(By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service)
Posted: Monday,October 31st, 2011
MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Jimmie Johnson nicknamed Brian Vickers ‘The Sheriff’ when his friend showed up for a shooting party in Texas with a magnum revolver Dirty Harry Callahan would have admired.
In Sunday’s Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway, Vickers was more of a loose cannon, and his fifth wreck of the afternoon—an attempt to retaliate against Matt Kenseth that went awry—caused the final caution that may have deprived Johnson of a victory.
It was hyperbole—but not in the extreme—when Johnson said Vickers’ No. 83 Toyota “was a part of every caution. I wish he could have just driven around the racetrack, and we could have won this thing, but—whatever—we’ll move on.”
Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, spins out after an incident in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series TUMS Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2011 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Johnson had the lead when Vickers brought out the 18th and final caution of the race. Johnson finished second, after race winner Tony Stewart passed him to the outside in a three-lap run to the finish.
“After a fourth, fifth time with the same car in the crash, you start thinking about maybe you’re the problem,” Johnson suggested. “Something is going on. You’re having a bad day. You need to stop crashing, for whatever reason.
“When you’re on the racetrack and someone wrongs you, you have some decisions to make in how you want to handle that. … I don’t agree with the way things were handled at the end. Tony Stewart is sitting in victory lane smiling, and he’s real happy it turned out that way.”
Vickers, who finished 30th, 16 laps back, left the track without speaking to reporters.
Jeff Gordon attributed much of the action to short-track racing at Martinsville, which at .526 miles, is the shortest track in the Sprint Cup Series.
“We couldn’t get into a rhythm with the race, couldn’t get it going,” Gordon said. “Seemed like guys were ticked off at one another, driving over their heads, whatever it may be. We saw that for a big majority of the race.
“Obviously, the 83 had that throughout the whole race. But I think it was just one of those crazy days. I don’t know. You can’t always explain it. Usually, Martinsville does contribute towards that.”
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