Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Stopping, Speeding and Sliding


All it takes to circle Atlanta Motor Speedway is 30 seconds, about the same amount of time it took for Brian Vickers’ top-15 day to tick away.

The No. 83 was hit with a one-lap penalty because, during a stop on lap 299, the car was serviced outside of the pit box.

Vickers exited in 16th, but had to make the slow crawl back to his pit before being held for one lap, 1.54 miles or the agonizingly long 30 seconds.

Vickers, on the lead lap all day, returned a lap down in 24th. He ended up 21st at the checkered flag and is 18th in points — 24 out of 17th.

“For most of the race the car was loose off under throttle and lacked overall grip. It was decent at times, but we knew it wasn’t a car that could win the race," Vickers said. "The crew worked hard making a series of adjustments to make the car better, but the car was never as good as it was back in the spring. The penalty at the end of the race killed us because I think I could have picked up a few more spots had we not gone a lap down.”

Like his teammate, No. 84 driver Scott Speed battled a loose condition and a few problems on pit road to finish 34th. In addition to sliding through his pit box, Speed also earned one of the 11 speeding-on-pit-road penalties handed down Sunday. (Just two of the lessons rookies learn.)

Still, he led his first lap (lap 37) in Sprint Cup competition and has completed 99 percent of the circuits run in his two starts. The No. 84 sits 35th in the car owner standings — 25 points behind 34th and 80 points ahead of the red.

“We started out the race so extremely loose," Speed said. "We kept working on it as the race went on and we got it from extremely loose to regular loose. From there, we were able to keep up with the pace better and not fall so far behind. We still didn’t finish where we would have liked, but we did finish the race and getting these laps is really important for myself and the team as I learn to drive these Cup cars.”

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

When can we buy 82 gear?

8:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Slip sliding away for RBR. If you can't be a second half team in contention then why bother?

9:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Calm down people! Scott has had 2 Cup races in his entire, and short, stockcar career! Did you expect him to go out and win his first two races? Come on, be realistic. He's going through the same learning process that AJ, Carpentier, Hornish...all the open wheelers had to go through.

11:01 AM  
Blogger Wise Little Portraits said...

#82 gear and new #83 gear should be available around Feb '09...Daytona time!

12:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I "heard" Scott refused have anything to do with the 84 because of its association with AJ... We got a real WINNER here!!

12:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You must need to clean your ears. If Scott refused to have anything to do with the 84 then WHY IS HE RUNNING THAT NUMBER RIGHT NOW?

1:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it is cool Scott will have his "own" identity and car #- there is nothing wrong with that...

Also, maybe when AJ gets his full gig he can have his number back... I know its a Red Bull number, but they won't be using it. That would make us AJ fans happy- at least it would make me happy to see AJ in #84... just my opinion

1:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HUH, what did you say?? :)

1:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who care about the 84! All the marbles should be on the 83 and keeping this team in at least the top 15. With all the problems latley it seems like they have just given up.

6:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is there going to be 2 or 3 Red Bull cars next year? I keep hearing #82 is suppose to be Scott Speed but he is in the 84. What's going on?

1:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can you put the names of the crew & shop people on the web site. I would like to know who they are & where they are from.

Thanks

11:54 AM  

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