Vickers having improved year, but Bristol still tough
By Official Release
August 21, 2009
03:05 PM EDT
August 21, 2009
03:05 PM EDT
type size: + -
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- In becoming the 13th different winner this season last week at Michigan, Brian Vickers moved to within 12 points of the Sprint Cup Series top 12.
After starting his career with Hendrick Motorsports from 2004-06, Vickers has clearly adapted to life since '07 with Red Bull Racing.
The numbers show that '09 is a career-year for Vickers. For instance, his 11 top-10 finishes are already a career-high. Below are a few more since the inception of Loop Data in 2005:
Brian Vickers after 23 races (since 2005)
| Year | Rank | Starts | Avg. Fin. | Avg. Run Pos. | Fast Laps Run | Pct. Laps / Top 15 | Led | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 18 | 23 | 19.7 | 18.8 | 154 | 46.1 | 295 | 80.2 |
| 2006 | 15 | 23 | 19.4 | 18.2 | 105 | 44.2 | 104 | 78.9 |
| 2007 | 39 | 14 | 25.1 | 22.5 | 77 | 33.2 | 95 | 67.8 |
| 2008 | 15 | 23 | 18.3 | 17.9 | 127 | 41.3 | 152 | 79.6 |
| 2009 | 13 | 23 | 15.7 | 14.9 | 154 | 54.0 | 99 | 87.6 |
In terms of Driver Rating, Vickers is the seventh-most-improved driver from the end of 2008 to now. Below is a list of the most-improved drivers in terms of Driver Rating:
Driver Rating improvement (2008 vs. 2009)
| Pos. | Driver | 2008 | 2009 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Kurt Busch | 73.8 | 99.4 | 25.6 |
| 2. | Juan Montoya | 68.0 | 88.1 | 20.1 |
| 3. | Marcos Ambrose | 53.7 | 70.6 | 16.9 |
| 4. | Sam Hornish Jr. | 49.6 | 66.4 | 16.8 |
| 5. | David Reutimann | 66.7 | 79.7 | 13.0 |
| 6. | Tony Stewart | 93.2 | 105.6 | 12.4 |
| 7. | Brian Vickers | 77.2 | 87.6 | 10.4 |
| 8. | Kasey Kahne | 81.1 | 88.7 | 7.6 |
| 9. | Mark Martin | 90.0 | 95.6 | 5.6 |
| 10. | Ryan Newman | 75.5 | 80.7 | 5.2 |
But now comes the hard part for Vickers. Three races -- and three tracks -- remain before the Chase is set. Two of those tracks -- Bristol and Richmond -- rank in the bottom five for Vickers in both Driver Rating and average finish (Atlanta is his 11th-best Driver Rating track and sixth-best in average finish):
Brian Vickers: Bottom five tracks
| Worst | Track | Driver Rating | Worst | Track | Avg. Finish | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Homestead | 46.0 | 1. | Homestead | 31.7 | |
| 2. | Bristol | 57.2 | 2. | Darlington | 28.6 | |
| 3. | Richmond | 57.7 | 3. | Richmond | 27.8 | |
| 4. | Darlington | 60.8 | 4. | Bristol | 26.0 | |
| 5. | Las Vegas | 61.4 | 5. | Las Vegas | 24.0 |
Immediately on deck is Bristol Motor Speedway, where Vickers has a top finish of 12th in 10 career races. Additionally, he has yet to break a 70.0 Driver Rating at Bristol.
Brian Vickers at Bristol (since 2005)
| Date | Finish | Avg. Run Pos. | Fast Laps Run | Pct. Laps / Top 15 | Led | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/05 | 12 | 20.8 | 2 | 27.8 | 0 | 68.0 |
| 8/05 | 20 | 17.6 | 3 | 38.6 | 0 | 67.3 |
| 3/06 | 37 | 31.1 | 0 | 26.0 | 0 | 58.1 |
| 8/06 | 33 | 36.6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 35.8 |
| 3/07 | 15 | 17 | 0 | 25.8 | 1 | 69.4 |
| 3/08 | 39 | 27.7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 46.3 |
| 8/08 | 20 | 24.8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 64.3 |
| 3/09 | 29 | 28.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48.1 |
| Total | 25.6 | 25.5 | 17 | 14.8 | 1 | 57.2 |
• Loop Data: Season-to-Date Box Score | More Statistics
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