Brian Vickers returned to the racetrack on Lap 85. Credit: Autostock

Vickers out early with tire problems at Michigan

Several teams with tire issues in Batman Begins 400

BROOKLYN, Mich. - Forty-three laps into the Batman Begins 400 on Sunday, Brian Vickers was running fifth when he felt a vibration in the No. 25 Chevrolet. But when he heard that NASCAR might soon call for a debris caution, he opted to ride it out for another lap.

As he slowed to enter pit road, the right front tire burst, spinning him into a tire barrier at the entrance to pit road and destroying the No. 25 entry.

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"We picked up a vibration towards the end of that run. We were trying to make it to our fuel window, and I was probably just going to come in anyway, but felt that vibration," Vickers explained.

"Then NASCAR said they thought they had debris in (Turn) 1, so we were going to wait for the caution and run another lap and that's all it took. It got out from under me getting into (Turn) 3 and I saved it, so I darted to pit road and then it just came apart.

"We had a tire problem. The tire came apart. We had such a good car. We were so fast, second fastest car on the track. It's unfortunate. We had an awesome car and we won't have a chance to prove it."

The No. 25 team wasn't the only outfit with tire trouble Sunday. The right side tires on Kyle Busch's Chevrolet were worn to the cords, as well. A team representative said he likely wouldn't have made it another lap.

The right rear tires on Jimmie Johnson's and Tony Stewart's Chevrolets were both worn to the cords, and team representatives for Rusty Wallace, Mike Bliss and Bobby Labonte said those drivers also experienced badly worn tires on their first green-flag runs.

Team representatives for Stewart said his second set of tires was fine, once the team found a proper balance on the car.

Vickers' misfortune brings an end to a prosperous month. He had arguably the best car in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, leading 98 laps before wrecking out with 21 laps remaining.

He followed that up with a sixth-place finish at Dover, and last week led the most laps at Pocono before finishing second to Carl Edwards.

"We really needed a good run coming out of here," Vickers said. "We were going to get one, too, if we hadn't had these problems."