Posts Tagged ‘Brian Vickers’

At the Texas Motor Speedway Cup drivers Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers became the first to conduct an on-track test with a new aluminum spoiler package that could be implemented for the 2010 season during the Goodyear Tire test at Texas Motor Speedway on Tuesday.

Stewart was the first of the group to test the spoiler in the morning session, which was delayed nearly two hours from its 9 a.m. CT start time due to moisture on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval from heavy morning dew.

The session kicked off at approximately 10:53 a.m. with temperatures in the 60s as Stewart rolled out with the wing and less than 40 minutes later was utilizing the spoiler. Vickers also got an opportunity to run the spoiler in the abbreviated morning session.

By the reaction of the drivers it seems like NASCAR is going in the right direction with the spoiler change.

NASCAR has not determined the specific dimensions as yet for the spoiler, but the one that was being used as a baseline at Tuesday’s
session was 64.5 inches wide and four inches in height with no contour in the design. Also, the rear quarter panels were extended four inches toward the ground.

NASCAR phased out the traditional spoiler on the rear deck lid of the Cup cars and went to a rear wing when the [new car] was unveiled in 2007. The return to the traditional look provides fans with the ability to differentiate between the four manufacturers more easily and hopefully enhance the passing ability of the cars and overall race action. Tuesday’s tire test was the first opportunity for drivers to test the package and provide feedback on its effects on the car.

Biffle and Busch had to wait until the afternoon session to test out the spoiler, with Busch not getting an opportunity until nearly the culmination of the session.

“With the spoiler on, the car had a looser feel to it,” Busch said. “The car was turning better and it felt like the car was sliding a bit more. ”

Stewart, Busch, Biffle and Vickers will conclude the Goodyear test Wednesday, where they are scheduled to test the spoiler package once
again. NASCAR will conduct another test with the spoiler March 23-24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway another 1.5-mile oval and sister track to TMS that will be open to all Cup teams.

“I think we’re stirring up the pot with the change, but it’s in a positive direction,” Busch said. “A lot of times NASCAR throws changes our way and the drivers and owners grumble about it.   With the spoiler, it seems like a positive reaction has been made already and just driving in it Tuesday, I don’t see any problem with it at all.”

If NASCAR is pleased with the progress and performance of the spoiler, the new package could be implemented for the Samsung Mobile 500 scheduled for April 15-18 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Earlier this year in Concord, N.C, a select number of drivers and NASCAR met at the R&D Center to discuss what would be the best way to move forward in the 2010 season.

At the top of the list from the technical side appears to be searching for a solution to keep Sprint Cup cars from lifting off the track during a spin. Consequently, NASCAR could introduce a spoiler for the new car as early as the Bristol or Martinsville race.

The spoiler change is for two reasons  to keep cars from launching and in response to fans’ dislike of the wing, according to NASCAR.

Ryan Newman, who was involved in a horrific crash at Talladega on Nov.1, said  he would welcome the change.

NASCAR.com

Fox Sports

contributed to this report.

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Video courtesy of NASCAR.com

If team building is a step-by-step process, there’s no question the step Brian Vickers and his Red Bull Racing Team took in 2009 was a giant’s.

Vickers had never finished better than 15th in Cup points, never won more than two poles in a season or scored more than 10 top-10 finishes.

In 2009 Vickers’ career year came in only Red Bull’s third year of NASCAR existence, and his sixth full season in the league. The 2003 Nationwide champion scored his second career Cup victory, had six poles and logged a career-best 13 top-10 finishes.

And, he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup, getting to eighth before dropping back to 12th spot. But despite not finishing better than 11th, twice, with six results of 20th or worse in the 10 Chase races, Vickers had no doubt in assessing his campaign.

“No matter what happened [in the Chase] it’s hard to argue that it wasn’t a successful year and I still stand by that,” Vickers said. “We set our goals out at the beginning of the season to sit on poles, win races and be in the Chase. Racing for a championship within the Chase was not necessarily a goal we had, but obviously when you show up at the race track you want to win races and championships. That goes without saying, especially with the competitors that we are.

“Looking back upon the whole season, everything that we’ve gone through with Red Bull since its inception, I’m really proud of this year and proud of everybody at Red Bull for what we’ve accomplished.”

Surrounded by veterans

Vickers said maybe the season’s highlight was working with veteran crew chief Ryan Pemberton.

“Ryan obviously brought a lot to the team, brought more good people onboard,” Vickers said. “He’s brought a lot of knowledge and excitement and enthusiasm. I’ve really enjoyed working with Ryan. He’s very passionate about what he does. He’s good at it. He brought some knowledge and stuff to the team that didn’t exist before.”

What could go wrong, did

Two of the team’s five DNFs, four of them accidents, occurred in the Chase. But it was the arcane that truly blotted Vickers’ season.

“We were one of the best teams on the race track the 10 races leading up to the Chase. We had just about everything possibly go wrong that could go wrong in the Chase. We lost a solenoid. I’ve never heard of that. I talked to the engine builder and he said he’s seen it happen once in 20 years.

“We ripped a shock mount out of a chassis at California. When was the last time you heard of that happening? I don’t know how to explain it. I don’t. Nonetheless I look back on it and it was a good year for us. We learned a lot from it, grew a lot as a team, accomplished all of our goals and still learned a lot in the Chase.”