Brian Vickers stands 15th in the Nextel Cup Series standings. Credit: Autostock

Brian Vickers Mailbag: Getting prepared

Brian Vickers heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend coming off of an eighth-place run last week at Martinsville. Vickers scored his best Texas finish in his first Cup event in the Lone Star State in the spring of 2004, when he finished 12th.

Q: How do you prepare yourself for the next race and at what point do you stop thinking about the last one? -- Cierra, Tenn.

	Inside the Numbers Brian Vickers at Texas Year Start Finish 2004 13 12 2005 24 34   21 19 Average 19.3 21.7

Vickers: If I had to pick a day, I'd say it would be Tuesday. Usually what happens is Lance [McGrew, crew chief] and I sit down on Tuesdays to review the race from the weekend, talking about Friday, Saturday and Sunday from start to finish.

At the end of the meeting, we then began to discuss the upcoming race and the plans for it.

Q: I know you used to race a lot at local tracks here in N.C. Have you thought any about ever racing there again. I would love to see you race at a local track like Hickory Motor Speedway, besides you could draw some big crowds and a lot of revenue. -- Sweetpeasoup

Vickers: I enjoyed racing at the short tracks in North Carolina. If I was to go back and race anything casually for fun -- it would have to be go-karts.

Q: Do you ever watch the Truck or Busch Series races to get notes for your race? If so, have the notes ever helped you? -- Jenna

Vickers: I watch the Busch and Truck Series races as often as I can and not just for the enjoyment of it, but to learn.

I watch closely to see what happens with tires, where guys were running in the beginning, middle and end of the race. I watch to see if the racing groove expanded during the course of the race. I also pay attention to how the different teams' pit strategies played out. Did two tires work well, was four tires the way to go all day and a variety of other things.

Q: Are you one of those typical Ramen noodle eating bachelors that can't cook, or do you like to mix it up in the kitchen? -- hms25chevy

Vickers: I do like to cook. You won't find me claiming that I'm a chef or anything, but I do enjoy cooking. I think I can hold my own in the kitchen.

VICKERS MAILBAG Brian Vickers will answer fans' questions each week on NASCAR.COM.  •   To post a question, click here

Q: My friend and I were sitting here talking about random stuff and wanted to know something about the firesuits. Do you have to wash them or do they have to be dry cleaned? -- Samantha, Baton Rouge, La.

Vickers: Once the GMAC Racing transporter arrives back at the shop from the previous weekend's race all of the dirty firesuits are unloaded and taken to the dry cleaner. When they're done being dry cleaned, they're returned to the shop, put back on the transporter and ready for the next race.