Vickers, Lamar to share Braun's 32 car in 2009

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Brian Vickers and Burney Lamar will share the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota for the 2009 Nationwide Series season, Braun Racing and Dollar General Corporation announced.

Vickers

Brian Vickers, the 2003 series champion, will return to the seat of the No. 32 for 17 races. Vickers has driven the Braun Racing No. 32 entry in select races for the past two seasons. In 2003, which was his first year of full-time competition in the series, Vickers brought home the title and became NASCAR's youngest-ever champion at age 20. In 90 career series starts, Vickers has captured three wins, three poles, 21 top-fives and 38 top-10 finishes with a total of 849 laps led.

Lamar, a native of Sacramento, Calif., started racing go-karts at age 5. As a youngster, he earned 25 go-kart track championships in addition to nine International Karting Federation Regional championships. Since then, Lamar has found success in a number of different series including the USAC Western States Sprint Car Series and the former NASCAR AutoZone Elite Series. By 2005, Lamar was recognized as an up and coming talent by a number of NASCAR's top teams. He was contracted by Kevin Harvick Inc. that year as a developmental driver and competed in a limited number of former NASCAR Grand National Division West Series, Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide races.

In 2006, Lamar drove a partial Nationwide schedule with sponsorship from Dollar General. Since that time, Lamar has driven in select Nationwide races and has been involved in charity work for Victory Junction Gang Camp and Sound and Speed. He also served as a member of the Celebrity Cabinet for the American Red Cross.

Lamar

"We're extremely proud to have Brian Vickers and Burney Lamar at the wheel of the Dollar General Toyota Camry for the 2009 season," Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling said. "Brian has been a true ambassador for Dollar General during the 2008 season and was quickly accepted as a member of the Dollar General family. We're also excited to reunite with Burney. He has been a true friend to Dollar General since our relationship in 2006, and we're happy that Braun Racing provided a seat for him in 2009."

Braun Racing owner, Todd Braun, agreed with Dreiling's sentiment. "We are pleased to welcome back Brian Vickers for another season and excited about adding Burney Lamar to the Braun Racing family," he said. "Brian has done a tremendous job for us over the last two years, helping to grow our program into one that is extremely successful. In addition, Burney is a driver that has shown enormous potential and we look forward to mentoring him and helping him reach that potential. We anticipate much success in 2009 with these two talented men driving the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota Camry."

In the 2008 racing season, Dollar General was the primary sponsor of Braun Racing's No. 32 Camry in 13 races. The discount retailer captured its first win of the season in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Dollar General recently announced its sponsorship of Braun Racing's No. 32 entry for all 35 NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2009.