BV: Pole Man at Michigan
Brian Vickers knew his car was stout — like pole-winning stout — as soon as he took to the 2-mile surface Friday at Michigan International Speedway.
“Sometimes when you unload,” he said, “you just got it.”
The No. 83 Red Bull Toyota had it, and then some.
Brian took the pole position for Sunday’s 3M Performance 400, turning a lap at 188.536 mph (38.189 seconds) to earn Red Bull Racing Team’s first pole in only its second year of Sprint Cup competition. The pole was the fifth of Brian’s Cup career and guarantees him a spot in February’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.
The No. 83 was also fastest in afternoon practice, more than two-tenths of second ahead of the competition.
“I’m really proud of everybody,” Brian said. “The car was just awesome — just really happy with it right out of the gate. It handled well. It had good grip. Sometimes you just hit it. You don’t really know why.”
Teammate AJ Allmendinger, safely in the top 35 for the first time in his Sprint Cup career, qualified the No. 84 in the 33rd position (184.030 mph).
posted by Bull Rider at 4:35 PM
18 Comments:
BV rocked today, and I can't wait to see what he has in store on Sunday during the raec. His car looks GREAT!
Hell yes!....happy to see our boy on the pole...
Here's the post-qualifying conference with BV.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXHGQlOp6s0
Awesome to see BV dominate like that. Three-tenths faster than JJ is simply incredible. Let's hope to see it translate on Sunday.
Curt: Thanks for the link to the post-qualifying press conference. Go get 'em boys!
2nd for Vickers in Nationwide!
You're welcome, S/D. It's unfortunate that BV couldn't stay too long because people seemed to have forgotten about the #83 team.
.. well I gotta be the first to say that BV's 2nd place finish wasn't very satisfying. The restriction NASCAR put on the Toyota engines really hurt them today.
Not only that, but the fact that NASCAR would have thrown a ghost caution if BV were leading and Edwards were second.
Just because the big three can't compete on a level playing field doesn't mean Toyota should be penalized. If I were a Honda, or a Kia, or a BMW, I wouldn't want to get involved with the WWE of motorsport.
The line between sport and entertainment is seriously blurring in NASCAR.
The quote from Carl Edwards about the Toyota engine restriction made me mad.
"Well, it kept them from having a giant advantage the whole day, like they've had for the first half of the year," he said. "To me, I like the change they made."
That's because of their hard work and dedication paying off. Carl Edwards may have had the speed on the straightaways but he had nothing for Brian and Tony in the corner. I still cannot believe that NASCAR did this to Toyota. Toyota played by their rules and never had any infractions with the engines, all year.
You have to remember that Jack Roush is feeding all his drivers his hatred of Toyota whenever he gets the chance. He tells them that Toyota has this huge advantage and most likely telling them they are cheating. Also, remember the story about Jack Roush: he paid an employee who bought a Toyota in Japanese money because he was ticked that he bought a Toyota. If Ford wants to beat the Toyotas fairly then they should build an engine equal to the Toyota. The Toyota shouldn't have to stoop down to the Ford's level which is what Nascar made them do. Not fair...but, now when a Toyota wins in the Nationwide series, Jack Roush can't say they cheated.
Great Job Brian! AJ..you are awesome. Keep up the good work and stay in that top 35!! We have faith in you.
BV: 7th
AJ: 28th
Well that really bites. AJ never had a car that he could drive all day long. Nothing they did to it could change it - now we are back in 36th again :(
I am also suprised AJ struggled today, all theo thers we had to beat ran good today (77, 55, 66,) all ran great... the 22, 41, and 7are coming back to us though... AJ will be fine... just gotta get it in the show next weekend at the thunderdome
The #83 kept themselves in the ballpark with a 7th place finish. They need to be top 5 for the next 3 weeks. The #07 and #11 are clearly on a slump but both have good tracks coming up. The #07 is good at Bristol and the #11 is good at Richmond. The #83's performance on those 2 tracks have not been so great.
But some good news. BV will be driving in the Nationwide Series for the next 3 weeks.
AJ should be driving in the Nationwide series, not Vickers. Aj has a better shot at the top 35 than vickers has a shot at the Chase. Its gonna hurt the Redbull team as a whole should the 84 not be in the top 35 next season. AJ should be getting all the extra time he can get, not vickers.
This battle for the top 35 is so tight and it will keep changing every week. We need to have better days than what we had today. The driver can only do the best with what he has - hopefully they can find something with the car before Fontana. Thats another of those types of tracks. GO AJ!
BV is in the Nationwide car because Braun Racing ownes it and wants him in it not AJ
If you're assuming that it was Red Bull Racing Team that got BV the contract deal with Braun Racing in NNS then you're mistaken. AJ is not racing in NNS because he chose not to look for a ride before the season started. I do agree with you about AJ needing the seat time more than BV right now, but it's not that simple. But I don't think he wants to run in NNS. It seems like he wants to keep his focus on the Cup side.
The #84 should be back in the top 35 soon. Everything just went downhill since AJ brushed the wall in practice yesterday. Sometimes it's just not your week.
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