Brian Vickers pit crew kept the No. 25 car in contention Sunday at Pocono. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Vickers finishes second in nip-'n'-tuck shootout

LONG POND, Pa. -- After a year-and-a-half in the Nextel Cup Series, it's all starting to come together for Brian Vickers.

For the second time in three weeks, he threatened to win, and Sunday's Pocono 500 was Vickers' closest call yet.

Brian Vickers

POCONO 500 •   Results •   Standings •   Lap-by-Lap Coverage Final lapsRyan Newman's late wreck sets up a two-lap shootout Top finishersVickers talks about his best career Nextel Cup finish Early cautionKurt Busch spins and tags Terry Labonte on Lap 28 Three strikesJason Leffler tags Dave Blaney and Kyle Petty is collected Tire troublesDale Earnhardt Jr. hits pit road with tire problems Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

But this wasn't like the Coca-Cola 600, when Vickers crashed after leading 98 laps. This time, he dominated, leading 121 of 201 laps. And for the first time, Vickers had a real shot at breaking the No. 25's win drought, which extends back two years.

Vickers had plenty of time to think about scoring that long-awaited first victory. Pocono's massive straightaways gave Vickers several seconds to think about things.

Several seconds. That's an eternity in a stock car, but Vickers said it wasn't tough to remain on task, especially with a mirror-full of Carl Edwards.

"I felt like we had a shot to win, but it's easy for your mind to wander in those situations," Vickers said. "The only thing that needs to be on your mind is Turn 1 on that lap, when you get off there, Turn 2, same thing for 200 laps."

Vickers wound up second -- easily a career-high -- and in the end, it was an extensive long run that did him in. The race stayed green from Lap 151 to Lap 196, and Edwards' Ford ran him down.

"We slowed down and he didn't. Those guys [the No. 99 team] did an awesome job on long runs," Vickers said. "We were hoping a caution would come out with 20 to go, come in, get four tires."

In an otherwise boring event, the fans at Pocono were treated to a brilliant battle between Vickers and Edwards, who repeatedly swapped the lead in the last 60 laps. Edwards would lose ground to Vickers in Turn 1, only to gain the edge right back in the critical Tunnel Turn.

Edwards joked that it was the most time he had ever spent with Vickers.

"We don't talk much. It was neat," Edwards said. "We were really working each other really hard, I have a lot of respect for him.

"He raced a lot more respectable manner than I was ready to and it brought out the best of both of them."

Vickers pitted for the final time on Lap 182, but he only got right-side tires, and he said he didn't have a shot on the final two-lap shootout because Edwards was so much better on old tires.

"I was hoping our tires would cool down and we take him," Vickers said. "The car just got a little tight."

The finish moved Vickers up three spots in the standings to 21st, putting him on the verge of cracking the top 20 for the first time in a year.

Sunday was the first time Vickers had ever scored back-to-back top-10 finishes, and the 21-year-old says it's because of crew chief Lance McGrew, who was reunited with Vickers before the season.

"We had a year apart," said Vickers, who won the 2003 Busch Series title with McGrew. "New shop, new people. We were behind the eight ball the whole time.

"We want to run top-five every week and go after championships in the long run."