Sunday, May 04, 2008

Richmond Whips the Red Bulls


For most of Saturday night, Brian Vickers doubted his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota would even see the finish of the Dan Lowry 400.

No series of adjustments could cure the No. 83’s tight condition, and when Paul Menard’s No. 15 pinched Brian into the turn-four wall on lap 219 the car’s handling, which BV admitted was already abysmal, got that much worse with right-front and steering damage.

“I don’t know what happened to change the car’s handling so much from practice Friday to the race tonight, but something was off big-time,” said Brian, who slipped to 17th in points after a 28th-place finish at Richmond. “The car was extremely tight all day, and nothing we tried corrected the problem. It was too tight to even be racing with other cars. I purposely hung back at one point to avoid causing an accident.”

Tight was a term often used by AJ Allmendinger, too. He completed only 259 of 410 laps after a run-in with rookie Michael McDowell. AJ finished 39th.

“I haven’t caught a break yet, but I keep trying every weekend and I’m not going to give up,” said AJ’s crew chief, Rick Viers. “When I do catch a break, it’s going to be a big one — it’s going to be in victory lane. It’s like catching fish. You go after the ‘Big One.’”

14 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Richmond was a tough, tough night for BV & AJ, though AJ looked pretty good until his wreck. A poor finish, being "tight" and meeting Michael McDowell on the track were three things they had in common by the end of the evening. I get to attend the Darlington race this year so I'll be rooting loud for both Red Bulls to get us a 1, 2 finish. Go get 'em boys!

5:24 AM  
Blogger SkinnerFan4eva said...

Bring back Mike Skinner

5:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what? bring back Mike Skinner? sounds like you didn't even watch the race.

9:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lets shake this race off and go on to Darlington. BV is still in a good spot in the points and can make up those points with the tracks coming up. AJ ran an awesome race, in the top 20 on the lead lap until the wreak. Just forget about this week and come back strong at Darlington.

10:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

AJ ran a great race till the incident with the 00. His website said he went into the turn and had no brakes. Tough luck when he was driving so well. Good part is he has done a great job the last two races and soon as things decide to go his way watch out! Too bad BV was never even a factor all night. Speed drove hard into cars sitting on the track because they had spun on lap 11 or so. Dont know why - spotter had told him to stop, Labadde was upset with him. All in all - a tough weekend to RB.

11:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

AJ was doing well enough for at least one other driver to notice. Being a chronic channel surfer with Trackpass, I heard Kyle Busch comment on how well AJ's night was going. That was said not long after AJ'd spun with whoever it was and brought out the caution. They don't need Mike behind the wheel - they need LUCK.

KCMO

4:13 PM  
Blogger ~Crystal~ said...

TRB Just needs luck....

8:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have to say I have been impressed with the way AJ has raced for the last two weeks. Its too bad the results dont show it. Hope the 84 team doesnt let it get them down - keep fighting. It looks like good things will be right around the corner.

9:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Keep AJ - he'll get the luck he needs soon enough.

I just hope BV doesn't forget about the 00 at Darlington. McDowell needs a lesson in respect and BV needs to teach it to him. If the 00 hadn't bumped BV, our night might have been completely different.

Go get 'em at Darlington boys!

9:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Does anyone know if the # 83 & #84 pit crews will be competing in the Pit Crew Challenge on May 17th?

10:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no they won't because they're not in the All Star race yet. one of them needs to win Darlington for it to happen.

11:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As I was voting for the All-Star race I notice that if one of the Bulls doesn't win this weekend, their only major competition in the Open would be Kasey Kahne and we could easily take him, top 2 finishers get in!

12:57 PM  
Blogger Wise Little Portraits said...

re: Pit Crew Challenge
There are currently 21 cars locked into the Pit Crew Challenge. There are 3 spots left. Those spots go, in order, to the #9, #6, #83...IF the points stay as they are after Darlington. The #83 will get bumped out if there is a NEW winner at Darlington, or if the #28 car (whose 63 points behind the #83) passes the #83 in points post-Darlington.

10:05 AM  
Blogger SkinnerFan4eva said...

AJ is not the qualifier that Skinner is...

AJ is not the racer Skinner is...

Put Skinner in good equipment he is a champion (2 CTS Championships)

If they are trying to get the car in the top 35, let Skinner put them in and then let AJ go out and wreck each race once he is guaranteed to make it...

4:09 PM  

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