Brian Vickers won’t need to look for another career soon but after a successful debut as a TV weatherman on Thursday evening, perhaps Vickers might consider a job in broadcasting when he’s finished racing.
Vickers’ spot on the Weather Channel was more about NASCAR than the weather, but he showed his talents behind the wheel are the only reason he should be in front of a camera.
And he’ll be back to doing what he does best following a turbulent ride in Las Vegas last weekend where he ended five laps down on the leaders in 31st place.
It also looks like weatherman Vickers (seen here comparing notes with Kyle Busch) brought a good forecast along for the ride with a high of 16 Celsius predicted for race day in Atlanta as the Sprint Cup runs at one of the Red Bull driver’s favourite venues.
“I like old, slick, wore-out race tracks. They're what I grew up racing and I've always enjoyed those race tracks. I really like Atlanta and I like running against the wall,” he says. “Atlanta has all of the above.”
Vickers has four top-10 finishes in his last six starts at the 50-year-old 1.54-mile quad-oval Atlanta Motor Speedway which is one of the older tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule.
This time last season, Vickers sat in 17th overall arriving in Atlanta, ran fast all day and looked to be headed for a last-lap showdown with Kurt Busch for the win until an untimely yellow flag — the 11th of the race — ruined his chances. The Red Bull Toyota simply didn’t have enough fuel in its tanks to survive to a green-white-chequered finish and Vickers was forced to pit.
'All the guys on the team are really hyped up. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going' – Scott Speed
While disappointing, the top-five finish saw Vickers break into a top-12Chase position for the first time in 2009 digging him out of a hole created by a crash in the season-opening Daytona 500.
This year, Vickers arrives in Georgia in a similar position, but this time it’s due to his rough outing in Las Vegas last week where he never found the handle on his car.
“We are in need of a good run after Vegas,” said Vickers, who lines up 26th on Sunday after Friday’s qualifying session. “I am confident in this team, and I can think of no better track on which to rebound and run up front.”
Unlike Vickers, the last thing Scott Speed wants is his run of luck to change. The No. 82 driver is also coming off his worst performance of the young 2010 season, but that came in the form of a 22nd place in Las Vegas that kept him solidly in 16th in points.
Speed starts 32nd, marking a huge turnaround from a year ago, when Speed was struggling to stay in the top-40 after the first three races.
“All the guys on the team are really hyped up,” Speed said. “Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going. We expected to be better, but you still have to keep digging.”
Nevertheless, Speed will be looking for a different result in Atlanta from his first visit last year where his race ended in the wall with about 40 laps to go. He finished 35th.
The chequered flag at the end of the Kobalt Tools 500 will also signal the first of only five weekends away from racing for the NASCAR teams, which compete in 36 events over a 41-week period between February and the end of November.
It’s a time for the drivers to catch up with family and friends or sometimes finally get around to important life events that get put on the back burner during the season.
Speed, for example, married his fiancée Amanda during one break last year. The couple then waited for a second off-weekend in August to get away for a mini-honeymoon before Speed rushed back to the cockpit to the finish his rookie season.
For more, visit NASCAR.com, go to the home of Red Bull Racing Team. You can catch up with Brian on Facebook and, as well as Scott's Twitter page, you can visit his official site.
Red Bull Photofiles
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