"... to make the car go fast"

Securing a starting place among the top 35, Brian Vickers had a perfect launch into the new season. His desires beyond this he discloses in an interview: making the Camry speedier, getting into the Chase and, later down the line, a lucrative posting in Washington.

“My heroes all had a dream and were willing to do everything it took to realize it,” you say. Between us, what is your most immodest, unrealistic, craziest dream?

To be the president of the United States and make the world a better place.

But at the moment you’re doing a pretty good job as a NASCAR star. How would you describe your current situation compared to last year’s?

Is that a serious question?! This year is tremendously better and a complete turn-around from last year. We’re making all the races this year - last year we weren’t because we were outside the top 35 all season.

What are the advantages of being in the top 35, despite being spared of having to qualify for the race?

The main advantage is being free of the stress of having to go to the track each weekend not knowing if we’re going to be in the race or not. Now I know we’re in, so I don’t have to worry about qualifying as much. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to qualify well! But this also gives us the opportunity to run race practice the morning of qualifying.

At the moment you’re 18th overall, 128 points behind number 12. How realistic is it that we’ll see you in the Chase on September 14?

I think it is realistic. It definitely isn’t a given, though. We’re going to have to work hard for it all season.

Next up are the races in Phoenix and Talladega. Can you give us a brief description of both circuits from the cockpit?

Phoenix is very unique. Turns one and two and three and four are very different. The track is flat and short, but still very fast. It always makes for a great race. Talladega is high-banked and the longest track we race on at 2.66 miles [approx. 4 km]. It’s restrictor plate racing where you run wide open, three to four cars wide. I love both tracks.

Talladega is the location of your biggest triumph to date - in 2006 you won here in the UAW Ford 500. Does the race have a specific meaning for you compared to others because of this?

Yes and no. I’ve always enjoyed racing at Talladega, and going back to a track where I got my first win is pretty cool.

A few races ago Mike Skinner acquired car 84 from AJ Allmendinger. Can you give us a short introduction to your new colleague?

Mike’s been great to work with. He brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the table, which is great for the team. He’s personable and easy to talk to, and great at sharing information. That makes it easy for the flow of info between the teams to be very good. A lot of that comes from his experience and confidence.

Changing to COTs caused huge waves within the racing community. How much have the cars changed the NASCAR Sprint Cup?

Definitely a lot. The cars are harder to drive and balance, and it’s harder to race around other cars.

How is the development of the Camry coming along? What areas are you focusing on the most?

We’re focusing on making it go fast! I think the development is coming along fine. We still have more work to do, but we’re getting better each week. We’ll keep working hard to make more and more progress as the season progresses.

NASCAR drivers have different ways of chilling out from the racing stress. Instead of hands on the wheel, you stick your nose in books. What are you reading right now?

Right now I’m reading ‘An Inconvenient Book: Real Solutions to the World’s Problems.’ It is kind of a counter to the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ movie. The author doesn’t try to dismiss that there are problems and that global warming doesn’t exist. He just puts it in a more realistic form, a less exaggerated form. He offers real solutions and focuses on facts, not hype. I like to read as many open-minded, factual perspectives as possible to make my own conclusions on whatever topic is at hand.