. “I thought it would be pretty appropriate and pretty cool to jump in there first.”
“To be able to see the track from that height was cool and it was beautiful,” Vickers said. “That picture is just burned in my mind for sure.”
Not only was the Daytona jump exhilarating for Vickers, but it was also a piece of unfinished business for the young driver. Finishing the Dover race this year also fell into that category as well.
“We had this scheduled last year and it got cancelled due to my health reasons,” Vickers said of his skydive. “So to be able to come back and finish it and to finish what we started meant a lot.”
“Jumping into Daytona and then finishing Dover were two very important things to me personally,” Vickers said. “Dover was the first race I missed so to finish that race and finish it well was important to me. Skydiving at Daytona was something we started in 2010 and to go back and finish that was very special.”
Vickers is counting on that exhilarating feeling from his jump carrying right over into his run at Pocono Raceway, one of his favorite tracks. In fact, Pocono is one of Vickers better tracks, having spent 73.4 percent of the laps in the top 15 in his last ten starts at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’
Vickers has started in the top ten in eight of his twelve starts at Pocono and he has had four top-five and five top-10 finishes. Pocono Raceway ranks second as far as top average-finish tracks for Vickers, with an average finish of 14.3 there.
“Pocono has been a good track for me,” Vickers said. “We’ve run well. I’ve sat on poles, we’ve been fast and I’ve finished second but we haven’t won here so there is unfinished business here too for sure.”
Vickers acknowledges that, as good as he is at Pocono, he along with all of the other drivers, will face some significant challenges. Among those are facing yet another potential fuel mileage race, as well as the new ability to shift.
“This race has been fuel strategy before but sometimes it’s just been a battle at the end,” Vickers said. “It just depends.”
“You can’t just plan on doing fuel strategy because it just depends on when the last caution falls,” Vickers continued. “It just depends on how the race plays out.”
“The shifting is going to be power shifting again and I think it’s better for the racing,” Vickers said. “We’ll see more passing.”
“I never understood why they stopped us from shifting,” Vickers continued. “It didn’t save anything or serve any purpose to my knowledge and it was harder to pass. It was a great decision to start shifting again.”
Another issue making the Triangle tricky in Vickers’ opinion is the heat, which is a bit of a carryover from the Kansas inferno of last weekend. Yet, Vickers definitely feels that plays right into his hands.
“It’s been very hot lately and the last couple of races have been very hot,” Vickers said. “I love it because I’m in the best shape of my life. It’s just an advantage that I have.”
Vickers also admitted that the heat not only makes the drivers miserably physically but can also lead to some heated emotions as well.
“There have been a lot of hot tempers lately,” Vickers said. “That’s just the emotional part of our sport.”
“It’s also just the personalities of each individual,” Vickers continued. “The hot head or temper has never been my thing.”
Vickers also acknowledged that the length of the race, the Five Hour Energy 500, can also take its toll, physically and emotionally.
“It’s a very long race and it’s actually too long,” Vickers said. “I love Pocono and I want to see them keep their race dates but I think to do that, they’re going to have to shorten the race.”
“The fans here are amazing and they almost always fill the stands,” Vickers continued. “I really enjoy racing on the track, but it’s too long. But it is what it is for now.”
Vickers’ final challenge at the ‘Tricky Triangle’ is figuring out his qualifying order strategy.
“You want to go out early for qualifying so you have to sandbag a little bit,” Vickers said. “But if it rains, you want to be in the front. So, it’s tough.”
“A lot of it is just going to be playing the weather and whoever makes the best guess for the weather will have that advantage,” Vickers continued. “If it looks like it’s going to rain, they’ll go as fast as they can to qualify late. But if it looks sunny and hot, you’ll see some guys lay off in practice.”
“It’s hard because you want to go fast,” Vickers said. “But there’s ways to do it without compromising the performance of the set up or the car.”
Vickers is also hoping, very earnestly, that Pocono will not only yield a good finish but will also help him continue to climb in the point standings. And, of course, he too has his eye on making the Chase, currently sitting 26th in the point standings, just 29 points shy of the 20th spot.
“We need to keep climbing,” Vickers said. “We got in a hole at the beginning of the year and we got into some wrecks early in the season. So, we need to get out of this hole.”
“I still think we can get there,” Vickers continued. “A win or two would put us in the Chase for the wild card and hopefully we can climb our way back up the hard way. But either way, I still think we have a shot at it.”
What was truly amazing to Vickers, however, was that he actually skydived into Daytona at 5,000 feet, which is just slightly longer than the front stretch of the Pocono Raceway at 3,740 feet.
“That’s crazy,” Vickers said. “It was exhilarating.”
