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Monday, March 19, 2012

Notebook: Brian Vickers scores top-five in Sprint Cup return

Notebook: Brian Vickers scores top-five in Sprint Cup return

March 18, 2012

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- What ring rust?
Brian Vickers returned to the seat of a NASCAR Sprint Cup car and drove as if he'd never left.
In the first event of a six-race deal with Michael Waltrip Racing, Vickers drove the No. 55 Toyota to a fifth-place finish in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, running right behind teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer.
The same driver who exited the series last year after a series of on-track altercations -- with Matt Kenseth, in particular -- kept his nose clean throughout the race and went a long way toward convincing doubters that he deserves another shot at NASCAR's highest level.
Vickers was the odd man out in the demise of Red Bull Racing last year, and he hurt his reputation with potential sponsors and team owners with his aggressive driving at the end of the season. Sunday's race helped to restore the credibility of the 28-year-old driver.
Vickers led 125 laps, second only to race winner Brad Keselowski's 232.
"What an organization," Vickers said of his first run with MWR. "So proud to be part of getting all three cars in the top five. When it's your only one (opportunity), you've got to make it count."
Crew chief Rodney Childers, who worked with Vickers in his early karting days, set up the car for Vickers comeback.
"Rodney Childers bolted together my first go-kart 20 years ago, and then he handed it off to my father to finish it off," Vickers said. "And then he just put together my last one (Sunday's car). What a heck of a job!"

JUNIOR HAS FENCE-MENDING TO DO
Dale Earnhardt Jr. made two mistakes on Sunday. The second one cost him nine or 10 spots at the finish. The first one had a devastating effect on Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, turning a potential race-winning car into scrap metal.
Earnhardt and Gordon were racing side-by-side down the Bristol backstretch on Lap 360, with Earnhardt trying to pass to the inside for the fifth position. But contact between the tailpipes on the right side of Earnhardt's car and Gordon's left-rear tire flattened the tire and sent Gordon spinning hard into the Turn 3 wall.
Gordon finished 35th and dropped six positions to 23rd in the Cup standings.
"I absolutely feel responsible," Earnhardt said. "I got into his door a little bit. We were racing and having a good time, to be honest with you. I put the pipes up against the left-rear tire of his car and knocked the sidewall out of it.
"I hate . . . I feel bad about that. I'm going to have top do some damage control this week. I know Jeff understands what was going on out there, but his boys work real hard on their car, and they had a good run going. They had a potential win, or good run going, too -- and they deserve it."
The aftermath of the wreck brought a wry comment from the driver of the No. 88 Chevy.
"Well, at least we won't have to hear about me and Mark Martin anymore," Earnhardt radioed to crew chief Steve Letarte, referring to a run-in between the drivers last Sunday at Las Vegas.
On Lap 480, Earnhardt was flagged for speeding on the entry to pit road and restarted at the back with 17 laps left. Earnhardt had been running sixth at the time, but the speeding penalty dropped him to 15th at the finish.
"I really hate that happened," Earnhardt said. "I don't think I was -- but I don't think any driver ever thinks he was speeding . . . We're improving. Things are looking up for our team, and we've been running strong this year.
"I expect more of it. If we put cars like we did today on the racetrack, we'll get some shots at some wins."
Earnhardt's winless streak, dating to 2008 at Michigan, reached 133 races at Bristol.

MORE PAIN FOR KAHNE
In what has become a frustrating trend for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Kasey Kahne's hopes for a competitive finish ended early.
On Lap 24 of 500, Kahne had cleared Regan Smith's Chevrolet off Turn 4 and got the all-clear from his spotter and cousin, Kole Kahne. But Smith had poked the nose of his Impala into a hole to the outside of Kahne's right-rear quarter panel, and when Kahne moved up the track, contact between the cars ignited a multicar wreck.
Crippled in the melee were the machines of Kahne, Carl Edwards, Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch, all of whom had strong entries at Bristol.
For Kahne, it was more of the same. He was a wreck victim at Daytona in the season opener, and he hit the wall at Phoenix as the consensus favorite to win the race there.
"This is the worst way I could start a season -- to have the fastest car every single week and something happens," Kahne said ruefully as his car was being repaired. "Right there, there is no reason to force the issue at all. I'm just taking my time just cutting the bottom. Simple. I'm under Regan Smith. As slow as he was, I knew when my spotter cleared me in the center I would be clear on exit.
"He said, 'All clear, good to go.' So when I get to the exit, I knew Regan was slow, and then he was back there. I listened too much to my spotter, I guess. I hate it for everybody. It's really disappointing and discouraging to have as fast of race cars as I have -- and I have nothing to show for it."

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