Excellent audition for Vickers

Brian Vickers, driver of the #55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma on June 24, 2012 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)
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Brian Vickers, driver of the #55 RKMotorsCharlotte.com Toyota, pits during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma on June 24, 2012 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR)

SONOMA, Calif. — Brian Vickers is making his role as a spot starter for Michael Waltrip Racing pay dividends.

Fresh from a sixth-place finish in the GTE-Am class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans — in a Ferrari 458 he co-drove with MWR principal Rob Kauffman and Rui Aguas — Vickers came home fourth Sunday at Sonoma, overcoming a pit road speeding penalty to post his second top-five in three starts this season as a fill-in for Mark Martin.

“I haven’t had many Cup races this year, but we’ve made the most of them,” said Vickers, who signed on for six races this season — two each at Bristol, Martinsville and New Hampshire — and had his schedule extended to include the road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen after finishing fifth at Bristol in March.

The road racing at Le Mans was a positive for Vickers, but he had to adjust to the heavier stock cars when he returned to the United States.

“It was great to run Le Mans and then come here to road race,” Vickers said. “I learned a lot about road racing. I kind of had to undo some of what I learned (at Le Mans) to get back in these cars. It took me a couple of runs to get back to the heavy car with all the horsepower.”

It was another excellent audition for Vickers, who is looking for a full-time Cup job. Team owner Michael Waltrip allowed after the race that MWR might consider adding a fourth team with Vickers as the driver. According to Waltrip, that would be a better option than waiting for Martin, 53, to retire.

“I wouldn’t wait around for Mark to quit, if I was him,” Waltrip quipped. “I would put something else in my contract if I was him, because Mark is probably going to do it for a while.”

“He might live forever,” added Clint Bowyer, Sunday’s race winner. “He might be doing this at 110.”

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.