Brian Vickers is still looking for his first Nextel Cup Series victory. Credit: Autostock

Q&A: Vickers

Hendrick driver talks about move to Red Bull next season

It was announced over the weekend that Vickers will join the new Toyota effort in Nextel Cup in 2007 with the 83 Red Bull Racing Team. So far this season, Vickers is 20th in the Nextel Cup Series standings with four top-10 finishes in 16 starts.

Q: Brian, it is going to be pretty interesting next year, I am sure you are excited, about being involved in such an historic development in NASCAR.

	Inside the Numbers Brian Vickers at Daytona Year Start Finish 2004 35 39   14 9 2005 28 21   16 29 2006 35 7 Average 25.6 21.0

Vickers: Yes, sir, I am. It's a neat opportunity to be a part of Team Red Bull. These guys are coming in the sport to, you know, devoted to wining races and championships. They are very competitive. They are new to NASCAR but are very familiar with racing in general. They are involved in just about every form of racing around the world and NASCAR was an obvious logical step for them in America and I am excited to be a part of it.

Q: With the announcement that came this weekend, what can Red Bull Racing offer you that Hendrick Motorsports can't considering Hendrick Motorsports is one of the best team in Cup, what was the motivation or temptation to move over to that team?

Vickers: Obviously we touched on some of those things when I talked to the media in Pocono. Obviously, for whatever reason, I take my part in the responsibility; me and the 25 team haven't been able to perform to my expectations or theirs. And that's why I talked to -- the first step of the process was to talk to Rick in Hendrick Motorsports about if we want to look at other options. We decided to do that. Then I went to -- was fortunate enough to be able to have an opportunity to speak with lot of different teams and we decided on Team Red Bull because these guys are very committed to winning races and championships.

I think they are going to bring new ideas, new concepts into our sport that they have learned from other forms of racing around the world. The sponsor is the team. That's kind of a new concept for our sport. And it's a clean sheet of paper. We have seen the clean sheet of paper concept work very well for a lot of teams including the 24 way back when, the 48, it worked real well for those guys, the 9 as well so it's an opportunity to build a team and to grow that and make all those pieces work starting with a clean sheet of paper. The commitment these guys have already put into it is unbelievable. I am sure that's just going to continue.

Q: As a former Busch champion, what is your opinion on the ongoing discussion involving Cup in Busch? If you were in the Busch Series now with even more Cup guys in it than there were when you were racing, do you think that you still would be to the point of development that you are?

Vickers: That's a great question. I think that Cup drivers being in the Busch Series is a great thing. I said it when I raced in the Busch Series and I still do now, I disagree with running the complete schedule personally. Personally, I think that in taking it to that far to me would be a distraction for me and would take away from my Cup effort. Some guys may disagree.

	Brian Vickers is 22nd in the points heading to Michigan. Credit: Autostock
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Also I think that a Busch guy -- a Busch regular should win the championship, should be winning the Busch championship not a Cup driver, and -- but I do think that it's great for Cup guys to be racing Busch Series.

The year that I won the championship, I practically had to race, you know, a lot of the same Cup guys I race now to win those races in the races we won. I had to race a driver who won the Cup Championship that year on multiple occasions from position and for a win. I gained a lot of experience out of that. I think that was a great learning tool to learn how to race with those guys if that's where you want to end up in the Cup Series, but to be running the whole schedule, I don't necessarily agree with.

Q. Can you give us a few of the details about how the deal with Red Bull came together, whom you spoke to, that sort of thing and also when you sort of first had an indication that they might be interested in signing you.

Vickers: Well, it was actually my manager was kind of doing his job; we weren't really sure where we were for 2007. We had, you know, we weren't, you know, sure what was going to happen going into the next year. So he went out and looked at all their options, you know, and then when we -- at the same time had Darren -- First I went to Rick and talked to him about obviously we weren't, you know, satisfied with our performance and you know, he wanted to look at other stuff. He granted us that. They went and did the same thing. That's when Eric went out and you know, looked at a lot of options.

We had people call us obviously during this time and before that, but before we went and pursued any of them we wanted to clear things up with Hendrick and once all that got handled, I pretty much stayed focused on my responsibilities now which is with this 25 team. He worked out with the guys at Team Red Bull, talked to those guys and they made it very clear from the beginning that you know, if we decided to come that way that they wanted us to be in the car. And we just had to make that decision, and once we made that decision, we worked everything out and was very excited to be able to announce it this past week.

Q: Now that you made the decision and it's officially announced do you think that's going to change the dynamic with Hendrick going forward?

Vickers: I don't think so. We have known for the past -- everybody known for the past three or four weeks that -- that I was going to be leaving in 2007. The guys on the team and the people from motorsports know Casey is going to be here next year. I am happy for him. He's a good friend of mine. He will do a good job. Past couple of weeks as well that hasn't changed anything. We continue to run really strong and the best we can and you know I am sure we'll continue to go out there and try to do the same.

Q: Red Bull and Formula One are known for throwing lavish parties. As a young man does that excite you that you are affiliated with them in NASCAR?

Vickers: I think that it's definitely exciting being a part of Team Red Bull, but you know, and obviously Red Bull is gives you wings. They always say, like I said, I decided to take the bull by the horns. They do it different. They do it exciting. They bring some energy, you know, which is what they are all about, to everything they do, whether it be a Formula One, NASCAR, motor cross, all kind of crazy stuff, but the main reason I came here was for the competition and to be in position where I thought the best opportunity to win races and championships. And all that other stuff will come along with it. Yeah, it's kind of cool when everything is done you sit back and think about some of the neat opportunities they may bring along, but right now, the focus is on winning those races and championships. The rest of that stuff will take care of itself.

Q: Following up have you heard from your fans, are they disappointed that you are making the switch? Are they enthused that you are going to this team?

Vickers: Everybody I talked to is very excited and happy. All the fans have been, hey, we wish you all the best. We're excited for you, that's awesome. You know, with most people through life that do great things, at some point in time in their life they have to take great chances and have to step out of the box sometimes and try some new stuff, and that's kind of the same thing here. It is a new deal.

These guys are new to NASCAR. They are not new to motor sports, but they are new to NASCAR. Some people are going say that's taking a risk, maybe it is. But it's a question do you dare to be great and we want to try and go over there and work with these guys because we know what they are capable of it. We believe in them. They believe in us and we have got a clean sheet of paper. We'll go there and try to win races and some Championships.

Q: How much confidence do you have going into Daytona coming off the third-place finish at Talladega and the near win there several weeks ago?

Vickers: Quite a bit. We had a really good car there last time Daytona and Talladega. We're very excited about going back. I have always enjoyed superspeedway races ever since the first super speedway race I ran. So we're obviously looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully we can pick up right where we left off.

Q: You are only 22 years old. How important do you think it was for Red Bull to get a young guy that they know has a promising future, will be with them for a long time as opposed to maybe an older guy that they don't know how much longer he wants to race?

Vickers: That's probably a better question for those guys. I mean, I know what the basis -- everybody knows what Red Bull is about. It's in 130 countries. They have been around a long time. They are about young energetic. That's what the drink is about. It's all about the boosting mental concentration, alertness, physical endurance, things like that. They obviously have always been keen on young energetic athletes. I think that was probably important part of it. I think the most important part from what I have seen, looking at these guys from inside out, their main goal is to come over here and win. They are not here just to -- I mean yeah they are here to have fun.

They are here to do some marketing and try to sell more Red Bull, but they are here to win races. That's why they didn't come to a sponsor team. They came to own a team. This is Team Red Bull. That's what they are about. I think the debate and majority of decision as far as the drivers, as far as hiring me and hiring whoever my teammate is going to be will be based on a competition decision. Now if they can find the answer to their question on the competition side and still have somebody that can represent their brand the way they want it represented then obviously they would love to do it. Hopefully I feel like I was able to fit that mold.

Q. Did you look at this as maybe a fresh start still early in your career to where you can get with a new team and be competitive instead of waiting a few years to maybe that's when you want to make a change?

Vickers: Yeah, that was the thing, we have been here for in the Cup Series now for three years. I am only 22. But so it's kind of a double edge sword here. You got enough experience that you have been where you are at long enough to know whether or not that chemistry is going to work and for whatever reason it hasn't, but still fortunate enough to be young enough at the same time compared to most athletes even still coming into NASCAR still plenty young enough to make a move and have great opportunity going forward for a long time to come and to be able to try some cool sponsors.

Q. You came a long way at a young age. Could you identify a few of the lessons major lessons maybe you have learned along the way that once you got to the Cup level?

Vickers: Oh, wow. There's so many. I would say that number one without a doubt is patience tops the list. Just being patient on and off the racetrack, how you make decisions there again, on and off the racetrack, whether it is the business side of things; to whether or not to make that pass every single time the door opens.

If you try to -- if you take that chance every single time, eventually you are going to end up wrecked and you have get to have the patience, especially the higher up in the ranks you go usually the longer the races get. And when you run and 500 mile you can't just jump through every single door that opens when you are out there. Sometimes you just got to be patient and take care of your equipment and be there at the end. No matter how fast you are if you are not there at the last lap it doesn't matter.