Red Bull Racing announced today they have resigned driver Brian Vickers to a new multi-year contract. This is a great move by the team to lock in the 25 year old driver. Vickers and the team struggled in their first season, but started to turn things around last year. On Sunday Vickers earned the first Sprint Cup win for the team in Michigan. Vickers is currently only 12 points behind Mark Martin for the final chase spot, so a chase berth could also be in the future for the team. It feels like Vickers has been racing forever, and it’s easy to forget he is only 25 years of age. Locking him under contract will solidify the foundation the team has built. I applaud Vickers for sticking with the team through the times, and rewarding them with their first win. I believe Vickers is one of the most underrated drivers on the circuit and usually stays out of the limelight. I am sure he also gained some fans this past Saturday with his post race interview directed towards Kyle Busch.
Archive for the ‘Sprint Cup’ Category
GM Pulling Support from Nationwide and Truck Series 0
June 13th, 2009
General Motors announced this week they would stop support for the NASCAR Nationwide and Truck Series. The move is part of the restructuring taking place as part of the bankruptcy filing. What does this announcement mean for these series? I believe the answer will truly be different from team to team. The most factory support goes to the bigger teams, those that are mostly likely to win races and championships. So some of the smaller teams should not be affected as most would think. On the other hand organizations such as Kevin Harvick Inc. will be affected the most. KHI fields winning teams in both series and receives lots of factory backing from GM. Harvick has already confirmed the loss of factory support and that it will mean some changes in his organization as a result.
From what has been reported in the media, GM will still support teams in the Sprint Cup Series. Whether that changes in the future will remain to be seen. GM has a long and storied history in motorsports, especially in NASCAR. Let’s hope they pull through these tough times and come out swinging in the future.
Finally, Double File Restarts 0
June 5th, 2009
It’s nice to see that NASCAR has finally wised up and will now start all restarts double file. This is something that should have been done when they implemented the free pass rule some years ago. It should make for some more exciting racing, as now the leaders will not have to be jumbled up with cars a lap or more down on the restart. More positions should change hands and we should see some more passes for the lead as a result of the restarts. If you watched the All-Star race this year you saw how great of an idea this is. On to Pocono!
Anyone Questioning Stewart Now? 0
June 4th, 2009
What a new beginning this season has been for Tony Stewart. A lot of people in the garage were questioning his move of leaving the well established Joe Gibbs operation and jump into team ownership with Stewart-Haas Racing. Wonder what those same people are thinking now?
Up to this point of 2009, Stewart is enjoying some of his best success points wise in his career. Never before has he been this high in the points at this point of the season. Not only that, he is leading the points, and is the first owner/driver to do that since the late Alan Kulwicki. It gets even better for Stewart-Haas, as Ryan Newman currently sits 5th in the points. This team has gone from back of the pack performance to top of the leader board overnight. Most of the credit for this goes to Smoke. Whether you are a fan of Tony Stewart or a hater, you must respect what he has done with this race team in such little time. Good job Smoke!