Sunday, February 5, 2012

Not surprisingly, Brian Vickers still without a ride

Nearly every 2011 Spring Cup Series driver has a ride for Speedweeks as the NASCAR offseason comes off of Turn 4, but there is still one notable exception.

Brian Vickers, a two-time Sprint Cup Series winner and formerly of the #83 Red Bull Racing Toyota, is still sitting on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

Time is getting extremely short, however, and any Cup ride he finds will have finished lower than 30th in the 2011 points standings.

Several former Cup winners were out of a job when the 2011 season finished. Teams found sponsorship difficult to come by, and several teams had to shut their doors.

Vickers’ Red Bull team is one of those that shut down after the final race in November at Homestead. But, his wasn’t the only one.

For example, David Ragan’s #6 car didn’t have enough sponsorship to continue as a full-time team and Michael Waltrip Racing kicked David Reutimann to the curb as the season came to a close.

Ragan and Reutimann, along with drivers such as A.J. Allmendinger and Kurt Busch all found rides for 2012, but Vickers has come up empty.

Maybe that’s because his reputation has caught up with him.

Ragan, Reutimann and Allmendinger have kept their noses clean throughout their careers for the most part and haven’t created many enemies in the sport.

Vickers, on the other hand, has ruffled feathers throughout his career, and he really turned up the aggressive meter in 2011.

First, he put Tony Stewart up into the tire barriers in June at Sonoma after Stewart had punted him early in the race. Next, he went nuts in October at Martinsville and effectively ended Matt Kenseth’s championship run. Then, a few weeks later he again got into the back of Kenseth and pushed him all the way into the Turn 3 wall at Phoenix.

His explanation of the Phoenix incident also didn’t help his case.

“He wrecked me at Martinsville, he got wrecked here, but it actually wasn't (payback),” Vickers said after the Phoenix race. “I'm not saying I wasn't going to pay him back, but I'm just saying that wasn't it.”

That may not have been the best time to get into a feud with a championship contender, especially when Vickers’ team was shutting down and he needed to find a different ride for 2012.

The same thing happened to Kurt Busch on a slightly different level. Busch spent most of the year screaming at his team over the in-car radio and pushed things over the limit when he cussed out Dr. Jerry Punch while waiting for an interview at Homestead.

Busch does have a ride for the upcoming season, but his new job as the driver of the #51 car for Phoenix Racing is a large step down from the #22 Penske Racing car he previously drove.

Busch’s temper cost him his job. Luckily for him, he is a former champion and has 24 career Cup victories.

Vickers, on the other hand, has two wins and he wrecked Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson at Talladega in 2006 to get one of them.

Drivers with clean driving reputations or impressive career numbers were able to find a new job this offseason, even if it is in lesser equipment than their previous ride.

Vickers has neither, and now he might be the one 2011 full-time driver who won’t return to the Cup series in 2012.

13 comments:

  1. He can drive the mini john pump out truck for all I care, hopefully Vickers will not be in any series ever again.

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    1. I said on Vickers web site, after Martinsville, that going after Kenseth was going to cost Vickers a lot more than it would ever cost Kenseth, so why mess with it? But, Vickers being Vickers, cost himself a Sprint Cup ride and he will be lucky to ever get another chance. No loss for NASCAR.

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    2. I still believe that drivers like him is what is keeping Nascar alive, along with the Busch brothers and Harvick. Nascar would have much lower ratings without all of these drivers. I am a fan of Vickers but believe that getting caught up with Kenseth was a mistake. I am completely for him getting another ride but if not, oh well, because Nascar wont be around much longer. Nascar's peak season is long gone.

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  2. Vickers has never been a race car driver. He was just a mediocre driver in the way most of the time. Like so many others like Burton, Dale Jr, Ragan, Logano, Biffle, Truex, Ambrose, Reutimann, Mears, Montoya, etc. they all have more car than talent. How some of these guys ever make it to Sprint Cup is beyond me.

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  3. I supported him when he was going thru his illness but once he came back and pulled that stuff with Kenseth (my favorite driver) I decided not to care about him....

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  4. I sure hope he fings a ride - I've liked him for year but I do agree he should have backed down from Kenesth, and let it ride, but Tony said he would have done the same thing. I think BV is a good driver and person, and hopefully things can turn around for him... I hope the best for him all the drivers...

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    1. 2 wins in his whole sprint cup career? and people were judging dinger on his no wins in his career. Vickers is a hack and I'm 100% pleased that he doesn't and won't have a ride for the 500

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  5. HAVE ALWAYS LIKED BRIAN VICKERS. WISH HE HAD A RIDE FOR 2012. I WILL ALWAYS BE A FAN AND WISH HIM THE BEST IN WHATEVER THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR HIM. HAVE SPENT MY LAST HARD EARNED MONEY ON NASCAR TICKETS AND MERCHANDISE. LOVING DRAG RACING MORE AND MORE. BEST OF LUCK, BRIAN.

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  6. Hey, c'mon people! Brian Vickers is a GOOD guy! We all make mistakes. He deserves a ride and makes Nascar far more interesting.

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  7. Tony Stewart deserved to be "put up on the tires"....said so himself as he sat there.
    Kenseth had wrecked Vickers multiple times over the years. However, Vickers was wrong going after him at Martinsville. A good Crew Chief would have parked Vickers well before that....the 83 was totaled and should not have been sent back out.
    His health issues have had to scare owners away. You're the first to talk about that. He has to prove he's healthy and he can run top tier.
    I can't believe Red Bull just left him hanging....if they has backed him for a half-year sponsorship, Vickers would be in the 43, 6, 33, or a few other top rides.

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  8. vickers will never be a top tier driver, and because he has a bad attitude and is whiny he will probably never race cup again. i am not a kenseth fan but that was just uncalled for when he wrecked him. there is a time and a place for stuff like that

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