Stock Car Ticker

RBRUSA.com Facelift

2009-05-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

All the content you think you’ve been missing on this blog post is actually on www.redbullracingusa.com. That’s right, we’re doing away with the blog, instead opting to keep all content on Red Bull Racing Team’s web site.

After sorting out a handful of technical issues over the past two weeks, we’ve revamped redbullracingusa.com. The new site is complete with fresh content, imagery, statistics, cool stuff about the two Red Bull Toyotas, their drivers and the sport of NASCAR.

If there’s something you just have to get off your chest, we are on Facebook (click here).

BV Busted!

2009-04-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

NASCAR nailed Brian Vickers with a too-fast-entering-the-pits penalty on lap 244 of Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway. Vickers was just a tick above the 45-mph speed limit, and after a pass-through the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota dropped from 10th to a lap down in 31st.

Vickers rallied to finish 19th and shouldered all the blame for ruining what most likely would have been a top-10 night.

“The car is the best it has been all night. Sorry guys, I take full responsibility for the penalty,” a dejected Vickers radioed to his team.

Eight events into the season, Vickers sits 18th in the standings — 98 points from the top 12 entering Sunday’s restrictor-plate race at Talladega. Vickers earned his first Sprint Cup victory at Talladega in October 2006.

Teammate Scott Speed started 18th and finished 34th in his second start at Phoenix. Speed’s No. 82 moved to 37th in the car owner standings (102 points from the top 35).

Blue-Collar Crewman

2009-04-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

He’s gone from major college football to NASCAR, from the Southwest to the Southeast. But one thing has remained constant throughout Brett Nenaber’s life-changing journey — work ethic.

“That’s kind of how I’ve always gotten by,” Nenaber said. “I’ve never been the biggest, the strongest or the fastest. I’ve always outworked the next guy.”

Nenaber, Red Bull Racing Team’s 24-year-old catch can man on the No. 83, packed his tenacity and brought it with him when he relocated to North Carolina from his hometown of Tempe, Ariz. There, he walked on and played five seasons for the Arizona State Sun Devils — primarily on special teams, which requires a unique breed of player.

Special teamers must be fearless and relentless, two character traits Nenaber proudly possesses. In 2006, his junior year, Nenaber was named the team’s Hard Hat Player, an award that recognized his effort during the winter strength and conditioning program. As a senior, No. 39 played in 11 games and made eight tackles (four solo).

Nenaber recognized that playing professional football wasn’t in his future, and through some contacts within the Arizona State athletic department he was “recruited” by Red Bull Racing Team. The team was immediately sold on his work ethic, and he started in February 2008 on the developmental side before moving over the wall full time.

“He’s always looking for something more to do,” said Ben Cook, Red Bull Racing Team’s strength and conditioning coach. “He’s not trying to impress you. He does it because he loves it. That’s who he is.

“Once we have the attitude, the type of kid who embraces the team concept, it’s easy after that. You can teach them the skill.”

Nenaber compared his role as a NASCAR crewman to his days playing football.

“On special teams, you only get a few plays a game,” Nenaber said. “In between, there’s a lot down time. Your offense has the ball and you’re sitting there waiting for them to score so you can go back out on the field. You can sit there, be relaxed and stay focused, but when it’s your time to play you have to be able to flip that switch.

“It’s very similar for a pit stop. There’s a lot of down time sitting at the track, waiting and waiting for that caution to come out. When it does, you have to be ready to go.”

Hurricane Reggie Hits Texas

2009-04-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

Good thing Reggie Bush is skilled at eluding tacklers in the NFL, because wherever he went at Texas Motor Speedway people followed.

Bush, the New Orleans Saints running back and recently named Red Bull athlete, was a guest of Red Bull Racing Team on Sunday and commanded as much attention as any of the top Sprint Cup drivers.

A small mob scene surrounded Bush for most of the morning. He signed countless footballs with silver Sharpies, obliged each time a microphone was around and smiled for every cell phone photo.

“What’s great about being with Red Bull is that you get to do so many unique and different things,” he said, “Like coming to a NASCAR race, which I’ve never had the chance to do.”

The 2005 Heisman Trophy winner got the total NASCAR experience, beginning with a ride from the airport to his hotel in the Red Bull show car. The street-legal car was cooler than his Ferrari, he said, and Bush seriously wants to add one to his already impressive collection.

Bush visited with guests at the Red Bull Energy Station and then took in the pre-race festivities from the frontstretch, where No. 83 driver Brian Vickers showed him the ins and outs of a race car. Bush then watched the Samsung 500 from atop the pit box.

But Bush’s time for fun is just about over. He and the Saints must prepare for this month's NFL draft and next month's OTAs, or organized team activities.

Swing(s) and a Miss

2009-04-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Spring rubbers, air pressure and track bar adjustments, wedge in, wedge out, four tires, two tires — name it and Red Bull Racing tried it to dial in the No. 83 on Sunday at Texas.

Still, Brian Vickers finished 16th in the Samsung 500, just about where he ran all day even though a late two-tire gamble gained him 12 spots to third on the restart. But two tires on a loose Red Bull Toyota were no match for four.

“We tried everything, but we just couldn’t seem to get the car to come alive. We just battled it all day long," Vickers said. “The track tightened up a lot since practice yesterday. The car was loose in traffic, and that is where we were stuck most of the day. Ryan (Pemberton, crew chief) and the guys worked hard on pit road to try to make the car better, but we just fought it.”

Vickers moved up one position in points to 19th, and despite consecutive hard-luck finishes last month at Bristol and Martinsville is less than 100 points from the top 12.

He Salutes You

2009-04-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

A strong supporter of the U.S. Armed Services, Brian Vickers got the chance to meet the fighting men and women he admires when a few dozen soldiers from Fort Hood, Texas, visited the Red Bull Energy Station on Saturday.

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to meet the men and women that serve this country,” Vickers said, “defending the rights and protecting the freedoms that allow us to come out and race every Sunday.”

Fort Hood, about a three-hour drive south of Texas Motor Speedway in Killeen, has more than 52,000 soldiers currently assigned and is one most diverse military posts anywhere in the world. It’s the country’s only two-division post, as the 1st Cavalry Division and 4th Infantry Division are based at Fort Hood, as well as the 13th Sustainment Command. One out of every 10 Army soldiers on active duty is assigned there.

There's Bad Luck, and Then Really Bad Luck

2009-03-29T19:29:00.001-07:00

A series of unfortunate events unfolded late in Sunday’s race at Martinsville that cost Brian Vickers another top-10 finish and, more importantly, 78 points in the Sprint Cup standings.

Vickers was running eighth with 35 laps to go when he reported the right-front tire rubbing. The 11th caution flag waved two laps later, Vickers pitted for four tires and as he left the pits NASCAR officials noticed fluid leaking from the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota. Turned out it was oil, and Vickers came back in and the hood went up. He returned four laps down in 35th.

Instead of his fourth top 10 in the season’s first six races, Vickers finished 33rd. He fell from 14th to 20th in points.

“I don’t know what to say,” Vickers said. “We ran top 10 all day and were looking to leave Martinsville with a good points day. We ran into some bad luck at the end, which put us four laps down. It’s hard to stomach losing that many spots in the points knowing how well this team did today.”

Teammate Scott Speed’s race began well when the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota stayed out during the competition caution on lap 40. Strategy put Speed on point for the first time in his Sprint Cup career. He led once for 12 laps and was one of only four drivers to lead a green-flag lap.

He was running ninth on lap 70 when Kyle Busch lost control of his car underneath Speed in turn three. Speed gave Busch plenty of room but obviously not enough, as Busch’s car tapped Speed’s and both went spinning — the No. 82 into the outside wall with damage to left rear and side. Speed continued on the lead lap, but quickly went to the garage for repairs. He was 39th at the checkered flag.

“I’m sure Kyle is going to offer to buy me dinner since that’s the second time this year that he’s wrecked me, so I’m looking forward to that,” Speed said, referring to the Las Vegas Nationwide Series race when Busch KO’d Speed on lap 21.

“We had a great car before we got wrecked and we even had a great car after we got wrecked. This race is a lot like Daytona for us where we had a great car but were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The No. 82 is 38th in the owner standings — 28 points out of the top 35.

Sawyer's Southern Va. Gem

2009-03-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

In a driving career that spanned three decades, Virginian Elton Sawyer made 392 starts in what NASCAR now calls the Nationwide Series. Twenty-five of those starts came at Martinsville Speedway, including his first on Oct. 30, 1983.

Driving the No. 01 Pontiac owned by Emanuel Zervakis out of Richmond, Va., Sawyer started 18th and finished 30th in the Cardinal 250. He had qualified 13th overall, but back then heat races determined the starting order for everyone outside the top 10.

“It was a big deal to go to Martinsville,” said Sawyer, a native of Chesapeake, Va., and Red Bull Racing Team’s director of competition. “You had heard about it for years, and it was neat to go there.”

Sawyer speaks of Martinsville like Hoosiers speak of Indianapolis — only the track is about a fifth of the size. He owns seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes in Nationwide competition at Martinsville, not to mention two Sprint Cup starts in 1995.

“It’s a great facility,” Sawyer said. “It’s a short track, and that’s where a large number of the guys that are in this garage now — whether it be crew chief roles or crewman roles or management roles — got started. It’s cool to go back there. I love that race track. Fortunately as a driver I had some success there. I won a late model race and ran well there at that time with the Busch cars. Hopefully we’ll have good runs there with our Red Bull cars.”

Race Day at Martinsville: Saturday's two Sprint Cup practice sessions were rained out, so all the Red Bull Toyotas have to go on is Friday's opening practice. At least the weather's supposed to clear out by the time Brian Vickers (14th) and Scott Speed (36th) roll off for the Goody's 500. Sunday's forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with high of 61 degrees.

Racer/Scratcher

2009-03-26T12:28:00.000-07:00

A few days after attending the Winter Music Conference in Miami and learning the craft of DJ’ing, Scott Speed enters Martinsville with his No. 82 Red Bull Toyota tied for 36th in the car owner standings. Speed made his Sprint Cup debut there last October, and he was running at the finish in 30th.

But enough about racing. Speed spent the first part of this week hanging and scratching with DJ Carl Cox in Miami.

“I just like doing as much as I can. Life’s short — I want to do all of it,” said Speed, whose favorite artists include DJ Tiesto, Timbaland, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West and Placebo.

Speed gave Cox, an Englishman and huge fan of motorsports, a ride through South Beach in the Red Bull show car, and Cox returned the favor by giving a few pointers on mixing music.

“That‘s the best part of being a Red Bull athlete, getting to meet all the cool people from different genres,” Speed said. “Carl’s interests are in cars and racing, and all of mine are in music and fashion. It’s cool to meet someone when each of you have an interest in the other’s profession.”

He also spent time with DJ K-Razor at the Red Bull Music Academy (pictured above). “He got me going in the right direction,” Speed said. “It’s about feeling the music, to be able to sync songs together. It’s something you have to feel.”

The Winter Music Conference is a weeklong electronic music event held every March since the mid-1980s in south Florida. The event moved to Miami Beach in 1991 and was considered a major catalyst in the establishment of the South Beach club scene. The WMC draws more than 3,500 music industry participants and 62,000 event participants from 70 countries.

Boring Day at Bristol

2009-03-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Scott Speed started Sunday’s Sprint Cup race in 11th, but an early speeding penalty on pit road sent Speed’s No. 82 Red Bull Toyota to the tail end in 39th. And in typical Bristol fashion, the leaders came on strong — again, again and again. Speed finished three laps down in 28th, and the No. 82 sits tied for 36th in the car owner standings.

“We definitely got our car handling a lot better after the first two pit stops,” Speed said, “and then at that point it’s a little bit too late but we were all right there at the end. Once we got the car the way I wanted it we were much better, and that’s important. So we just need to start there next time.”

Teammate Brian Vickers endured much of the same fate. Running 24th, he felt a right-rear tire going down and pitted just past lap 300. The sixth yellow flag waved as Vickers was entering the pits, so the team opted for right-side tires only. Vickers came around again for left sides, but NASCAR ruled that Vickers pitted too early and sent the No. 83 to the tail end. Vickers restarted four laps down and went on to finish 29th. He fell to 14th in points.

“This team proved again we never give up,” Vickers said. “We had a better car than the finish shows. I tried not to wear down the right-rear tire like that. I was hoping a caution would fall before it did. The top seemed to wear down tires faster, and we ran better up top. It’s disappointing to lose a couple spots in the points. We’ll rally in Martinsville.”

Match Made In Thunder Valley

2009-03-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

The first time Scott Speed ever saw Bristol Motor Speedway he qualified on the pole and finished third in last August’s Camping World Truck race.

The second time, in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at .533-mile Bristol, Speed finished eighth in the No. 99 Red Bull Toyota. After qualifying 19th, he ran in the top 15 throughout the day before moving into the top 10 as the laps wound down.

“I had a great car all day and really all weekend,” Speed said. “I didn’t qualify the car very well and we had to start toward the back of the field, so that just compounded the deal. To start back in 19th and make it up to eighth today is tough and I am really happy with that. I am always fast when I come over here to run with these guys and I think the chemistry we have is really good. I look forward to days like this at the track.”

The Bristol finish backed up a strong weekend at Las Vegas, where Speed made his Nationwide Series debut with Michael Waltrip Racing. Speed took the pole with a track record qualifying lap before getting caught up in an accident early in the race.

Endurance Put to the Test

2009-03-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Throughout his stint in Europe, Scott Speed never saw race distances like the ones in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Take, for example, Speed’s last full season in Formula One. The 2006 season’s longest race was the Malaysian Grand Prix, run on the 3.44-mile Sepang International Circuit. At the checkered flag, lead-lap cars reached 310.408 kilometers, which is 192.887 miles on this side of the pond. That grand prix lasted a little more than 90 minutes.

Even the ARCA and Camping World Truck races that Speed competed in last season are no match for the 400- and 500-mile endurance events seen in Sprint Cup. He saw nearly 500 laps in his Sprint Cup debut last fall at Martinsville and 400 miles this season at Las Vegas.

“I can tell you that doing a 500-mile race when the car’s not fast and you’re struggling is horrible. The worst thing in the world for any driver to experience,” Speed said. “In a race when your car is good, like ours was in Las Vegas, you’re like, ‘Dude, this race needs to keep going.’”

A fit and trim Speed had no problems with the March 8 race at Atlanta, but expects Sunday’s 500-lap race at Bristol to be a challenge.

“Honestly, I could have gotten out of the car and ran five miles. Not a big deal at all physically,” Speed said of Atlanta. “When you start going to a track and you get the temperatures up in the 80s and 90s, no matter where you’re at, that’s going to be a struggle just to stay hydrated.

“A track like Bristol is going to be the most physical. The track is short, you don’t use a lot of brakes and corners have much more grip. I’m expecting Bristol to be much more physical than Atlanta.”

Driver and Jumper

2009-03-12T07:29:00.000-07:00

What did you do between the West Coast races in Fontana and Las Vegas?

Brian Vickers jumped out of a perfectly safe airplane several times and had a blast doing it with the Red Bull Air Force. Sporting his Red Bull firesuit, he fell free in the skies above Perris, Calif.

Watch BV's bravery on our Facebook page.

Face Full of Fire

2009-03-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Think the dangers on pit road are limited to speeding cars, errant tires, lug nuts whizzing around and the occasional stumble over an air hose? Think again.

Fire sometimes rears its evil head in the trenches of pit road, and it did in the March 1 Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On Scott Speed’s first pit stop, No. 82 tire rear tire changer Chad Avrit whipped around to change right-side rubber. All seemed to be going smoothly — lug nuts off, tire off, tire on, lug nuts on. But then raw fuel and flames shot out of the exhaust, which wasn’t far away from Avrit’s right arm and face. The same thing happened on the next stop, too.

“You can feel (the fire) the whole time,” said Avrit, 25. “I stayed in there as long as I could to get it done. There was one point where I did actually have to go back for a second when it really flamed up in my face. Yeah, I felt it the whole time. The marks on my arm prove it.”

Indeed, the fire took a toll. Avrit sustained burns on his right forearm and wrist and lost some facial hair.

“I had my sleeve pulled up,” he said. “It’s burned. It’s blistered up. Skin missing. Burned all the hair off. I had glasses on, but it was so hot it actually went through and got some of my eyelashes and eyebrows.”

But Avrit manned up, and the burns barely bothered him the rest of the day, nor did he feel any lingering effects Sunday at Atlanta. As he said, “put a little cream on it, cover it up and don’t worry about it.”

“That’s why we wear what we wear,” Avrit said. “It’s expected that something’s going to happen at least once in your career.”

Click here to watch Avrit meet fire face to face on the team’s Facebook page.

One That (Maybe) Got Away

2009-03-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Brian Vickers’ blue No. 83 had Kurt Busch’s blue deuce in its sights, slowly reeling in the leader as the two fought toward the scheduled finish Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

(Cue the untimely caution.)

But the 11th yellow flag of the Kobalt Tools 500 waved with four laps remaining, halting Vickers’ pursuit of Busch and setting up a green-white-checkered finish. A thin lead group of cars, all running on aging rubber and low of fuel, had no choice but to pit. Vickers peeled onto pit road in second and peeled off in sixth, and he picked up one position in the final two laps to give Red Bull Racing Team its first top-five finish of the season.

The result was Vickers’ third consecutive top 10. He’s gained 29 positions in points in the past three races and sits 11th entering the bye week.

As Busch celebrated in victory lane, all Vickers could think about was what he lost — a shot at his second Sprint Cup victory and first with Red Bull Racing Team.

“We would’ve finished first or second — or wrecked trying,” Vickers said. “We obviously had the better car there at the end. Kurt and I were running the same line, so it wasn’t going to be easy to pass him. He was driving his butt off as well. I’m really proud of the Red Bull guys. I had a great car all day.”

Before the final stop, Vickers last pitted under caution on lap 262. He came in fourth, left in second and five laps later the No. 83 and a handful of other leaders stayed out when Scott Speed’s No. 82 and the No. 6 connected to bring out the 10th yellow. On the restart, Busch and Vickers pulled away to make it a two-car show, and Vickers at one point cut Busch’s lead to less than a second with 17 laps to go as they used every inch along the outside wall.

“We always seemed to have one of the best cars — if not the best car — at one point throughout a run,” Vickers said. “I was really hoping it would stay green. It was going to be a great race to the finish with Kurt and I.”

As for Speed, who fought an ill-handling car, his day ended with a wrecker towing the No. 82 to the garage. After the contact coming off turn four, Speed’s car darted right and scraped along the frontstretch wall before creeping to a stop. Speed was OK, but the rookie was credited with 35th. The No. 82 ranks 37th in the car owner standings — 30 points from the top 35.

Points Matter Most

2009-03-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

Red Bull Racing Team rebounded from two engine changes to earn the so-called “good points day” after Sunday’s Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brian Vickers, in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, qualified 21st on Friday, but rolled off from the back on race day after the primary engine was deemed unraceable. The No. 83 team also battled through alternator problems and a battery change to finish eighth.

It was the No. 83’s second consecutive top-10 finish, as Vickers, who ran as high as third with 30 laps to go, gained nine spots in points. He sits 17th entering this weekend’s visit to another intermediate track in Atlanta.

“I’m so proud of this team,” Vickers said. “We lost our batteries and had to come in to change batteries and go to the back again and fight back from that. I’m just really proud of the effort from the guys. I think we had a car that could win, but to have all of those problems and get a top 10 — that’s how you win championships.”

Teammate and No. 82 driver Scott Speed had the best finish of his rookie Sprint Cup season, this despite an engine change late Friday afternoon. He came home 21st after going a lap down early, getting it back and then losing it again.

“When we were a lap down, we still had a really good car,” Speed said. “We came a long way from how bad our car was at the beginning of the weekend, to how good it was during the race. I’m still learning how to figure out what the car needs and wants, but I’m getting better at it each time we race.”

Speed’s No. 82 Red Bull Toyota ranks 37th in the car owner standings — a mere eight points from getting out of the red and into the top 35.

Fast Then Crash

2009-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

First the good news: Scott Speed won the pole for Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway by turning a lap at 182.451 mph — good enough for the track record. He became the ninth driver in Nationwide history to earn the pole in his first start.

And now the bad news: Speed had nowhere to go when Kyle Busch’s No. 18 car spun directly in front of him on lap 21 of the Sam’s Town 300. The damage to Speed’s No. 99 Red Bull Toyota was too much for the Michael Waltrip Racing team to fix, and Speed’s day ended right there. He finished 40th.

“It was a good time out there," Speed said. "At least we were running in the front and running well. What can you do? It’s just the wrong place at the wrong time — kind of the story of my year so far. Nonetheless, I’m certainly excited to get back into the next race with this team and with everything we have because we have good stuff. I think we’re going to have a good year in this thing.”

Speed on Nationwide Pole

2009-02-28T14:01:00.000-08:00

Scott Speed wasted no time in getting up to speed in the Nationwide Series. He’ll start his first Nationwide race from the pole, turning a lap at 182.451 mph during Saturday morning’s qualifying session.

Speed, in the No. 99 Red Bull Toyota, is making his Nationwide Series debut with Michael Waltrip Racing in today’s Sam’s Town 300. Speed’s schedule calls for 13 Nationwide races this season, with the next coming March 21 at Bristol.

His teammate at Red Bull Racing Team, Brian Vickers, starts 10th in Braun Racing’s No. 32 Toyota.

Ask Brian for Yourself

2009-02-24T10:44:00.001-08:00

The media gets to ask Brian Vickers all kinds of questions. And so can you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=letQ23xIbw4

Effort Worthy of an Award

2009-02-22T21:29:00.001-08:00

And the Oscar for Comeback Driver of the Race goes to … Brian Vickers!

Driver No. 83 came from the back to finish 10th in Sunday night’s Auto Club 500 — no easy achievement considering Vickers’ pole-winning run Friday was wiped out by an engine change. So Vickers rolled off 37th at the green flag and began his ascent.

By the first yellow flag for rain seven laps in, Vickers was up to 27th. By lap 50, he was 14th, as his Red Bull Toyota continued to show the speed that won him his sixth career pole and second at the 2-mile track.

The race became a series of long green-flag runs interrupted by periodic showers (four of the five cautions were for rain), and Vickers found himself a lap down but still driving one of the fastest cars on the track. Just past the 100-to-go mark, Vickers passed the No. 9 to get in lucky dog position, and a much-needed caution waved 10 laps later.

Vickers was back on the lead lap in 17th and entered his final pit stop with 40 laps to go running 12th. The No. 83 crew churned out an efficient stop to move Vickers into the top 10, where he stayed for his fourth top 10 in 11 Fontana starts.

The 25-year-old moved up 14 positions in points to 26th.

Teammate Scott Speed started ninth and finished 41st, pulling his No. 82 Red Bull Toyota into the garage inside 75 laps to go because of a broken exhaust system. The No. 82 sits 42nd in owner points after race No. 2 of Speed’s rookie campaign.

Speed Busts a Move

2009-02-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

So you think you can dance? Scott Speed sure does, and he proved he has a little hip hop in him last week at Daytona.

On hand to perform at Red Bull’s paddock suite during the Duels was the Enigma Dance Kru out of Tampa, Fla. (Enigma participated in season one of MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew,” just in case you question the group’s credentials.)

Enigma cut loose right there on the asphalt along pit road, jumping, spinning, flipping, rolling and bringing its original flavor and tons of energy. Then driver No. 82 showed up at the suite, and little did Speed know that moments later he’d be out there breaking it down.

All the guests crowded around to watch as Enigma showed Speed some moves. Speed, as usual, wasn’t timid, but it’s likely he’ll keep his day job of driving race cars.

Click here to check out Enigma’s My Space page.

Today at Auto Club Speedway: An extended Sprint Cup practice session begins at 5:15 p.m. ET. Then the Nationwide Series cars take to the 2-mile oval for tonight’s Stater Bros. 300 (7:45 p.m. ET). Brian Vickers will start 12th in Braun Racing’s No. 32 Toyota.

A Pole and an Engine Change

2009-02-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

Brian Vickers earned Red Bull Racing Team’s second pole in the past 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races Friday, turning a lap at 183.439 mph during qualifying at Auto Club Speedway.

But the celebration didn’t last long, as the No. 83 team was forced to change engines after time trials. They’ll have Saturday’s lone 1-hour, 45-minute practice session to dial in the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota before dropping to the rear in Sunday’s race.

It was the sixth career pole and second at the 2-mile track for the 25-year-old Vickers, who also qualified the No. 83 first last Aug. 15 at Michigan.

“I couldn’t ask for much more out of the car,” Vickers said. “Ryan (Pemberton, crew chief) and the guys from the Red Bull team did an amazing job. In this sport — in the Sprint Cup Series — you have to just about have a perfect car and a perfect lap to sit on the pole.

“Pit selection is very important, and we’ll be alright there. But it’s a shame we’ll be starting from the back. Having all of that traffic in front of us will be a challenge, but I know we’re all up for it. We have 500 miles to get up there and fight for the win.”

Teammate and rookie Scott Speed qualified his No. 82 in ninth at 181.965 mph.

“We know we have a car under us that’s going to be pretty good for the race. That’s the most important thing,” Speed said. “Both of the Red Bull cars ran really well here. These things aren’t that difficult to drive in qualifying. The race is certainly going to be a lot tougher for us.”

Going Back to Cali

2009-02-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

Red Bull Racing Team has strong representation from the Golden State. California natives (clockwise from top left) include No. 82 rear tire changer Chad Avrit (El Centro), No. 82 crew chief Jimmy Elledge (Redding), No. 83 gas man Doug Newell (Oxnard) and Scott Speed (Manteca).

This weekend is one of three times the Sprint Cup Series will visit California in 2009.

“I always get excited about racing in California because it is an opportunity for me to see my family,” said Avrit, 25, whose hometown is about a three-hour drive from Fontana. “It also means a lot knowing that a lot of the people I grew up with in California are watching me from the stands, rooting me and the team on.”

Like Avrit, a trip out west gives Newell a chance to see family and old friends.

“The number one reason I look forward to racing in California is I get the chance to see my daughter,” said the 50-year-old Newell. “It’s hard when you are on opposite coasts. I also enjoy going back because California is where I not only grew up as a person, but in my racing career in the Winston West Series (now the Camping World West Series). It’s great getting a chance to see those guys again.”

And where does Elledge call home?

“Most of the time I say the Charlotte, Mooresville area,” he said. “California was home for me, but at the same time this is home. All of my family lives here. I’ve had kids in North Carolina, so this is home. But it’s always good to go out there.”

One Red Bull Collects Another

2009-02-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

Both of the Red Bull Racing Team Toyotas dropped to the bottom of the scoring sheets after being involved in a multi-car accident in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

No. 83 driver Brian Vickers had a run-in with Dale Earnhardt Jr. that sent Vickers’ Red Bull Toyota spinning in front of a hungry pack of race cars running 190 mph down the backstretch. With rain on its way, Vickers led the inside line on a restart on lap 124, and behind him was Earnhardt, who, like Vickers, was desperately trying to get his lap back.

Earnhardt dove low. Vickers blocked — clearly a legal move above Daytona’s double yellow line. The right-front corner of Earnhardt’s car clipped Vickers’ left rear, and most everyone knows what happens when two cars connect in a restrictor-plate race.

Vickers’ No. 83 darted out of control to the right, straight into the lead pack. When the smoke cleared, the final count showed 10 cars were involved. Included in that count was rookie Scott Speed, who was just logging laps and minding his own business toward the back while he continues to learn the draft and the attitude of the cars in it.

Speed pitted twice as the No. 82 team fixed damage. He went on to finish 35th in his first Daytona 500. Vickers went to the garage for repairs and returned to the track before the rain came. He finished 39th.

Going for a Saturday Drive

2009-02-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

Brian Vickers returns to Braun Racing Toyotas for a limited Nationwide Series schedule this season, beginning with today’s Camping World 300 at Daytona.

In 12 starts last season, Vickers earned two poles, six top-five and eight top-10 finishes. In a Nationwide car at Daytona, the 2003 series champion has two top fives, including fourth in this race last season.

On Friday, Vickers qualified the No. 32 Toyota in the 27th position, but admitted the team focused on race mode rather than qualifying in practice.

“We were really happy with the car in race trim,” Vickers said, “and it handled really well. It seemed to draft well and suck up well, so we focused on that. It qualified as good or maybe better than we expected, and hopefully we’ll have what we need tomorrow.”

Vickers will drive a Braun car in the season’s first three events then return April 25 at Talladega. Teammate Scott Speed’s first Nationwide race comes Feb. 28 at Las Vegas in the No. 99 Red Bull Toyota with Michael Waltrip Racing.

Check out the Camping World 300 at 1:30 p.m. ET today.

On the Cup side: Speed’s No. 82 Red Bull Toyota returns to the track for the final practice before Sunday’s Daytona 500. Happy hour begins at 10:30 a.m. ET.

And on a side note …

One of the more popular pieces of reading material during Speedweeks is The Daytona Beach News-Journal, and Thursday’s special section focused on the history of car numbers since 1949.

According to the News-Journal, the No. 82 has raced 281 times with 44 different drivers and completed 40,461 miles. The No. 83 has raced 329 times with 52 drivers and completed 82,290.3 miles.

Quality, Not Quantity

2009-02-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

Only two drivers will battle for the title of 2009 Raybestos Rookie of the Year. One is Red Bull Racing Team’s Scott Speed, a former Formula One driver who’s been thrust into NASCAR. The other is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Joey Logano, an 18-year-old who’s been groomed to be nothing but a Sprint Cup star.

“We’re rookies for such different reasons,” Speed said. “Having come from such a big form of racing, I’ve gone through all the hype and dealing with the pressure and all that, and the pressure I have on me is for sure 100th of what he has. Then again, (Logano) has so much more stock car experience and probably handles himself better in racing circumstances.
“It’s really going to be interesting. We’re both going to be learning a lot, but we’re going to be learning in different areas.”

From Daytona: The No. 82 team spent Friday preparing Speed's backup car, while Brian Vickers' No. 83 was 21st in practice. Only one practice session remains (10:30 a.m. ET Saturday) before Sunday's Daytona 500.

BV Third In Duel No. 2

2009-02-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

No. 83 driver Brian Vickers will roll off sixth in the Daytona 500 after finishing third in Thursday’s Duel qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. He battled winner Kyle Busch and Mark Martin for the victory on the final lap to earn the best Duel finish of his career.

“We had a really good handling car all day, and that made the difference for us,” Vickers said. “We had a shot at it, for sure. Down the backstretch they started racing and we tried to push Mark. Mark and I both had a really good run, and Kyle blocked. Then I had an opportunity to pass both of them, but they beat me to the line.”

Teammate Scott Speed wasn’t as fortunate. He was taken out early when Boris Said’s car blew a tire in front of Speed’s No. 82 Red Bull Toyota. Speed finished 25th and will go to a backup car for the Daytona 500. He won’t practice Friday while the team prepares the car and will return to the track Saturday.

“We were behind Boris Said, and he blew a tire and collected us,” Speed said. “We scraped the wall and messed up something on the car. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time — there’s nothing we could have done to avoid it — except if we’d been running somewhere else. We just have to brush these incidents off our shoulders and move on to race day. The good news is that we’ve been so unlucky this week that the Daytona 500 has to go our way.”

Hear Vickers talk about his run in our audio section at www.redbullracingusa.com.

Shot Down in the Shootout

2009-02-08T01:41:00.001-08:00

Brian Vickers was on target for the best Shootout finish of his career Saturday night when a chaotic final lap left his Red Bull Toyota limping home with an 11th-place finish.

Driver No. 83 drafted at the front all night — even leading two laps —after starting seventh. He mentioned the track was “loosening up,” and the team opted to give up track position in favor of one last stop for four tires on lap 67.

He held the ninth position during the eighth caution that set up a green-white-checkered finish. “We have a good car,” he said, “but no one is as good as us so it is hard to find help.”

On the final lap, Vickers became a victim of circumstance in a four-wide pack that crashed entering turn three. He crept to the start-finish line as one of only 13 drivers to complete all 78 laps in the wild race.

“We were making a run back up to the front and the 18 (Kyle Busch) went low,” Vickers said. “He came back up on the race track and everybody just kind of got jammed up four wide and started beating on each other and then in turn three the 48 (Jimmie Johnson) wrecked. I don’t know how — if he got spun or what happened and I tried to avoid him but there was really nowhere to go.”

Teammate Scott Speed started fourth in his first Sprint Cup race at Daytona. And like Vickers, the rookie had nowhere to go when a multi-car accident erupted on lap four. Speed drove his No. 82 Red Bull Toyota back to the garage, but the front-end damage was too severe to return to the track. His night lasted a little more than three minutes as he finished 25th.

“Wrong place, wrong time," Speed said. "The thing is, with these things when someone wrecks in front of you, you’re pretty much committed. If you’re on the top these cars are so heavy they’re going so fast you can’t exactly just say, ‘Okay, I want to be on the bottom now.’ You’re pretty committed.”

Super Bowl Predictions

2009-01-31T06:07:00.000-08:00

No. 82 gas man Mike Metcalf was nearly spot on in predicting last year’s Super Bowl. He called for the streaking New York Giants to take down the mighty New England Patriots 24-21. The actual final score was 17-14.

So what does Metcalf, a former college football player at Appalachian State University, think about Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals?

“The Cardinals have decent talent,” Metcalf noted. “They have one star receiver, but if the Steelers can get Troy Polamalu to shadow Larry Fitzgerald, their receiving game is done. And if Pittsburgh can stop the run, it’s over.”

Metcalf’s final? Pittsburgh 24-14.

Here’s more Super Bowl analysis from Red Bull Racing Team:

Scott Speed, driver, No. 82: “I went to my first NFL game a couple weeks ago when the Panthers played the Cardinals in the playoffs. The Panthers lost really bad because Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald caught everything that got thrown in the sky. I’m pulling for the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl for sure. Fitzgerald is the man — he has sticky fingers. I don’t like the Steelers, not for any particular reason, I just don’t like them. I think they’re bullies.”

Jay Frye, vice president and general manager: “The Cardinals are scary. They’re playing well and have nothing to lose because no one thought they would make it this far. Both quarterbacks have won Super Bowls before. The smart money says take Pittsburgh. That’s why I am going with the Cardinals and the points.”

Tour Hits the Tables

2009-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

Red Bull Racing Team entertained NASCAR scribes and TV personalities in style during Wednesday night’s media tour event in Concord, N.C.

It was the team’s first spot on the tour, which is held annually and gives media members a chance to meet, greet and chat with drivers and team personnel. And, in this year’s case, gamble at a casino.

After a 2008 season-in-review video clip, sit-down dinner of steak and snapper and one-one-ones with Brian Vickers and Scott Speed in Red Bull cabanas, room G at the Embassy Suites came alive with music, cards, craps and roulette.

Casino night, it must be noted, was for amusement only, and the proceeds from those who bought back in after losing their fake money went to charity.

Terrain Takes Out Sainz

2009-01-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Red Bull athlete Carlos Sainz, a two-time world rally champion, abandoned the Dakar Rally after his Volkswagen careened into a ravine during Thursday’s 12th stage.

The Spaniard (pictured above) had won six stages this year, including the previous four, and held a sizeable advantage entering the 159-mile trek to La Rioja, Argentina. Sainz, driving with French co-pilot Michel Perin, was not seriously injured and was taken by helicopter to the stage’s starting point in Fiambala.

Red Bull, however, still has strong representation in the South American edition of the Dakar.

Sainz’s Red Bull Volkswagen teammates, South African Giniel De Villiers and American Mark Miller, sit 1-2 in the overall car standings, with Miller less than three minutes behind. In the bike category, Spain’s Marc Coma leads France’s Cyril Despres by less than 90 seconds. Both are Red Bull-backed KTM riders.

Only two cross-country stages remain, with Friday’s stage 13 running from La Rioja to Cordoba. The Dakar ends where in started, in Buenos Aires — the first time the event has left the deserts of West Africa.

For results, visit dakar.com.

Mad Science in the Lab

2009-01-11T10:20:00.001-08:00

Right about now, Red Bull Racing Team usually sets up shop in Daytona for the second week of preseason testing. But because NASCAR put the kibosh on all official testing and teams have agreed to stay away from race tracks on their own, RBRT is bringing the test to Mooresville.

“We’re always going to try to get better. That’s just the nature of the business,” said John Probst, the team’s technical director. “If you can’t go track testing, you find other ways to do it. You bring the track to the race team.”

The track, in this case, is building No. 3 on the campus of Red Bull Racing Team. Probst prefers the building be called “the lab” because it houses all sorts of fancy, multi-million dollar gadgets that make the Red Bull Toyotas go fast. Now more than ever in the lab and the adjacent engineering offices, more emphasis has been placed on aerodynamics, simulation, dynos and the seven-post shaker rig to test the handling of Daytona or the tricky transitions of Charlotte.

“We used to answer a couple of questions at the track,” Probst noted. “One was if new parts will last. The next question was is the part better. The ‘will-it-last’ question we’ve moved to the lab. I don’t think by any means people are going to stop developing parts. The answers are going to come from the testing you do in the lab.”

Track bar mounts, track bars, spindles, lower control arms, truck arms, chassis — all are under the durability gun in the lab.

“We don’t have time to put 1,500 miles on everything before we say, ‘Go ahead and run this on a race weekend,’” Probst said. “We’ll have it on the seven-poster and run five Bristols or whatever it might be before we release it to the team.”

The lab, however, is insufficient in one area.

“You can’t duplicate the race environment,” Probst said. “We’re not banging up cars here, hitting cars, scraping walls. You can’t predict that sort of thing.”

Jamaicans Race at Dover

2009-01-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

JUST OUTSIDE OF BROWN’S TOWN, Jamaica — Anyone who’s crammed into a tour bus and dared the roads of Jamaica knows that driving is no joke down there. Overtaking is allowed wherever a driver deems safe — in the oncoming lane to the right, on the shoulder to the left or simply in the gravel. Side view mirrors sometimes graze pedestrians’ ears while chickens, goats and wild dogs scramble for cover.

So it comes as no surprise that they race cars in Jamaica, and the island nation holds one race track called Dover Speedway. It’s nothing like the high-banked, concrete oval stuck in the middle of Delaware, but a 1.6-mile road course halfway into the hills.

With Bull Rider sitting shotgun with bus driver Paul Garvey, we took a trip up from the coast, and Dover Speedway was our first stop. Expecting a rinky-dink track where they ride pedal bikes, Dover Speedway was pretty impressive.

We navigated nasty roads to get there, and upon entrance, there was a sign saying “No Infield Parking.” Weeds and grass grew up in parking lots, and the gate was wide open. Nobody was there because the most recent race was last October.

The racing surface was decent. Sometimes smooth, sometimes choppy, sometimes gravel, sometimes dirt. The safety was abysmal. Seems like Jamaicans sacrifice health for speed around the road course. There were tire barriers, nearly 20 turns, elevation changes and an upward corkscrew. There were two crossover walkways — one sporting a Toyota banner. There was a garage, much like the average Saturday night short track.

Jamaicans part of the JRDC (Jamaican Race Drivers Club) battle in souped-up cars from Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, among the many other foreign automakers. They race hard, too.

For a race lap, click here. For an all-alone lap, do the same.

No Chocolate and a Championship

2008-12-28T19:08:00.001-08:00

January’s the time to start fresh. Many vow to lose weight in the New Year. Smokers start to quit, shoppers cut up the credit cards and workaholics put the family first.

New Year’s resolutions are spreading faster than a rumor in the Cup garage — Red Bull Racing Team included. One crewman, No. 82 jack man Trey Burklin, simply plans to “get new roommates.” Gas man Mike Metcalf promises to “rock out on the guitar.”

No. 83 driver Brian Vickers shot back that his resolution was to “win races and the Sprint Cup championship” in 2009. A PC response? Nah. Vickers really does want to dethrone Jimmie Johnson.

Teammate Scott Speed, an admitted sucker for sweets, isn’t immune to the traditional resolution. He’ll be eliminating chocolate. It was his way of saying that he’s gotten “fat,” even though he’s a lean athlete and never puts a bad thing in his body.

“I’ve gained, like, two pounds,” Speed said. “So no chocolate. Nothing that’s not healthy.”

Seasons Greetings from Santa

2008-12-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Santa came early to Mooresville on Friday, as Red Bull Racing Team opened its doors to employees and their families for the annual Christmas get-together.

Veteran road crew worker Pete Wright (above) fills out a Santa suit quite well, and he made his way around the room for a Ho, Ho, Ho meet and greet with all the children. He carried candy canes for the kids and gag gifts for a few grown-ups.

With Santa’s elf and facilities manager Mike Good serving as the slick auctioneer, items helped raise more than $5,000 for an area foster care effort. No. 83 crew chief Ryan Pemberton won the raffle for a sheet-metal table, put it up for auction and won that same auction for $500. Other items raffled or auctioned off included sliver and blue car hoods, a tool box, two flat-screen TVs, Red Bull artwork and various gift certificates.

“This officially marks the end of the 2008 season,” Jay Frye, vice president and general manager, closed by saying.

Good thing, because the Daytona 500’s only 56 days away.

Emergency Gift a Click Away

2008-12-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

Stuck on a tie and socks for dad? Sending mom to the spa yet again? Still scrambling to find one last Christmas gift for that special someone, niece or nephew?

No worries. Red Bull Racing Team’s online store is to the rescue. But there’s a catch: you have a little more than 24 hours to place orders to ensure that your gift arrives by Christmas.

Our online store will be closed from midday Friday to Dec. 29. Any orders entered by 4 p.m. Thursday will be processed and shipped that afternoon. Any received after that will be processed and shipped on Dec. 29.

The merchandise is waiting — hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, diecasts and novelty items. Visit store.redbullracing.com.

Return Trip to the Podium

2008-12-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

Thursday was like old times for Scott Speed and his father, Mike.

Back in the day, they owned the karting ranks to give Speed his start in open-wheel racing, and they were clicking once again as dad made all the right adjustments and son finished third in the PRI All-Stars Karting Classic in Orlando, Fla.

Speed was fastest in final practice, posted the quickest time in qualifying and easily moved into the feature with a second-place finish in the preliminary race. From there, it was on against the likes of AJ Allmendinger (NASCAR), Joey Hand (sports cars), Jay Howard (IRL), Jamie McMurray (NASCAR), Vitor Meira (IRL), Buddy Rice (IRL), Michael Valiante (sports cars) and Dan Wheldon (IRL).

Red Bull motorcycle stunt rider Aaron Colton led the field to the start of the 40-lap feature, and Speed’s No. 41 Tony Kart machine was part of a four-kart breakaway that included Howard, Hand and Allmendinger. As Howard held a three-second lead on the final lap, second-place Allmendinger dove past a slower Valiante and lost his line in the corner, opening the door for Hand (second) and Speed (third). Allmendinger recovered to finish fourth, with Oswaldo Negri Jr. fifth.

Speed’s already looking forward to next year.

“I was really surprised at my pace at the beginning of the night,” Speed said. “With our schedule of events this year, I have not been able to kart as much as I have in the past. However, my dad and I tested well on Tuesday and felt we were going to be somewhat competitive. There were so many excellent drivers here. We were stoked to start at the front all night, and the feature was a real fun battle. I have to thank my dad, Tony Kart, Stars of Karting and PRI for putting this together.”

Elledge on Inspection

2008-12-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what really goes on in the inspection line? Jimmy Elledge knows, and crew chief No. 82 shared some of his knowledge on what it takes to squeeze past NASCAR officials during technical inspection.

Elledge gave us a guided tour of October’s impound race at Talladega Superspeedway. He talks shocks, springs, heights, widths and weights — with a little humor in between.

Check out the video at redbullracingusa.com.

Thankful for Tire Testing

2008-12-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

Considering NASCAR put the kibosh on testing, traveling 2,200 miles to the west just before Christmas isn’t all that bad.

Brian Vickers’ No. 83 Red Bull Toyota is one of four Sprint Cup machines to participate in the two-day Goodyear tire test today and Thursday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s a critical test, too, because Red Bull Racing Team — and other Cup teams — is doing no testing on its own and this gives new crew chief Ryan Pemberton a chance to get to know the No. 83 bunch outside of the race shop’s walls.

“With Ryan coming on board,” said Elton Sawyer, the team’s competition director, “we have the opportunity to have him and Brian work together for a couple of days. We’re thankful for the couple of days we have out there. Very thankful.”

All four makes are represented, as Vickers joins Carl Edwards’ No. 99 Ford, Mark Martin’s No. 5 Chevrolet and David Stremme’s No. 12 Dodge in preparation for the March 1 Shelby 427.

“We have to continue to test tires and put out a good product on Sundays for the viewing public,” Sawyer said. “We’re just participating in the test. Goodyear has its own test plan; they’ll map out their runs. We’ll get the opportunity early today to shake the car down to where it’s well balanced and Brian can run some laps. And Goodyear certainly will do its tire development.”

Teammates Really Do Help

2008-12-07T16:46:00.001-08:00

He competed in ARCA, trucks and Cup in 2008. On Scott Speed’s 2009 to-do list is NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, and he’ll get to cross off that entry sometime in February.

It’s an ambitious schedule for the second-year stock car driver. Responsibility No. 1 is the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota in Sprint Cup, but to expand the definition of “seat time” Speed will drive Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 99 in limited Nationwide events.

As Speed said, the “next-best place to race” is Nationwide.

“We thought of different situations and different opportunities, what we could do to get more seat time,” he said. “Certainly, with the amount of Cup guys that race in the Nationwide Series every weekend, it was a no-brainer.”

Speed got some good advice from his teammate, 2003 Nationwide champion Brian Vickers. BV bounced from 36 Sprint Cup races to 12 Nationwide events in 2008.

“The cars are a bit more different than we want,” Speed said. “After talking with Brian and sitting down about it, we feel it’s not going to be that big of a difference. The racing experience will be more valuable that having to go from car to car.”

Silver to the Super Bowl

2008-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

“Some would call it a mirrored aluminum silver. Some would call it a titanium finish. We would just have to call it bad ass.” — Marty Briggs, paint shop manager, on the silver No. 84

“I know what I’m up against. I have about two hours of practice then I have to be ready to race. I love throwing myself off the deep end every once in awhile.” — Scott Speed before his first truck race at Atlanta

“We hope for the best, but are always prepared for the worst.” — Crewman Brian Dheel

“The car’s in one piece. It’s better than a lot of people can say. It was definitely a wreckfest.” — Brian Vickers on the July race at Daytona

“This thing had 110,000 people — 10,000 people in the water and 100,000 around watching this Red Bull event. It was freakin’ awesome, really one of the coolest Red Bull events I’ve ever done.” — Scott Speed on judging the Red Bull Flugtag event in Tampa, Fla.

“It’s awesome. It’s very American. The stadium is just terrific. I have no words. We have big soccer stadiums in Europe. But we have no big motorsports stadiums. Just an incredible experience for me to ride here. And to go in third gear through the banking … was (expletive) awesome.” — Christian Pfeiffer, a German Red Bull stunt bike rider, on Bristol

“The Giants win 24-21, only because professionals play with a lot of pride. It’s a joke to the NFL that one team can beat everybody. Those days are over. The Giants will beat the Patriots.” — Gasman Mike Metcalf’s Super Bowl prediction

2009 Driver/Crew Chief Lineup

2008-12-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

No. 83 driver Brian Vickers will have a new crew chief for his third season with Red Bull Racing Team, as Ryan Pemberton leads Vickers’ charge to his first Red Bull victory and a spot in the 2009 Chase.

Teammate Scott Speed will return for his rookie NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. He’ll drive the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota under the watch of returning crew chief Jimmy Elledge.

"We’re entering our third Sprint Cup season with driver and crew chief pairings that have what it takes to consistently compete at a high level," said Jay Frye, RBRT Vice President and General Manager. "Brian and Ryan are each at a point in their respective careers where they can bring home wins and make a run for the championship. Scott earned his Sprint Cup ride by exceeding our expectations in ARCA and trucks. He has a great asset in Jimmy, who has experience working with both rookies and open-wheel drivers."

Pemberton, 39, inherits a No. 83 team that earned a pole, three top-five and six top-10 finishes before Vickers finished 19th in points. His most recent crew chief role was with the No. 44 Toyota, guiding driver David Reutimann to four top 10s in 2008.

A longtime crewman, Pemberton became a crew chief in 1995 in the Nationwide Series and took his first Sprint Cup job in 1997 at MB2 Motorsports. Since then, he has crew chiefed for the likes of Derrike Cope, Jerry Nadeau, Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin and Aric Almirola. His first victory as a crew chief came when Nemechek won the 2004 race at Kansas Speedway.

After ruffling fenders in ARCA and the Craftsman Truck Series, Speed graduates to a full-time Sprint Cup ride in 2009. He drove the No. 84 in four races and the No. 83 in one to close last season.

Speed, switching to a silver No. 82, will contend for rookie of the year and start the season locked inside the top 35 in car owner points. He’s guaranteed a starting spot in the first five races, including the season-opening Daytona 500.

He’ll also run a partial Nationwide Series schedule in the No. 99 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota.

After a two-year stint in the NASCAR garage, the No. 84 retires to the RBRT museum, also known as the race shop in Mooresville, N.C.

More Memorable Words

2008-11-30T19:35:00.000-08:00

“Martinsville isn’t the nicest track to make my introduction to Cup, but it’s got to happen sometime.” — Scott Speed

“The field is not separated as much as it used to be. When the entire field is separated by two tenths, it’s really, really hard to pass. You have to be so much better than the competition to be able to drive back through there. You can get through the first 10 or 15 cars, but it starts getting harder and harder. It’s the small things — pit stops, working lines whenever the line changes, managing tires. You can’t make any small mistakes.” — Crew chief Jimmy Elledge

“When you’re on the cusp of being in the Chase, there’s a lot of pressure there. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself or the team. We are a second-year team with a second-year manufacturer, so the fact that we’re even in contention for the Chase is fantastic.” — Brian Vickers before Chicago

“I felt a bomb explode. It didn’t cut. It didn’t go flat. It just exploded.” — Brian Vickers on the blowout at Talladega

“Menu planning actually goes on in the stores. You get to these race towns where it’s just chaos, and they can be completely out of certain items — a protein, chicken breasts — so menu planning happens very spontaneously.” — Cliff Cameron, team chef

Whitt Wins USAC Championship

2008-11-29T07:06:00.000-08:00

At 17 years old, Cole Whitt became USAC's youngest champion when he edged Tracy Hines by one point to claim the USAC National Midget title on Thursday night.

The Red Bull athlete trailed Hines by 17 points entering the Turkey Night Grand Prix in Irwindale, Calif. Whitt finished 11th in the race; Hines 26th. And after nearly 30 races, he won the title 196-195.

“They’re all so good,” Whitt said of USAC competition. “All those guys have so many laps in every situation — a bunch of times. They don’t think twice out there on the race track. I try to learn from them the best I can. You have to work really hard to catch up to them.”

Driving Keith Kunz’s Red Bull Bullet/Esslinger Ford, Whitt was impressive in his first full season in USAC midgets. He led all 30 laps to win at Dodge County Fairgrounds in August and went to victory lane in the prestigious Hut Hundred in October.

On the sprint car side, he won twice — at Big Diamond and Gas City — and finished fourth in the championship only because he fell one race short because of age restrictions at Richmond.

Whitt, no doubt, hopes he’s on the fast track to NASCAR.

“That’s the reason I chose this way to go. A lot of people say the sprints and midgets are the toughest thing out there,” Whitt said. “Running on dirt and pavement and being in a different kind of car almost 80 times a year … you just get so much seat time. You learn so much.”

At Home for the Holidays

2008-11-29T06:24:00.000-08:00

The off-season allows time for travel. The kind Brian Vickers enjoys, not the get-me-in, get-me-out kind of travel required on race weekends.

“There’s a difference,” he said, “in traveling for enjoyment and traveling for work. Traveling on a race weekend, there’s a lot of stress involved. When you’re traveling for enjoyment, it’s a completely different experience.”

BV spent much of his Thanksgiving week here in North Carolina, bouncing around from the race shop in Mooresville, to his business office in Thomasville to his pad in Charlotte. After that, he wouldn’t fully disclose his off-season destinations.

“A lot of time in New York, some time in Florida, some time traveling outside the U.S.,” he said. “Got to go to Austria. I’ll be everywhere. It’s going to be a lot this winter, but that’s OK. I love to travel.”

Teammate Scott Speed stayed local for Thanksgiving. “I keep it normal,” he said. “Nothing too crazy.”

This weekend, he’ll be arranging new furniture and decorating his home for Christmas. He says a trip to the West Coast is needed at some point during an ambitious test schedule.

Finals Week: Part II

2008-11-25T21:28:00.001-08:00

And the questions keep on coming …

1. The No. 83 pit crew churned out five straight stops under what time (in seconds) to win the NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge?

2. What retiring Formula One driver spent the day at Dover in June?

3. True or false: AJ Allmendinger met “The Terminator” at California.

4. The Red Bull Energy Station made its first appearance of 2008 at what track?

5. Scott Speed led how many laps in his first Craftsman Truck Series victory at Dover?

6. What North Carolina race fan was the recipient of the No. 83’s loose wheel in May’s 600?

7. The Red Bull X-Fighters made its first stop in the United States at what location?

8. Brian Vickers was paired with a long-drive professional on the HP Tee Shot Tour. Who was he?

9. From how many laps down did Scott Speed come back to finish eighth in the ARCA race at Cayuga?

10. Of the 11 yellow flags in the August race at Indianapolis, how many were competition cautions?

Answers: 1. 23 seconds, 2. David Coulthard, 3. True (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger), 4. Las Vegas Motor Speedway, 5. The final 51, 6. John Holman, 7. Fort Worth Stockyards, 8. Kevin Bullard, 9. Five, 10. Six.

The Mic's Always On

2008-11-24T10:54:00.000-08:00

While always looking forward, Red Bull Racing Team will look back a few times this holiday week on the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Straight from the mouths of the men and women who lived it.

“I thought we were just gonna cruise around, and he put his foot to the gas. I thought I was going to lose my hat and my mind all at the same time.” — National Guardswoman Jessica Reid after a two-seat ride with Brian Vickers at Camp Atterbury, Ind.

“It’s not an on-off switch. You don’t just flip it. Once you have it, you try to keep that going. You try to do the same thing that got you to that point.” — Competition director Elton Sawyer on momentum

“This is the foundation of the company, and the devil is in all the details.” — Manufacturing director Joe Hofmann on the in-house chassis program

“Sometimes when you unload, you just got it.” — Brian Vickers after winning the team’s first pole at Michigan

“It’s a very interesting culture, for sure. For example, when we arrived at our hotel Sunday night around 1:30 in the morning, we were downstairs at the casino. And along with the 15 or so hookers that were downstairs there was a guy rolling right past us with a gun in his hand … as he puts it in the back of his pants. I thought that was an extreme introduction to this culture.” — Scott Speed on the Dominican Republic

“In baseball, it’s very rare that your glove falls apart and you’re trying to catch a ball. It’s a pretty durable piece of equipment. In racing it happens a lot, and it’s very frustrating. It’s just something you have to factor in.” — Brian Vickers

Finals Week: Part I

2008-11-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

How closely did you follow Red Bull Racing Team in 2008? (Googlers get out!)

1. Scott Speed’s first double-duty weekend between ARCA and Craftsman Truck came at what track?

2. The Red Bull Toyotas led all 40 laps in May’s Sprint Showdown. What was the breakdown?

3. How many days did it take Scott Speed to move into the ARCA points lead after a 39th-place finish at Daytona?

4. Mathematically, Brian Vickers was still alive for a Chase berth entering the cutoff weekend at Richmond. How many points was he out?

5. What Red Bull event took on a tornado in downtown Atlanta?

6. Brian Vickers was bitter when NASCAR mistakenly positioned the No. 83 in fourth for late restart at Michigan. What car wrongly restarted ahead of Vickers?

7. Industry insiders refer to Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Safety Patrol by what nickname?

8. What Red Bull stunt bike rider dazzled the Bristol crowd in March?

9. What is the URL for Red Bull Racing Team’s on-line store?

10. This venue marked the 50th Sprint Cup race where at least one Red Bull Toyota competed.

Answers: 1. Kansas Speedway. 2. No. 84, 21; No. 83, 19. 3. 175. 4. 191. 5. Red Bull Illume Exhibit Tour. 6. No. 8 of Mark Martin. 7. Yellow shirts. 8. Christian Pfeiffer. 9. store.redbullracing.com. 10. Watkins Glen International.

Two Red Bulls in the Top 35

2008-11-17T12:28:00.000-08:00

Brian Vickers snuck the No. 84 into the top 35, and teammate Scott Speed had the best finish of his Sprint Cup career in the No. 83. The driver swap paid off Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Red Bull Racing Team will have two Toyotas in February’s Daytona 500, as Vickers, the No. 83 driver, brought the No. 84 home in 32nd — just enough to move that car into the top 35 in car owner points. The No. 84 entered the race 17 points behind in 36th, left 13 points ahead in 35th and is guaranteed a spot in the first five races next season.

Speed, the No. 84 driver, gave way to the more experienced Vickers and climbed into the No. 83 for the last of his five Sprint Cup starts this season. He qualified on the front row and finished a career-best 16th.

“I’m disappointed because I wanted to end this year with a win,” said Vickers, who closed 2008 with the team’s first pole, three top fives, six top 10s and a best finish of second in June at Pocono. He ended up 19th in driver points.

“The guys have worked so hard. I’m happy, though, that we accomplished what we set out to do, and that was to get this 84 car into the top 35 in owner points. That will be a huge weight off the team’s shoulders going into Daytona next year. Scott did a great job in the 83 today, too. I’m happy to see him running so well.”

Vickers started 20th and was on target for a decent day until a pit-road speeding penalty on lap 128 put him a lap down. Forty laps later, congestion on pit road damaged the No. 84 and forced successive stops, but crew chief Jimmy Elledge radioed to Vickers that the closest competitor in the top 35, the No. 47 of Marcos Ambrose, was in the garage.

At that point, Vickers needed to finish no worse than 37th.

“After both incidents we still had a good car — really good — but were never able to get out of traffic and ended the race a lap down,” Vickers said.

Speed backed up his front-row qualifying effort in Saturday’s two practices, where he was third fastest in both. He backed it up in the race, too, keeping pace with Chase competition throughout the day.

As cars peeled onto pit road for fuel in the closing laps, pit strategy moved Speed to 16th, on the lead lap and position spot behind series champion Jimmie Johnson.

“We had a really good car all night,” Speed said. “The first half of the race we were a little loose getting into the corners, but as the sun went down and it got cooler out, the car tightened up a bit. This was a good race for us. We finished every lap, stayed out of trouble and came home with a good finish. I felt like I had a really good feel for the car and learned a lot so it was a nice to end the season on a high note.”

38 Weeks Later

2008-11-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

Red Bull Racing Team storylines as the grind comes to a close today at Homestead-Miami Speedway:

+ After a driver swap, Brian Vickers (above) starts 20th as the team attempts to move the No. 84 in the top 35. Vickers is a veteran of five Sprint Cup races at the 1.5-mile track, with a best finish of 18th in November 2004. The No. 84 sits 36th — 17 points from being locked into the first five races of 2009.

“I spent the whole year (2007) outside of the top 35, going through that. There’s a lot of positives that can come from this,” said Vickers, who was seventh fastest in Saturday’s final practice. “It’s really important for the whole team, for all of Red Bull, to have both these cars in the top 35 next year. Hopefully, I’ll be able to help those guys with that.”

+ Scott Speed, in the No. 83, starts on the front row after an impressive effort in Friday’s qualifying. He logged only seven laps in opening practice, but later turned a lap at 171.461 mph to qualify second. He’ll roll off just ahead of Chase contender Carl Edwards.

“My job is going to be a lot more difficult keeping it up there on Sunday,” Speed said. “It’s going to make our job more pressured by starting up front, but we’re taking our time. There’s a lot still to learn and we’re getting closer everyday.”

The green flag drops just before 4 p.m. ET.

Stuck in the Middle of Two

2008-11-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

No way was Scott Speed going to miss friend, mentor and teammate Johnny Benson battle it out for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck championship. He wanted a front-row seat Friday night and came from the back — twice — to get it.

A transmission change scratched a seventh-place qualifying effort at Homestead, and Speed started from the back in the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota. He charged to 15th within 40 laps, but was caught speeding entering the pits two laps later. Again, he went to the back.

The second progression forward put Speed in the middle of one of the closest championship battles in NASCAR history.

In a green-white-checkered finish, Speed restarted eighth — behind Bill Davis Racing teammate Benson and ahead of Ron Hornaday, each needing to beat the other for the title. Speed’s No. 22 was enough of a buffer, as Benson stayed one position and seven points ahead of Hornaday to win his first Craftsman Truck championship.

Speed finished 10th, another in a long list of strong runs for the first-year stock car driver. In the 10 starts since his June victory at Dover, Speed earned a pole, three top fives and six top 10s to close the season.

The 25-year-old couldn’t have been happier with the result. “Johnny B” has been instrumental in helping Speed adjust to heavy, full-bodied cars.

“I’m really happy that Johnny won the championship,” Speed said, “not only because he’s my teammate — he’s one of the nicest guys out there. He helped me out so much initially, so it was really cool to see him win. He definitely deserves it.”

BV and Speed Swap Seats

2008-11-12T06:10:00.000-08:00

Have you heard this one yet? Red Bull Racing Team’s No. 83 and No. 84 drivers will swap cars for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Brian Vickers, who’s normally behind the wheel of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, will pilot Scott Speed’s No. 84, and Speed will pilot the No. 83.

“We already have two talented drivers under our roof, so we chose to switch drivers for one race and change the momentum for this team,” said Jay Frye, RBRT Vice President and General Manager. “Brian’s a team player and wants to help the No. 84 see the same success the No. 83 has had this year. Scott’s a rookie and we wanted to take some pressure off of him and let focus on just driving the car. This organization is a team effort and we're treating it that way by finding a solution that works for everyone."

If you log onto NASCAR’s own version of TMZ, Jayski.com, our response to “Is that really true?” is “No.” Vickers will not be required to wear sequined hats, zebra driving shoes or white Paul Frank sunglasses for this event. Vickers agreed to just drive the car.

Desert Stormed

2008-11-11T13:40:00.000-08:00

Brian Vickers took a “really good, hard hit” when an undetermined problem sent the No. 83 crashing early in Sunday’s race at Phoenix. The incident looked similar to Vickers’ tire blowout last month at Talladega — sudden, unexpected and out of control, only he was going nearly as fast.

“In baseball, it’s very rare that your glove falls apart and you’re trying to catch a ball. It’s a pretty durable piece of equipment,” said Vickers, who finished 42nd. “In racing it happens a lot, and it’s very frustrating. It’s just something you have to factor in and limit as much as possible. We’ve gotten much, much better at it at Red Bull.”

Teammate Scott Speed endured his own tale of woe. After the smoke cleared from a nine-car crash, Speed found himself with a face full of fuel cell. The rear end of David Gilliland’s No. 38 came to rest on the No. 84’s windshield, spitting out flames from the exhaust. Speed emerged unscathed, but went home in 40th.

“Dude, I saw flames, and I was out of there. I was SO out,” Speed said. “I didn’t know if his car was catching on fire or the fire was coming from my car. I didn’t wait too long to find out.”

Dirty Business of Tire Changing

2008-11-09T08:44:00.001-08:00

Ever swallow a mouthful of soot? Danny Kincaid did last month at Martinsville and will again several times at Phoenix. And trust him, it’s not an enjoyable experience.

“I’m going to be picking black, dusty boogers out of my nose for the next week,” Kincaid, the No. 84’s front tire changer, predicted at Martinsville.

Changing tires is a dirty business, especially at shorter, flat tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit. Martinsville, the smallest oval with long straights and tight corners, abuses brakes to the point when a tire comes off during a stop, a thick, black cloud of brake dust escapes into the face of a tire changer. Along with everything else a dirty racing surface has to offer.

Phoenix, a flat, 1-mile track, holds the same characteristic — brake pads slowly wearing down, brake dust just waiting to be inhaled. Stop after stop after stop.

“Right when you sit down and fire your gun, that’s when you get the worst of it … right on the first lug nut,” said Chad Avrit (pictured above), Kincaid’s counterpart on the rear. “It’s an immediate puff. Then it’s the dust. It starts swirling in your face. You’ll have that huge cloud at first, then it kind of turns into a mist.”

Needless to say, a shower is priority No. 1 when the pit crews touch down late that night in North Carolina.

“Immediately,” Avrit said. “You definitely want to shower immediately. You’re ready to get out of that firesuit and into some fresh clothes.”

Today at Phoenix: Brian Vickers and Scott Speed have their work cut out for them. Vickers, who has one top five and three top 15s in eight starts, rolls off 36th. Speed starts right behind in 38th.

Friday at Phoenix: Speed posted another impressive run in the Craftsman Truck Series, finishing 14th in his first time at Phoenix under race conditions. He hasn’t finished outside the top 15 in the past five truck races.

Sweet Sounds of BV

2008-11-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

From Eminem to Elvis, Sinatra to The Stones, Brian Vickers’ taste in music covers the spectrum. He even titled his MySpace Music playlist “Never Too Old To Be Young.”

“Music is timeless. Many artists are timeless,” Vickers said. “The old influences the new and in the case of myself, I as a young person, enjoy some of the classics.”

Twelve of Vickers’ favorites went up Monday in the featured playlist section at music.myspace.com, and they’ll be given more real estate Saturday and Sunday. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” leads off.

“There are some things that we can all relate to. Music is one of them because it’s all around us,” Vickers said. “Whether you’re in the car, or in line at the store, chances are there will be some form of music around you. MySpace Music has given me the opportunity to share some of my favorite songs with their members.”

Also visit myspace.com/brianvickers.

'Muffin Man' Leads Speed’s Charitable Charge

2008-11-03T18:56:00.001-08:00

Sitting shotgun in Scott Speed’s race to help the Chron’s & Colitis Foundation of America is the “Muffin Man.”

The little guy serves up muffins on the front of a T-shirt, and, through Speed’s own design and a partnership with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Muze Clothing, will hopefully serve up cash and awareness for a disease that hits home for driver No. 84.

Speed was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in 2003, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation and sores in the large intestine or colon. Ulcerative colitis has similarities to Crohn’s disease, another form of IBD.

“This is a really cool opportunity for me to work on a project that ties one of my biggest passions — fashion — into motorsports, while also raising money for a great cause,” Speed said. “We’re hoping that through this project we can help create awareness and raise money for conditions such as ulcerative colitis, a disease that affects me personally.”

Muffin Man T-shirts went on sale today at muzeclothing.com. Half of your $40 will go to the Chron’s and Colitis Foundation of America. They’ll also be on sale this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, where the Muffin Man’s creator will autograph shirts at an undetermined location Sunday from 12:15-12:30 p.m. MT.

Why a Muffin Man?

“Just random, mate,” Speed said.

Texas Chatter

2008-11-03T14:39:00.000-08:00

Who better to describe the No. 83’s back-to-front-to-18th-place day than the men who lived it? Brian Vickers qualified the No. 83 in 13th, but fell to the rear of the field because of an engine change after Saturday’s final practice. He moved from 43rd to 20th by lap 50.

Lap 61, spotter Chris Lambert: “Looks like it’s going to be about track position and who can live through this thing.” Vickers up to 15th.
Lap 100: Vickers in 10th. Shortly after, he moves to eighth and has the fastest car on the track. He leads laps 113-117.
Lap 124, Vickers: “Loose all the way through. I like it.”
Lap 125, Lambert: “You’re the fastest thing out there.” Vickers in the top 10, fighting for track position.
Lap 143, interim crew chief Randy Cox: “Two tires should tighten you up for 5, 10 laps. The only thing that’s been wearing is the right front and right rear. If this doesn’t work, we have 190 laps to recover from it.” The No. 83 takes two tires and restarts second a few laps later.
Lap 162, Vickers: “I think I have a tire going down. I think I have a slow leaker in the right rear.”
Lap 169: The No. 83 makes an unscheduled pit stop for right-side tires, dropping from seventh to a lap down in 25th. (Upon further review, the tire appeared to be OK.)
Lap 241, Vickers: “All we need is track position. I couldn’t tell if that tire was going down, but man, I couldn’t drive it.” Vickers in 18th.
Lap 241, Cox: “I ain’t gonna second guess you. You’re the one who has to drive it.”
Lap 268, Vickers: “That’s what I’m talking about. Great stop. Under pressure, too.” Speedy stop moves the No. 83 to the first car a lap down in 16th, but the race stays green to the end and Vickers never gets a shot at the free pass.
Lap 324, Cox: “Just start pedaling it a little bit. We’re going to go for it.” Fuel mileage becomes a serious issue.
Lap 333: Nearing the top five in a rash of fuel stops, the No. 83’s gas tank comes up short with one lap to go. Vickers pits for a splash and loses only two spots in the running order to 18th. The gamble nearly pays off, and Vickers still gains a position in points (17th).

Teammate Scott Speed and crew chief Jimmy Elledge had a few sound bites of their own. Speed’s No. 84 started 33rd and finished 33rd and held its 35th-place position in the car owner standings. He fought a loose condition all day and nearly lost the handle a few times in turns three and four.

Somewhere around halfway, Speed: “I don’t just forget how to drive in a race. I feel like an idiot out here.”
Post-race, Elledge: “Welcome to Cup racing. School is still in session.”

Two-Stepping at Texas

2008-11-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

He battled with Johnny Benson and Todd Bodine, sliced and diced with Mike Skinner, had it out with Ron Hornaday. They’re all grizzled veterans that have shown Scott Speed a thing or two this season — Friday night included.

Speed finished 10th at Texas Motor Speedway, just another lesson learned in the Craftsman Truck Series that can only help his Sprint Cup career with Red Bull Racing Team.

“The thing is experience,” said Speed, who ended up 26th in June’s Texas truck race after a late spin down the frontstretch.

“More laps doing anything, especially against this caliber of competition, all helps. I’m learning so much running with these really good drivers at the front. It’s just an amazing amount of information that I’m taking in.”

Speed started 18th and drove into the top 10 in 15 laps, running as high as fifth at halfway. Fighting a tight condition in traffic, Speed’s last pit stop for four tires and fuel came on lap 96. He restarted 14th and charged to 10th, as the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota was the fastest truck for 10 of the final 20 laps.

It was Speed’s eighth top-10 finish in 14 races (to go along with a victory and four top fives), and only once has he finished outside the top 15 in his past seven starts.

On the Nationwide side: All signs point to big things (we are in Texas, after all) for Brian Vickers in his final Nationwide Series race of the season (3:30 p.m. ET today).

+ He starts 10th.
+ He’s driving the No. 10.
+ The Red Bull Energy Station opened at 10 a.m.

Trick or Treat NASCAR Style

2008-10-31T13:17:00.001-07:00

Still scrambling to throw together a Halloween costume for tonight? Try one of these 10 NASCAR-related getups.

Dale Jr.: Wear an unassuming T-shirt and pair of Wranglers and have hundreds of race fans stalk you.

The BV: Keep the five o’clock shadow growing.

Jeff Hammond: Hit the local Western store and buy some boots (spurs required), a cowboy hat and belt buckle the size of a salad plate.

Scott Speed (above right): Shave your hair into a Mohawk. Use your imagination after that.

The Champion: Just say you’re Jimmie Johnson.

The Carl: Back flip out of your car upon arrival and fail to catch the person wearing the Champion costume.

Bruton Smith: Come dressed to the nine like SMI’s head man. Show a little chest and the perfect tan underneath your shirt and sport coat, along with lavish, gold-plated sunglasses.

The Goodyear Eagle: Shred whatever you’re wearing.

Token NASCAR fan: Arrive drunk wearing jorts. Show off the belly and back hair.

The Biff: Bring a box of Milk-Bone dog treats as well as select K-9 DVDs, like “101 Dalmations,” “Lassie,” “Old Yeller” and “Turner & Hooch.”

Today at Texas: Qualifying actually took place (the previous three sessions were rained out). Brian Vickers timed in 13th, with teammate Scott Speed qualifying 33rd. Scott starts 18th in tonight’s Craftsman Truck Series race (9 p.m. ET).

Everything's Bigger in NASCAR

2008-10-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

Talladega, turkey legs, budgets, fuel consumption, a 600-mile race, tire failures, fans who don’t mind rain, traffic, a 12-month season and really heavy cars.

Red Bull Racing Team drivers have a busy weekend ahead in Texas. Aside from the usual Sprint Cup duties, Brian Vickers and Scott Speed will partake in the support races — Brian in Saturday's Nationwide race (his last of the season) and Scott in Friday's Craftsman Truck event.

Stopping, Speeding and Sliding

2008-10-28T07:02:00.001-07:00

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.”

Red Bull Snow Stories

2008-10-25T07:02:00.000-07:00

A thick, white ceiling hanging just above Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday cancelled Sprint Cup qualifying for the third consecutive week and 10th time this season. There was no snow (there was in March when we were here), but the dreary day brought back memories of 1993 when the infamous “White Hurricane” swallowed the East Coast.

Red Bull Racing Team’s two former Nationwide Series drivers — Elton Sawyer (above) and Tim Fedewa — remember the weekend like it was yesterday.

“It was like 60 or 70 degrees on Friday,” Sawyer said. “We came in Saturday and there was like 10 or 12 inches of snow. It was amazing. They were snowed out on Saturday and Sunday and came back the next weekend to run the race.”

“Literally,” Fedewa said, “we got 18 or 19 inches. The wind was blowing 30 or 40 mph. It was just a whiteout. It was a blizzard. The whole town of Atlanta was shut down. Just to come to the track and see that — no one could move. It was just a very weird-looking situation. I just moved down from Michigan, and to see snow was no big deal for me. But to see it in Atlanta …”

Conditions today at Atlanta are expected to improve for Sprint Cup’s two practice sessions (10:30 a.m. and noon ET). Brian Vickers, who turned 25 on Friday, has two top-10 finishes in his past two starts here. On the Craftsman Truck side, Scott Speed starts 11th in the E-Z-GO 200 (1:30 p.m.).

Ride 'Em Cowboy

2008-10-23T08:06:00.001-07:00

Cross mechanical bull riding off Scott Speed’s to-do list.

Driver No. 84 spent Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas, hanging on for dear life after learning from the best in bull riding, world champion Tuff Hedeman. Sporting a black cowboy hat, shirt, No. 84/rookie stripe on his back and with his chest sticking out like a true cowboy (no chaps), Speed took a few pointers from Hedeman and then proceeded to get tossed all over the place.

“It’s definitely one of those things that’s way harder than it looks,” Speed said. “I’ve been riding for the last hour, and I am WORN out. My groin muscle is destroyed. I am so tired. I wanted to ride a real bull — that was my first idea — but that got ixnayed by the lawyers.”

Hedeman was impressed.

“Scott is the kind of guy that if he wanted to be a bull rider, I’m sure he could,” Hedeman said. “Physically he is probably the right size. Most bull riders aren’t that big. Mentally, bull riders and race car drivers are all kind of cut from the same cloth. They are not afraid of danger. The adrenaline rush is what excites them.”

Speed, of course, took in the Texas culture, chilling with Hedeman, munching some barbeque and shopping at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

“I’m really having a great time here in Texas,” Speed said, “in my little cowboy hat and cowboy uniform experiencing this culture and hanging out with Tuff. I enjoy experiencing different cultures and different ways of life. I’m really lucky to be able to do all that.”

NASCAR Penalizes No. 83

2008-10-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Racing Team’s No. 83 car and driver Brian Vickers lost 150 points each in their respective standings after infractions found in post-race inspection Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

NASCAR ruled that the No. 83, chosen for random inspection after an 11th-place finish, had “exterior sheet metal (that) did not meet the specified minimum thickness.” Crew chief Kevin Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad were suspended indefinitely, with Hamlin receiving a $100,000 fine.

“As a team we accept full responsibility for the infractions regarding the No. 83’s Martinsville car and will not appeal NASCAR’s ruling,” said Jay Frye, the team’s general manager and vice president. “This approach to racing is against the values of Red Bull Racing Team, and the necessary steps will be taken to rectify the situation ensuring it does not happen again. It is a privilege to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and we are taking this penalty seriously.”

Research and development director Randy Cox will assume crew chief responsibilities this weekend at Atlanta. Cox served as the No. 83 crew chief for the final four races of the 2007 season.

The penalty dropped Vickers from 15th to 17th in the driver standings, and the No. 83 fell two spots to 18th in car owner points.

Already Chase Material

2008-10-20T11:44:00.000-07:00

Looks like Scott Speed’s well on his way to the Chase (note the above statistics).

Speed finished 30th in his Sprint Cup debut Sunday, learning early on the value of brakes in a Martinsville race. He kept the car off the wall and out of the way, and the No. 84 moved to 34th in the car owner standings. So Speed’s safe in qualifying at Atlanta.

“We really struggled today — we had brake issues all day long," Speed said. "This is a really long day when you have 500 laps to complete. The good thing is that we picked up a spot in the points and we completed all 500 laps.”

Teammate Brian Vickers, for the record, finished 33rd when he debuted in October 2003 at Charlotte. On Sunday, he finished 11th, running as high as fourth with 125 laps to go before the No. 83 failed to react to late-race adjustments. Vickers, 15th in points, is chasing a career-best finish in the driver standings. He’s 244 points behind 14th-place Kasey Kahne with four races remaining.

“We lost it there at the end. It just didn’t seem to be as strong in those last two runs," Vickers said. "We made some adjustments on that second-to-last stop, and it really hurt the car. We didn’t have a really good short-run car anyway, but I’m really proud of the Red Bull guys. This was probably our best short track car that we’ve ever had. That has been our weakest link at Red Bull since we started and just really proud of the effort. We probably had a top-five car if the race played out the right way.”

Engineering Minds Want to Know

2008-10-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

No de-briefing went down Friday afternoon at Martinsville. Practice and qualifying were cancelled, so Brian Vickers and the No. 83 team entered today with little to go on other than a computerized notebook and past experience.

But these are the days where Brian really makes his money, relaying information — handling characteristics, etc. — to the guys on the other end of the radio. Brakes are at a premium at Martinsville. Conditions this weekend are damp and cold. Getting the car to roll through the corners is paramount. So whatever knowledge Brian can drop during practice is certainly welcome.

“I have a little bit of an engineering mind, I guess you could say. I’ve always been intrigued by that,” he said. “That was something I was potentially going to go to college for. But I’m not an engineer and don’t claim to be, but I feel I can give the detailed information I need.”

Indeed, Brian welcomes his role as a translator of sorts, something he learned from veteran Jeff Gordon while Brian was at Hendrick Motorsports. He’s the driver, and only the driver knows what the car “feels” like.

“Let everybody do their job,” Brian said. “Two heads are better than one, but, that being said, let the crew chief crew chief, let the race engineer engineer and try to the make the car go fast. You just tell them what you need to go fast, tell them what the car is doing and where it needs to be better. And you do your part.

“It’s not their job to drive the car. It’s not your job to build the car. I collaborate with the engineer and crew chief on ideas and thoughts that I have.”

As far as on-track activity at Martinsville, Brian’s No. 83 starts 17th Sunday, while teammate Scott Speed’s No. 84 rolls off 35th. Scott, too, is in today’s Craftsman Truck Series race, where he’ll start 32nd in the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota.

Raw Deal for Red Bull

2008-10-13T09:57:00.000-07:00

Brian Vickers has 225 days to think about another one that got away at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. This time, the culprit was a blown right-front tire that came with the No. 83 riding in the top 10. The last time, in May, a left-rear wheel worked its way loose with Vickers leading.

Lately, the North Carolina driver’s hometown track has been anything but warm and friendly. He was scored a lap down in 18th in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500, this after working to the front to lead a 64-lap stretch.

“I can’t believe it. We just can’t catch a break at this track,” said Vickers, who’s led 201 laps in his past three Charlotte starts. “We always have a dominant car here — usually the dominant car — and we have never been able to capitalize on it for a win. It’s very frustrating.”

Inside 100 laps to go, Vickers, running ninth, slowed on the high side as the tire gave way, eventually scraping the wall as traffic roared by below.

“A caution didn’t come out,” he said. “We ended up going down two laps trying to get down across the track to the pits. The last thing I wanted to do was turn across traffic where I could have caused a big wreck. Everyone on this team works their butts off, and we have been close to a win so many times this year. Our time will come.”

Teammate Mike Skinner took the No. 84 to the garage on lap 64 after this incident: “The guys told me that it looked like the 55 (Michael Waltrip) went down in the grass, got loose and came up and hit us. I guess (Ken) Schrader thought it was a green-white-checkered, I don’t know.”

An accurate take by Skinner, who finished 39th but kept the No. 84 in the top 35 in car owner points. Scott Speed will take over the car for the final five races, beginning Sunday at Martinsville.

'The Beast Threw Me a Bone'

2008-10-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

John Holman doesn’t have a favorite NASCAR driver. No favorite car numbers, sponsors or paint schemes.

“I pull for the track,” Holman said. “This year, the beast threw me a bone.”

The “bone” was a 70-pound Goodyear Eagle tire, one that shimmied off Brian Vickers’ No. 83 during May’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. While Brian’s car continued on, so did the tire — bouncing down the banking in turn two, up and over the fence and into Holman’s camper.

“I saw the tire in the air like a spinning top,” he remembered. “A tire coming over the fence was the last thing I was thinking. It did, and it went through the camper, landed in a neighboring tailgate. I saw the tire in the back of the truck, smoking. I knew not to touch that thing.”

Holman lost the side of his camper, but it was perhaps his greatest moment in 20 visits to the 600. As a consolation, Red Bull Racing Team gave Holman the tire, autographed sheet metal and team hat, four cases of Red Bull and a $300 Lowe’s gift certificate.

He’s making a glass table out of the tire. “Too heavy to hang up,” he said.

Holman, a 49-year-old from Hickory, N.C., is hardcore. Fans like him are the fabric of NASCAR. He’s been to 400 races and has 4,000 autographs.

“My house is a NASCAR shrine,” Holman said. “I do the infield, I hang around. Whoever is nice to me, that’s who I like … the ones that take time out for the fans. Ever since this has happened, I’ve been pulling for Brian.”

Rest assured, Holman will be hanging around the infield tonight at LMS. Only he’ll be parked along the backstretch for the Bank of America 500 (7:25 p.m. ET). Brian, who finished third in Friday night’s Nationwide Series race, starts 16th. Teammate Mike Skinner starts 34th.

Painting the Town with Speed

2008-10-10T08:19:00.001-07:00

He never got the chance to qualify the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota. A steady drizzle took care of that Thursday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. But at least Scott Speed got to show off his creative side as he welcomed media members to the Red Bull Energy Station.

Two young and talented graffiti artists were on hand, decorating custom white ball caps any and every way possible while Speed chatted it up with reporters. Later that day, word came down that NASCAR had called qualifying.

“For sure, it’s disappointing that qualifying got rained out because my crew and I were really looking forward to getting on track and racing a third car for Red Bull,” he said. “I’ve raced a Truck at Lowe’s, and I’ve also tested a Cup car here, so we thought it would be a good place for my first Cup race. I guess we still have two good things going for us, though — that I’ve also raced at Martinsville, and that we only have to wait another week to make our Cup debut.”

Speed will take over the No. 84 for the final five races. But first he’ll try to lock up the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship Sunday in Toledo, Ohio.

Brian Vickers and Mike Skinner will race Saturday night. The lineup was set on car owner points, with BV’s No. 83 starting 17th and Skinner’s No. 84 rolling off 34th. They’ll have two practice sessions today (5 and 6:20 p.m. ET).

Chefs Go Grill-to-Grill

2008-10-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

For Cliff Cameron, hitting the kitchen by 6 a.m. is like Brian Vickers turning a qualifying lap around Talladega.

Routine.

Cameron, Red Bull Racing Team’s chef, brings top-notch cuisine to the Nos. 83 and 84 haulers each day. Eggs, hash browns, grits, biscuits and gravy, fruit and breakfast burritos laced with bacon … that’s just the basics at the crack of dawn.

But the basics won’t count Wednesday morning when Cameron takes on Michael Waltrip Racing chef Peter Ray in the first “NASCAR Iron Chefs,” part of “Fox News Rising’s” morning show in metro Charlotte (6-8 a.m.).

In Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s winner’s circle, Cameron and Ray will cook only with what is bought by crew members. In Cameron’s case, over-the-wall guys Mike Metcalf, Brian Dheel and John Billy spent $50 at a local grocery store. It’s up to Cameron after that.

“It’s all in fun. This is not serious by any means,” Cameron said. “The pit crew is doing the shopping. All the info they got from me is that I want to do an appetizer and entrée. That’s all of the specifics I could give them.”

Fox Charlotte’s John Wilson will judge the competition. Cameron and Ray will have about 90 minutes to prepare the food, each with their own prep table and 3-foot space on a 6-foot grill.

“I’m going in totally blind,” Cameron said. “It’s about how creative you can be with the shopping knowledge of a pit crew.”

What does Cameron expect from his pit crew shoppers?

“I’m thinking healthy,” Cameron said. “Most of the money was probably spent in the produce section. They’re all athletes. I think the pit crew is going to throw stuff in there just to make me laugh.”

Things That Go Boom

2008-10-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

With a stout car underneath him, Brian Vickers’ strategy led him to the front, hoping he’d somehow avoid one of the mid-pack wrecks that make Talladega Superspeedway famous.

Then … BOOM!

“I felt a bomb explode,” Vickers said. “It didn’t cut. It didn’t go flat. It just exploded.”

Indeed, the right-front tire on the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota gave way on lap 68 while Vickers was running in the top five. The explosion shredded sheet metal, and his car immediately darted to the right and connected with another on the outside. All hell broke loose after that.

“I was just trying to make sure that I was holding on as tight as possible,” said Vickers, who led 10 laps Sunday. “When you lose a right-front tire there’s nothing you can do. You’re really just at the mercy of where momentum is going to take you and other guys around you and hopefully they avoid you.”

The failed Goodyear Eagle triggered Sunday’s first “big one,” as nine cars went spinning and crashing. Included was Mike Skinner’s No. 84. He had nowhere to go.

“Our goal today was to miss that,” Skinner said, “and we didn’t miss it.”

Both cars returned to the track, but the end result was 31st for Skinner and 35th for Vickers.

Vickers moved up one spot in points to 16th, and he’s only 13 points behind 15th-place Ryan Newman. Skinner’s No. 84 slipped one spot in the car owner standings to 34th — 17 points out of the red entering this weekend’s home race in Charlotte.

Safe Escape from Talladega

2008-10-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

In one race, he kept his championship lead. In the other, he kept his truck in one piece. Both were quite the accomplishment considering Scott Speed’s latest double-duty weekend came at Talladega Superspeedway.

The site of his first stock car start in October 2007, Talladega was a defining chapter in Speed’s race to the ARCA RE/MAX Series title. He and his closest championship rival, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., were involved in separate incidents Friday — Speed’s being a blown right-rear tire — that sent both cars behind the wall for repairs.

They returned to the track multiple laps down, with Speed’s No. 2 Red Bull Toyota crossing the stripe five positions ahead of Stenhouse in 23rd. He lengthened his championship lead to 85 points over Stenhouse, as five drivers will have a title shot in the Oct. 12 season finale at Toledo Speedway.

In Saturday’s Craftsman Truck race, Speed beat, banged and bounced around 2.66-mile Talladega to finish 15th in the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota. It was Speed’s seventh top-15 finish in 11 truck starts, and he got a healthy dose of just how dicey Talladega can be.

“That was just ridiculous,” Speed said. “The two races here were crazy. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun out there but I was sweating at the same time. It was mayhem out there, but we still managed to get the job done and that’s all that matters.”

Speed will attempt to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup debut Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., then hopes to lock up the ARCA championship the next day in Toledo, Ohio.

Down in Dega: Brian Vickers, in the No. 83, and Mike Skinner's No. 84 start ninth and 21st, respectively, in today's Talladega 500 (2 p.m. ET).

Clash with the Orangemen

2008-10-04T14:46:00.000-07:00

At least the No. 83 team won’t have to worry about Tony Stewart clipping one of its crew members in the pits this week. Today at Talladega, the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota drew the second pit stall, directly behind the No. 28 and ahead of the No. 99.

Stewart drives No. 20, the same car that gave gas man Doug Newell a ride at Kansas. Anyone glued to the tube Sunday saw, over and over via replays, Newell roll up onto the hood of Stewart’s car during a pit stop on lap 117. The team was taking out right-rear spring rubbers installed on an earlier stop, and an impatient Stewart, exiting from behind, just decided to go — gas man up ahead or not.

“About the time Brian started to go, (Stewart) started to go and before you knew it I was up on the hood of his car,” Newell said. “The worst part about it was that it rolled me up on my back. I felt like a turtle upside down. I couldn’t do anything, couldn’t grab a hold of anything.

“I was kind of thinking if you would just stop I can get off of here. My other thought was that I wanted to roll off on the driver’s side and empty rest of my gas can on his lap.”

Nothing like life on pit road.

Brian qualified ninth for Sunday’s Talladega 500 (186.707 mph), with No. 84 driver Mike Skinner rolling off 21st (186.065).

BV’s Ruling on ‘The Rush’

2008-10-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Brian Vickers has felt “the rush” countless times — in a race car cruising at 190 mph or free falling to the Earth at 115. But nothing, he said, can match the first time.

“And as long as you understand that,” he said, “you’re not always chasing that ‘first time.’ If you’re always chasing that rush the first time you did something, that’s what usually gets people into trouble because you’re never going to beat that. People try to, and that’s when people get hurt. They get riskier, riskier and riskier looking for that first rush.”

Racing yields a lot of firsts. Brian’s first rush came when he drove go-karts as a kid. Another came the first time in a full-sized race car. Another the first time in a high-horsepower Sprint Cup car. More after his Nationwide championship and first Cup victory at Talladega. And, yes, another when Brian made his skydiving debut in February. He’s jumped about 10 times since then.

“That (the rush) starts to drop,” he said. “Like with anything you do repeatedly, eventually it’s going to go. I don’t think it’s ever going to go way, I’m mean, jumping out of an airplane …”

He’s also flown with Red Bull Air Racer Kirby Chambliss, so where does Vickers find that next high?

“I’ve thought about jumping in with a snowboard and cut the chute right when you land,” he said. “Something tells me that’s more involved than what I imagine.”

The Talladega 500 is a so-called impound race. Brian and Mike Skinner will practice twice today, with qualifying at 12:15 p.m. ET Saturday. Then it’s straight to Sunday’s race.

Speed blurb: Scott Speed’s busy this weekend. He starts seventh in today’s ARCA/RE MAX Series 250 (5 p.m.) and rolls off 16th in Saturday’s Craftsman Truck race (4 p.m.).

Guzzling Gas

2008-10-01T14:25:00.001-07:00

Stretching fuel mileage has taken on new meaning these days around Charlotte, N.C. Getting gas means getting in line, oftentimes squeezing into a 25-car draft that spills out onto the street.

The current national average is $3.61 a gallon. Charlotte has partly been in gridlock with some pumps pushing $4.19. Residents are taking the bus and bumming rides because even the next station’s “93” pumps carry a grocery bag.

Consider these numbers relating to NASCAR:

A Talladega car holds 19 gallons of gas. Cars can complete 34 laps (90.6 miles) before refueling, with six stops anticipated in Sunday’s 500-miler. Between practice, qualifying and the race, about 135 gallons will be consumed per piece. That amount translates into a Charlotte street value of $540, even though Sunoco supplies the fuel at no charge to NASCAR teams.

Skinner and Speed to Share 84 for Rest of '08

2008-09-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Racing Team announces Mike Skinner and Red Bull development driver Scott Speed to replace AJ Allmendinger in the No. 84 for the rest of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The No. 84 currently sits 33rd in owners’ points.

"The schedule we put together is in the best interest of both Red Bull Racing Team and AJ's plans for the future,” said RBRT Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye. "Allowing Mike Skinner and Scott Speed to share the No. 84 for the balance of the season helps our team continue developing our program for the future.”

Mike Skinner, who drove the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota for five races earlier in the 2008 season, will take the reins of the No. 84 at the NSCS races in both Talladega and Charlotte.

Red Bull development driver Scott Speed will drive the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota at Charlotte on October 11 – the same weekend he attempts to clinch the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship in Toledo. Speed will then take over driving duties of the No. 84 at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

Sights, Sounds and Antlers

2008-09-28T13:13:00.001-07:00

Random observations from the weekend at Kansas Speedway:

+ Coolest name for a minor-league baseball team: the Kansas City T-Bones.

+ Kansas Speedway is a jewel of race track with purple and yellow grandstands, well-groomed grass and wide roads entering and exiting the track — the latter being essential for the race after the race.

+ Two enormous elk heads — yes, heads — graced the Cup garage Sunday morning, a couple of trucks down from the No. 83. Fresh from the taxidermist, they were the trophies of Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Kevin Manion. Strange, however, seeing stuffed wildlife rub elbows with a stack of Goodyears.

+ The team’s self-proclaimed “fan numero uno” was in full force sporting a Red Bull can-like cape and bullhorns. Eric Novotny, 27, made the seven-hour drive from South Dakota to cheer on Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. Every qualifying and race day, Novotny throws back two Red Bulls and bought 83 cans at the beginning of the season.

+ The team stayed in Overland Park, which ranks ninth on Money magazine’s 100 Best Cities to Live list. It’s also home to Sprint’s world headquarters.

+ Much of the garage was buzzing about Formula One’s first night race in Singapore. If only our races lasted 1 hour, 57 minutes and 16.304 seconds.

+ Wonder if dogfighter Michael Vick can hear the roar of the engines from his cell in nearby Leavenworth? In May, the aforementioned T-Bones wore black and white striped jerseys on “Michael Vick Welcome to the Neighborhood Night.” Their opponent sported orange jumpsuit replica jerseys.

+ The track is unique in that it was built in a large bowl, with spectator hills all the way around (pictured above). The view from RV row along the backstretch is underrated.

+ A college mascot convention broke out in the infield. Among the characters in attendance were Big Jay and Baby Jay from Kansas, Willie the Wildcat from Kansas State, Lil’ Red from Nebraska and Kangaroo Kasey from Missouri-Kansas City.

Wrestling with Rubber

2008-09-26T17:30:00.001-07:00

He’s a native Kansan, but Aaron Schields’ hometown of Goodland may as well be a world away from Kansas City. The No. 83 tire carrier says there’s little to Goodland, a small town seven hours to the west, other than farming, football and wrestling.

The latter he was exceptional at. He won four state titles in the Kansas Kids youth program and then took 4A state championships his junior (145 pounds) and senior years (152).

“It’s the most challenging sport mentally and physically,” said Schields, 27. “I kind of conquered all of that when I was younger. It teaches self-discipline.”

Wrestling translates well on pit road, too. A tire and rim weigh some 70 pounds.

“There’s more strength involved carrying tires,” he said. “But there’s also lots of balance and agility, quick and explosive moves.”

In Kansas: Brian Vickers qualified his No. 83 ninth (170.762 mph) for Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway. AJ Allmendinger's No. 84 checked in 14th (170.498 mph).

In New Jersey: Points leader Scott Speed continues his quest for the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship. He was second fastest in Friday's opening practice on the road course at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with "European style" qualifying set for Saturday afternoon.

Two Days of Testing

2008-09-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Brian Vickers has slipped, slid and saved it around Lowe’s Motor Speedway in nine Sprint Cup races. Mike Skinner’s total (15) nearly doubles that.

Scott Speed, however, has tackled the 1.5-mile track only once — and that start came in a Craftsman Truck, not in NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow and certainly not against Cup’s caliber of talent.

“I’m playing catch-up here,” Speed said Tuesday. “There’s absolutely no substitute for experience. In a series like this, where everyone’s got so much of it and you’re coming in with so little, every week I’m out racing or driving, it’s really quite helpful.”

The ARCA points leader and part-time trucker is testing the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota for two days. He was second fastest in Tuesday’s evening session, turning a lap at 184.881 mph. Mike Skinner, in the No. 84, and Brian Vickers’ No. 83 were 13th and 16th, respectively, under the lights, which comes close to the conditions cars will encounter in the Oct. 11 Bank of America 500.

“This car moves around a lot less,” Speed said. “Everything is done right on these things. The steering box, the pedal box — everything is really precise. It makes it actually easier for me to feel the car and the changes. So far, it’s been an easy transition.”

Testing continues today, with action running from 1-9 p.m. ET and a break from 5-6.

Tuesday's speeds
Afternoon
18. Mike Skinner (84), 182.162 mph
24. Scott Speed (82), 179.659 mph
28. Brian Vickers (83), 179.485 mph
Fastest: Dale Earnhardt Jr., 182.642 mph
Evening
2. Scott Speed (82), 184.881 mph
13. Mike Skinner (84), 182.871 mph
16. Brian Vickers (83), 182.741 mph
Fastest: Greg Biffle, 185.605 mph

Wednesday's speeds
Afternoon
5. Brian Vickers (83), 180.947 mph
14. Scott Speed (82), 180.270 mph
40. Mike Skinner (84), 178.436 mph
Fastest: Greg Biffle, 181.928 mph
Evening
2. Scott Speed (82), 186.638 mph
8. Mike Skinner (84), 185.433 mph
25. Brian Vickers (83), 182.896 mph
Fastest: Jeff Gordon, 187.233 mph

AJ Out at RBRT in '09

2008-09-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Racing Team and driver AJ Allmendinger have agreed to part ways for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Allmendinger is in his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season driving the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota, which currently sits 34th in owners’ points.

“AJ is a talented driver and we really enjoyed working with him,” said RBRT Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye. “He’s come a long way in just two years and we wish him nothing but the best.”

In an effort to continue the development of the No. 84 team, Red Bull athlete Mike Skinner will drive the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota during this week’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway open test. Skinner has been called upon by RBRT on multiple occasions since the team’s 2006 NSCS entrance, including a five-race stint in the No. 84 earlier in the 2008 season, as well as mentor duties for both Allmendinger and Red Bull development driver Scott Speed. Skinner will round off a three-car test for Red Bull Racing Team alongside Red Bull development driver Scott Speed in the No. 82, and Brian Vickers in the No. 83.

Red Bull Racing Team will make an announcement regarding the 2009 driver lineup at a later date.

Painful, But Productive, Day

2008-09-22T08:16:00.001-07:00

Certain his shoulders would ache in five hours, AJ Allmendinger rested with his feet up in the No. 84 hauler, eyes and ears tuned to NFL action on the flat screen.

“Not just ache,” he said, “but pain. It just hurts. This is such a tough race.”

Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway delivered everything AJ expected on his way to a 16th-place finish — a flurry of yellow flags, pit strategy, the car’s tight condition and a body sure to hurt Monday morning.

AJ was running fourth just before the halfway point, but the No. 84 grew progessively tighter in the second half, prompting AJ to relay by radio that "turning is non-existent."

The team later discovered that a broken track bar mount probably didn’t help the handling.

“I think it broke right before our pit strategy put us in the top five because the last two runs, we were just way too tight,” AJ said. “It wasn’t a top-five car, but I thought we could maybe get right there around 12th or 13th and see what happened, and that’s kind of where we were running. After that, it was just tighter than it had been all day.”

AJ’s sixth top-20 finish in the past 10 races moved the No. 84 up two spots to 34th in the car owner standings.

Teammate Brian Vickers battled grip issues all afternoon. Hardly ever could he carry speed through the corners or run the bottom. No series of adjustments seemed to help the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, and when they did near the lap-350 mark, it was too late.

Brian finished 31st and dropped one spot in points to 17th.

“If we still want that 13th spot — which we do — we need to get our stuff together,” he said. “I don’t know what was wrong, but we had no grip all day. I was running as fast as the car was going to let me through the corners.”

Salem to Sin City

2008-09-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

On paper, ARCA’s next event (Sept. 28) is just another race. But New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt Raceway is a 2.3-mile, 14-turn road course that caters to Scott Speed’s skill set.

He has, after all, traversed some of the world’s finest circuits in Formula One. New Jersey, no problem.

“We’ll be fine. We’ll bring really good stuff there. No need to worry,” he said. “We just need to stay on course, finish these last three races and we’ll win the championship.”

Coming off an eighth-place finish at Salem — his series-leading 16th top 10 — Scott leads the ARCA RE/MAX Series standings by 90 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with three races remaining.

But first, Scott must survive Sin City in tonight’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck race. He hasn’t driven Bill Davis Racing’s No. 22 Red Bull Toyota since August at Bristol, and he owns five top-10 finishes in nine truck starts.

A long day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway begins with two practice sessions (noon and 1:45 p.m. ET), followed by qualifying at 6:30 and the race at 9:30.

In Dover: Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger have today’s two practice sessions to shore up their Red Bull Toyotas before Sunday’s Camping World RV 400. Brian’s No. 83 starts 18th, with AJ’s No. 84 in 30th.

Three Cheers for Vettel

2008-09-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

There he was, lounging in his home away from home in motorcoach space No. 30 at New Hampshire. On the tube Sunday morning was the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, and Brian Vickers couldn’t turn away while a young Red Bull athlete drove to his first F1 victory.

“I watch F1 every week it is on,” Brian said. “Sometimes I watch live, but most of the time I record the races and watch later, usually in my motorcoach. I set my TV to record all NASCAR and F1 races.”

Brian’s TV archived a historic occasion, as Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel, 21, won the wet-weather Italian GP some 12 seconds ahead of Heikki Kovalainen.

“I cheered for Vettel,” he said. “I am very happy and proud for Red Bull. I had the opportunity to spend time with Sebastian in the off-season in Austria. He is a great guy.”

Brian drives stock cars with 850 horsepower at 9,000 rpms. Vettel pilots Earth-bound fighter planes with 700 horsepower at 19,000 rpms.

“I love the technology and the speed of the cars — and racing in the rain,” said Brian, who attended the 2006 United States Grand Prix. “The normally dry races can be extremely boring, but racing in the rain is great.”

Frye Signs Multi-Year Agreement

2008-09-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

Red Bull Racing Team formally announces Vice President and General Manager Jay Frye has agreed to a multi-year contract extension to continue managing its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team.

“I’m extremely pleased and quite excited to continue my relationship with Red Bull Racing Team,” said Frye. “It truly is amazing to see the levels of potential, desire and dedication this organization has for wanting to succeed and be a leading force each and every weekend we compete on the track. To be able to continue to see this team achieve its long-term goals is something I’m very committed to.”

Frye joined Red Bull Racing Team in January 2008 and in his short tenure has been integral in leading the team to a successful 2008 NSCS season. Under Frye’s leadership, Brian Vickers’ No. 83 Red Bull team is currently 15th in points, and to date, has seen a season of accomplishments including three top-five finishes and six top-ten finishes. Teammate AJ Allmendinger’s No. 84 team won their first NSCS event with the NASCAR Sprint Showdown feature race, in addition to earning 1 top-ten finish and eight top-20 finishes.

Indy's Yellow Army

2008-09-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

Chances are anyone who’s been to Indianapolis Motor Speedway has had a close encounter with a “yellow shirt.”

Track officials refer to them as the Safety Patrol, but Indy insiders have stuck the yellow label on them because, while appreciative of their tireless efforts, they can go a lot overboard while parking cars or ushering around pedestrians.

And the yellow shirts are everywhere — on the surrounding streets, outside and inside the track, in the paddock, the grandstands, on the Pagoda and probably guarding the seventh green of Brickyard Crossing. It seems like every 15 feet there’s a yellow shirt keeping things safe for the public.

“More than 2,000,” Indy confirmed, work the major events — the Indy 500, Allstate 400 and today’s Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix for MotoGP bikes.

“There’s a lot of them,” said IMS exec Mel Harder. “When it’s race day, when the stands are full, they become pretty passionate about their jobs.”

For the first time in 99 years, motorcycles will roar down the Brickyard’s famed frontstretch with today’s inaugural running of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.

“It’ll be great for thrill seekers who want to see a bike go 200 mph down the frontstretch, lean it over and scrape their knee on the asphalt,” IMS president Joie Chitwood said.

Four American riders, including Red Bull athlete and 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden, will battle past champions Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner around the course that uses part of the oval. Unlike when Formula One ran there, MotoGP bikes will race in a counterclockwise direction, with a new series of four turns just after the start-finish line. High-speed esses also replaced the double-hairpin Hulman Straight.

At Loudon: Weather permitting, Brian Vickers’ No. 83 and AJ Allmendinger’s No. 84 will roll off 16th and 34th, respectively, in today’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, ABC).

At Salem: Scott Speed finished eighth in Saturday night’s ARCA race in Salem, Ind. It was yet another top-10 finish for Speed, whose championship lead swelled to 90 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

No Shortage of Storylines

2008-09-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

A Red Bull Toyota will not participate in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, but there are still plenty of storylines surrounding Red Bull Racing Team as NASCAR’s postseason begins this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

+ Brian Vickers begins to debate what premiere week TV shows to download to his MacBook Pro.

+ AJ Allmendinger is fighting for his top-35 life. He and the No. 84 are 34th — 10 points out of the red in the car owner standings.

+ Brian’s in the hunt for the best points finish of his career. He was 15th in 2006 and is 193 points from the $1 million bonus awarded to the highest-finishing non-Chase driver.

+ In the United Racing Fantasy Football League, AJ’s team is off to a 1-0 start behind the stellar play of (no, not Brett Favre) Tony Romo.

+ Brian would gladly accept the role of Chase spoiler. He has finished eighth or better at eight of the final 10 tracks.

+ Before visiting Sunday’s Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, Scott Speed has ARCA business to attend to Saturday in Salem, Ind., where he finished fifth in April. He holds a 50-point lead with four races to go.

At Loudon: Weather permitting, the Red Bull Toyotas will take to the flat, 1.058-mile track for practice today at noon ET, with qualifying set for 3:10 p.m.

Four Wheels, Then Two

2008-09-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

Friday, he’ll visit the new drag strip outside Charlotte, N.C. Next he’ll race Saturday at the tiny track in Salem, Ind. And then Scott Speed’s off to the Brickyard for Sunday’s inaugural running of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. That’s quite a weekend of motorsports — drag racing, stock car racing and MotoGP all rolled into three days.

“MotoGP is awesome,” Scott said. “I haven’t been in a few years since Jerez (Spain), so I am very excited about going to Indy this weekend. I have a ton of respect for the guys that ride those bikes. They are ridiculously fast and somewhat crazy if you ask me. Red Bull’s Nicky Hayden (see pic above) is a badass, so it’s fun to root him on. I would love to have had talent on two wheels other than four, but I don’t so all I can do is watch.”

Stay tuned to the Red Bull Indianapolis GP this Sunday, Sept 14 when Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the first motorcycle race at the facility since 1909. Good luck to all the Red Bull riders!

Speed Set for Cup Testing at Lowe's

2008-09-08T10:32:00.000-07:00

Red Bull development driver Scott Speed will turn laps in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series open test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on September 23 – 24. Speed will drive the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota under the watch of NASCAR officials who will assess his ability to participate in future Cup races.

Speed will test alongside teammates Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. Rumors surfaced that Speed had already been privately testing a Sprint Cup car. We can confirm - those rumors were true. Speed tested at both Nashville Superspeedway and Kentucky Motor Speedway.

During the 2008 season, Speed has been running a full-time ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule under the wing of Eddie Sharp Racing, earning four wins to date. Speed has also been logging seat time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with Bill Davis Racing, earning his first Truck win at Dover.

!#$@%!&@#$!...

2008-09-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

...was what was going through the minds of Red Bull Racing Team after yesterday's disappointing run at Richmond. This, is what our duo of drivers had to say about finishing 36th (BV) and 43rd (AJ):

Brian Vickers: "We were never as good as we needed to be to run with the fast cars. The car was really tight in the center for most of the day. Then with about 100 laps to go, we were penalized two laps for blowing a tire. I guess they made the incorrect assumption that I was trying to bring out a caution, but I wasn’t. I never came to a stop and went as fast as I could with the blown tire. The right front tire was riding on rims. That was a frustrating call for us. The car was the best it had been all day during the last 40 laps or so of the race. Unfortunately, it was too late in the race and we were never able to recover from the penalty.”

AJ Allmendinger: “I really can’t even think of one good thing to say about this day. We dropped two cylinders right at the start of the race and we spent almost 60 laps in the garage trying to fix it. We made a mistake in the pits too, which forced us to make some extra pit stops. That put us down even more laps. Even though we lost a lot of laps, we still thought we’d have a chance to gain some spots back if just a few cars dropped out. That, unfortunately, didn’t happen and we ran around in 43rd all race long. Overall, it was just a really bad day for us and that reflects in the points standings. We came into this race 31st in points, and we’re leaving 34th in points.”

Introducing Cliff Cameron, RBRT's chef extraordinaire

2008-09-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Every job on a NASCAR Sprint Cup team is important, and one of the most critical during a race weekend belongs to Cliff Cameron, the team cook at Red Bull Racing.
Cameron is charged with preparing high-nutrition meals for the young athletes who go over the wall to perform 13-second pit stops for the Toyota Camrys of Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. He also has to come up with meals the older guys on the team enjoy as well. It's a challenge he relishes -- no pun intended.

Born Charles Clifford Cameron II, the 33-year-old Red Bull cook has spent his entire career in the food business. After graduating with a degree in hospitality management from Appalachian State University and getting an associate arts degree from Brevard College, he began his career as a catering director.

"I ended up going through so many chefs in the first two years that I finally said, 'Hire me another catering director and I'll do the cooking,'" Cameron said.
Most recently, Cameron spent four years as executive chef at Queen's Landing, a restaurant in Mooresville, N.C., in the heart of NASCAR country that is popular with race crews. It was there that he was contacted by Red Bull officials looking for a recommendation for a new cook. Instead of recommending someone else, Cameron decided he was the right man for the job.

"I got in touch with (Red Bull Vice President and General Manager) Jay Frye, found out the details, came and checked out the situation, and found it to my liking."
Because he is a stickler for fresh ingredients and therefore does all his shopping the same day he serves food, Cameron prepares his menus on the fly. He can't always count on finding the same ingredients in say, Bristol, Tenn., as he will next week in Ontario, Calif.

"Menu planning actually goes on in the stores. You get to these race towns where it's just chaos, and they can be completely out of certain items -- a protein, chicken breasts -- so menu planning happens very spontaneously."

Each race day, Cameron prepares three meals a day for the team, prepared in a portable trailer with a built-in kitchen.

"It all starts with the shopping," Cameron says. "We do all the shopping on the road day to day. Sometimes, I shop at 2 or 3 a.m. at 24-hour grocery stores or Wal-Marts. I can get everything I need for the day and not have to go in and out of the track, fighting traffic."

On race days, nutrition is of paramount importance, especially for the over-the-wall crew and the drivers.

"Sundays gear more towards the nutritious sides of meals -- lots of fresh vegetables, produce, pasta, starches -- things like that," Cameron says. "Friday and Saturday, where it's mainly the garage guys in the group, they're good old boys, not so much athletes. I try to keep at least a healthy option (for them), in addition to the buffets."

Typically, Cameron cooks for about 60 people on Fridays and Saturdays, and 80 to 90 on Sundays, when the pit crew is in attendance along with the garage guys.

For Cameron, who is in first year with the team, the best thing about the job is something that lots of long-time veterans detest: travel.

"I'm getting to do a lot of stuff that I hadn't gotten to do," he says.
And he says the guys on the Red Bull team make it all worthwhile.

"They're pretty forgiving and I think they understand that I can't please everybody," Cameron says. "But seeing both cars qualifying decently and showing well in the race, once the weekend is over, it's very satisfying."

http://www.toyota.com/pitpass/html/article_08232008_190000.html?section=0&event=0
(Article courtesy Toyota Pit Pass; Photo courtesy David Vaughn)

Mission: Nearly Impossible

2008-09-04T16:38:00.001-07:00

All that stands between Brian Vickers and the Chase for the Sprint Cup is (deep breath) stars and planets aligning, 191 points, a victory at Richmond, leading a lap, leading the most laps, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne opting for a weekend off and most likely a Tropical Storm named Hanna.

Mathematically, Brian and the No. 83 team are still racing to the Chase, but it’s the longest of long shots. Brian, in 15th place, is 190 points out of 12th. He’ll make the Chase only if the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota dominates Saturday night, wins, gains the 195-point maximum and the hauler drivers for Bowyer, Ragan and Kahne somehow forget the way to Virginia’s capital city.

Realistically, there is still plenty to race for. After November’s season finale at Homestead, the highest-finishing non-Chase driver earns $1 million and a seat on stage at the postseason awards banquet. Brian also is battling for a career-best finish in points. He was 15th in 2006.

“We need to respect the fact that those guys are racing for a championship, but we’re there to win the race,” he said. “We’ll go for broke, go for wins. But we don’t want to completely forget about points. We’d love to get to that 13th spot.”

Brian holds the Richmond qualifying record — spring or fall — with a lap of 129.983 mph (May 14, 2004). His best finish of eighth came one night later.

Later, Dirt!

2008-09-02T05:54:00.001-07:00

Two dirt tracks. Two eighth-place finishes.

Scott Speed started 14th in Monday’s second and last dirt track race with the ARCA RE/MAX Series and improved six positions over 102 laps around the 1-mile oval. On Aug. 17, Speed also finished eighth on a similar surface in Springfield, Ill.

But this race may have been more demanding. Speed had dust and Labor Day heat to deal with — and a Red Bull Toyota with faulty brakes. Still, he managed a series-leading 14th top-10 finish.

“I am glad that’s over,” Speed said. “I will be happy if I don’t ever have to race another dirt race ever again. I’m glad to still have the points lead, and hopefully now we can get after it again on the asphalt.”

Indeed, Speed gets back to what he knows best — four asphalt races and a road-course event to close the season. He carries a 75-point lead over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. into Saturday’s race at Chicago.

Sunday Night Was the Pits

2008-09-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

First, the bad news …

Neither of Red Bull Racing Team’s drivers was particularly pleased with their finishing positions Sunday night at Auto Club Speedway.

After the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota charged to the front, Brian Vickers spent most of the first 180 laps in the top five as the backstretch glare went away and day turned to night. But during a pit stop on lap 182, an errant tire and ensuing penalty (listed officially as “outside half of the pit box tire violation — not in contact”) sent Brian to the tail end of the longest line. He restarted 21st and could climb no higher than 12th over the remaining 68 laps.

“The penalty absolutely killed us,” Brian said. “It was at the end of the race. No matter how good of a car you have, when you get in traffic like that it’s just hard. You can only do so much.”

Late-race pit stops also doomed teammate AJ Allmendinger, who qualified his No. 84 Red Bull Toyota on the front row.

He was running as high as fourth with 70 laps to go, but a slow stop on lap 182 and then another 37 laps later left him 19th on the final restart. He made up five spots at the checkered flag and found himself in an entertaining back-and-forth battle with David Ragan for 13th.

“With this competitive field and the way these cars are you can’t get back there,” AJ said. “You’re basically restarting 38th at that point. The lapped cars have just as much right to race as we do. You’re in so much dirty air, and that’s killing the tires and there’s just a lot going on. We stayed clean and did what we had to do.”

And now, the good news …

AJ’s 14th-place finish moved the No. 84 up five positions to 31st in car owner points. It was his fifth top-20 finish in the past seven races. Brian climbed one spot in driver points to 15th.

A Place Where Drag Is Good

2008-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

A Red Bull Funny Car with Scott Speed’s name above the driver's side window? Don’t bet on it, but there’s always drag racing school this winter.

Scott spent a few days in Indianapolis to check out NHRA drag racing’s signature event — the U.S. Nationals. He hung out with pal and Pro Stock Motorcycle ace Matt Smith (pictured above), standing front and center at the starting line for each of Smith’s passes down the half-mile. Even more impressive was the roar of Funny Cars capable of 300 mph.

“To see the nature of that sport … it’s much more similar to Formula One,” he said. “The rules are a lot more open. You see a lot of really innovative and trick stuff in drag racing, and for me, coming from the sport that I did it’s really fascinating to see.”

He’ll miss final eliminations of the U.S Nationals, because after qualifying ends tonight, Scott’s off to the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds for Monday’s ARCA race. He carries a 110-point lead into the second and final dirt track race of the season.

From the Midwest to SoCal …

AJ Allmendinger will start a race with a clear windshield for the first time in his Sprint Cup car when he rolls off outside of pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson for 250 long laps around Auto Club Speedway. Teammate Brian Vickers starts 19th.

Quest for the Shootout

2008-08-29T14:50:00.001-07:00

AJ Allmendinger isn’t racing to the Chase. He does, however, have plenty at stake in the final 12 races.

Priority No. 1 is securing the No. 84 a spot in the top 35. He’s 13 points from that mark entering 500 long miles Sunday at Auto Club Speedway. No. 2 is gaining eligibility in the season-opening Shootout at Daytona.

Under format changes that NASCAR announced Tuesday, the top six teams from each manufacturer in the final 2008 car owner standings will run in the annual all-star race. It used to be that only the previous season’s pole winners and past event champions qualified, which rendered obsolete Brian Vickers’ recent Michigan pole. (It’s still a heck of an achievement.)

At 17th, Brian’s No. 83 is the fourth Toyota in line — safe and sound for the Shootout and well ahead of the No. 44 in 28th. AJ’s No. 84 is 36th — eighth of the Toyotas and only 52 points behind the No. 55 in sixth place.

AJ appears to be on his way to reaching both goals. He was third in Friday’s opening practice, with qualifying set for 6:40 p.m. ET. Brian was fifth on the sheet.

What Loose Really Feels Like

2008-08-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

AJ Allmendinger has tackled the streets of Long Beach and the high banks of Talladega, but hardly anything can prepare him for drifting.

“I’m afraid of heights. I’m not a big fan of the water. I don’t ski or snowboard. And I don’t skateboard,” AJ said. “So when Red Bull asked me to go drifting, I was all over it.”

AJ will meet with Red Bull athlete, Formula Drift ace and stunt driver Rhys Millen on Thursday for an exhibition-style run at the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Training Center. There, Millen will help AJ learn the art of navigating a Pontiac Solstice with little grip and lots of tail whip.

“For me,” Millen said, “drifting is more about the personal reward of being able to overcome vehicle dynamics and do things that cars are not supposed to do, to position a car in an out-of-control state yet sustain control. I’m not really into cars. I don’t own a lot of cars. I just love to drive.”

Millen, a native New Zealander and current San Juan Capistrano, Calif., resident, won the Formula Drift championship in 2005 and followed up with a runner-up finish in 2006. Also an accomplished rally racer, Millen has appeared as a stunt driver in films such as “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”

Bouncing Around Bristol

2008-08-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Brian Vickers started 26th and finished 20th in a relatively uneventful Sprint Cup race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. He lost one position in points and sits 16th entering Sunday’s race at California Speedway, where his past three finishes are 10th, eighth and 11th.

“We didn’t really know what we would have until the start of the race,” Vickers said. “The car turned out to be pretty good in the center and under throttle, and it turned a lot better. As we predicted, after changes were made to the car after practice, the front of the car was better. We just needed to get the rear of the car hooked up a bit more because we fought a loose condition all night. The attrition rate definitely helped us. This race always takes patience because it is so long. I knew if we could be there at the end we would come away with a decent finish.”

Teammate AJ Allmendinger and Martin Truex Jr. got together and hit the wall on lap 97 to bring out the first yellow flag. He returned to action on lap 208 and went on to finish 34th, with the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota now 14 points from the top 35.

Speed Stands Fast at Bristol

2008-08-21T10:36:00.001-07:00

Hardly anyone could tell Wednesday night was Scott Speed’s first crack at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Speed again showed his ability to adapt and react to whatever is thrown at him — this time it was the notoriously nasty bullring in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He captured his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole and finished third in the O’Reilly 200.

“I had a ton of fun out there,” said Speed, racing the No. 22 Red Bull Toyota for the first time since June at Michigan. “This is definitely my new favorite short track, for sure. (Crew chief) Doug Wolcott and the BDR guys are awesome, and I can’t wait to get back in this thing at Vegas.”

Speed remained calm throughout a frustrating and hectic race, battling up front with veterans such as race winner Kyle Busch, second-place Todd Bodine and teammate Johnny Benson. Rarely was Speed out of the top five.

“The racing was a lot more difficult than driving in qualifying,” Speed said. “I saved a lot in the middle knowing we had to be good in the end. At the end, I think we had the best truck out there.”

In nine truck starts, Speed has one win, three top fives and five top 10s. His next scheduled start comes Sept. 20 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Scott in Search of ‘The Lowdown’

2008-08-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

Safely navigating around Bristol Motor Speedway is one of the great mysteries of Scott Speed’s initial foray into oval-track racing. Luckily, he has veteran Bill Davis Racing teammates Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner to lean on, because Scott makes his first Craftsman Truck Series start on the .533-mile oval Wednesday night.

“I’m kind of relying on them to get the lowdown,” said Scott, who hasn’t driven BDR’s No. 22 Red Bull Toyota since June’s third-place finish at Michigan.

Benson has made four truck starts at Bristol, with one win and three top fives. Skinner is no slouch, either. He owns the same numbers in six starts. All totaled, the two have combined to make 50 starts at Bristol in NASCAR’s top three divisions.

“A lot of people have given me tips on Bristol,” said the ARCA points leader. “Mike and Johnny have probably run there more than anyone in the series, so they know the track well. I just hope that I adapt quickly. It should be a lot of fun and if we are there in the end, we’ll see what we can do.”

It appears Scott is adapting rather quickly. He was eighth in Wednesday’s first practice and moved to sixth in the final session. Qualifying is set for 4:15 p.m. ET, with an 8 p.m. green flag for the O’Reilly 200.

Bull Crew's Lastest Addition

2008-08-19T12:08:00.000-07:00

Will the son kick soccer balls or sling tires? Dad has plenty of time to figure that out.

Gage Evan Dheel was born Aug. 12 at 6:18 a.m. ET in Concord, N.C., to parents Mandy and Brian Dheel, the No. 84’s rear tire carrier. Gage weighed six pounds, three ounces and stood all of 19 and a half inches tall. His full head of dark hair complements his mom.

Dheel, 31, played soccer in Europe in 1995-96 and competed at the semi-pro level in the United States. He has coached high-school soccer in his native Ohio, so it came as no surprise when Dheel immediately wanted to find a soccer ball small enough for Gage to play with.

Congrats on your first child!