Red Bull and NASCAR- The end of an era

Red Bull.com
Sports
Motor Sports
Articles
Red Bull's NASCAR team set for final run

Getty Images

Red Bull's NASCAR team set for final run

by Jeff Pappone, Nov 17, 2011

When the chequered flag flies on the 2011 Sprint Cup season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, the finish line of the Ford 400 will also signal the end of Red Bull’s NASCAR team.

And the guy who’s been there all along is Brian Vickers, who was one of the first employees of Red Bull’s NASCAR organization in 2006, and when the doors close sometime later this year, he will likely be one of its last.

“It’s been five years and it’s sad to see the team come to an end – so many people including myself put a lot into this team to take it from nothing to where it is and I am really proud of that and I learned a lot,” said Vickers, who still hasn’t settled his plans for 2012.

“Unfortunately in life nothing lasts forever. Maybe the right investor will come along and the team will continue but obviously it will be different from what it was.”

Getty Images

Vickers’ time behind the wheel of a Red Bull Toyota began with a difficult season in 2007. The team struggled to make the 43-car field on many occasions, with the two cars starting in only 40 of a possible 72 slots. The best he and the other original driver, A.J. Allmendinger, did that year was Vickers’ fifth-placed finish in the 12th race of the year at Charlotte.

Allmendinger was replaced by former Formula One driver Scott Speed midway through 2008. Speed stayed with the team until late last season when Kasey Kahne took over the second car.

While the outfit went through some rough times early on, it all seemed unimportant when Vickers came down with a potentially life-threatening blood clotting condition that kept him out of the car for much of the 2010 season.

“Personally, that was my lowest point,” he said. “It wasn't just about missing a season, it was that and so much more. It was tough, really tough.

“For the team, I think missing the Daytona 500 in that first year was the low point for sure. We ran really well but we blew a tyre in our duel race [that determines the starting field] and we missed the race.”

Getty Images

In all the team posted two wins, 10 poles, 20 top-5s and 55 top-10s in 321 races over five seasons.

Although the Daytona 500 was the scene of his biggest disappointment as a Red Bull driver, it also provided him an opportunity to make the most interesting entrance to a racetrack of his driving career.

“Skydiving into Daytona was probably the coolest thing I have ever done,” he said.

“I was supposed to do it last year but I couldn’t, so it happened this year. Just being able to skydive into a race track was incredible and it was something I have always dreamed of doing.”

That kind of freedom to do things that other teams likely would not allow will always bring a smile to Vickers’ face when he thinks about his time at Red Bull. It’s also something he thinks he’ll miss when he signs with another outfit for 2012 and beyond.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Red Bull lifestyle mirrors my own more than any other brand in the world,” he said.

“The most important things were the ones that happened on the racetrack but the things that we did off the track — skydiving, white water kayaking, snowboarding – just fit my personality and my lifestyle. I am going to miss that of course."

'There’s no doubt in my mind that the Red Bull lifestyle mirrors my own'

Vickers’ best year with Red Bull was 2009, where he made the Chase for the Cup, finished 12th overall in points and scored the team’s maiden NASCAR victory.

“Making the Chase is a good memory, but the first win at Michigan is at the top,” he said.

“That win symbolized everything that we worked so hard for. We had run so well so many times for so many laps and something always seemed to get in the way. But we finally sealed the deal.”

Kahne took Red Bull’s second win in Phoenix last weekend in the team’s penultimate race.

Now the outfit heads to Miami for one last run under the Red Bull banner. And when the end comes with the waving of the chequered flag in Miami, Vickers will look back on his time with Red Bull and be satisfied with a job well done.

“It’s been a wonderful five years and I can’t thank [Red Bull boss] Dietrich [Mateschitz] and Red Bull enough for everything they did. I think the NASCAR program has been a big success for them. Obviously, we wanted more success on the track but we learned a lot,” Vickers said.

“It was probably one of the most challenging things I have done: building a team from nothing in such a competitive sport and getting it to the point where it could win races was difficult and it’s sad to see it all go away. But it’s a part of life I guess.”