Vickers second, left without a Bud Pole again

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Brian Vickers took full responsibility for the fact that he "only" qualified second for Sunday's Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"Our team has come so close to so many poles," said Vickers, who qualified third last week at Las Vegas and fourth at last season's fall race at Atlanta. "Today, they got there. We should have been on the pole. I'm not real happy with myself right now."

Golden Corral 500  Lineup  Notebook  Preview  Photo Gallery

Vickers said at least half of his lap was worthy of the pole, then a mistake by him cost him the top starting spot.

"I knew it was a pole lap all the way until I got to the center of Turns 3 and 4 and I got on the apron a little bit and the car shot up the racetrack and I had to get out of it.

"We probably would have stuck it in the fence otherwise," he said. "Second is better than last."

Regardless, barring an incident in Saturday's two practice sessions, Sunday will mark the third time Vickers will start a Cup series race from the front row.

Vickers had already garnered a reputation for being a fast qualifier even before his rookie season began. In five Cup starts last season, Vickers qualified in the top five on four occassions.

Nextel Cup  Driver Standings  Rookie Standings  Manufacturer Standings  Owner Standings

In most of those instances, he was staring up at Ryan Newman, just like he was on Friday.

"So far, he's been just a little bit better," Vickers said of Newman. "I'm just starting to get frustrated with this whole pole situation," he said with a chuckle.

While Vickers has been one of the guys to beat on Fridays, Sundays have been a different story. In his eight Cup series starts, Vickers has finished no higher than 13th. So far in 2004, his best finish is 16th at Rockingham. He was 23rd at Las Vegas last week.

The young driver said calmly that success on race days will come.

"The team just has to learn what I need in a race car and I've got to learn what they need to hear in the race setup," Vickers said. "And that will come in time.

Peter Sospenzo, crew chief for Vickers' No. 25 Chevrolet, says his team is concerned with the early laps on Sunday.

"We've got to get our cars better for Brian at the beginning of races, that way he could be able to run and maintain and just have a better car on Sundays."