Living the Red Bull lifestyle suits Vickers perfectly

When Brian Vickers announced last week that he had signed a multi-year deal to continue driving the No. 83 Toyota for Red Bull Racing, he said it was as much about wanting to continue "the lifestyle" that Red Bull affords him.

He went on to explain what he meant by that and talked about some of the cool stuff he gets to do because of the association with his unique sponsor.

Question: Why exactly is Red Bull such a good match for you?

Vickers: More than anything, I have just enjoyed, on a personal level and not just a professional level, I've just really enjoyed the lifestyle that Red Bull has offered. It's unlike any other lifestyle that I have ever been presented with in my racing career. It's a life that I would choose if no one was telling me what to do and that's been the best part. I don't have to do appearances that, needless to say, aren't the most fun or entertaining.

Instead, I get to jump out of airplanes. Granted that doesn't seem like a lot of fun for most of you [in the media], but for me it's pretty exciting. It's something that I want to do. I get to do a lot of fun stuff.

Q: What kind of other "fun stuff" do you get to do that's on the horizon?

Vickers: [This] week I'm going to do a motorcycle street bike course school so that will be fun as well. I get to do a lot of things like that. They present a lifestyle to me that's very enjoyable. Then when you couple that with a race team that's capable of winning -- I just can't imagine being in a better position right now. Now we've got to go try to win more and go try to accomplish our ultimate goal, which is winning the championship. But I have really enjoyed working with Red Bull and look forward to many more years in the future.

Q: How hard would it have been to start over somewhere else at this stage of your career?

Vickers: It would have been very difficult and was not something that I wanted to do. There were a lot of things that I would have had to give up -- not only having to start over again from scratch and try to rebuild or be a part of rebuilding a team, but it goes back to the lifestyle as well. The Red Bull lifestyle would have been something that would have been truly missed.

It's not all about that -- I'm in this sport because I want to win races -- but we all work because we want to live life as well. Part of living life for me is racing because that's what I love to do, but there's also a lot more to it than that. [Starting over with another organization] was not something that I was looking forward to or wanted to do.

Q: Can you elaborate on what you call 'the Red Bull lifestyle?'

Vickers: The Red Bull lifestyle means mainly you're just allowed to be yourself, whoever that may be. You're allowed to do the things you want to do, especially if they're extreme. That's always encouraged, but not necessary. If you don't want to jump out of planes, Red Bull has never asked me to do something that I don't want to do. But they allow me to do the things that I want to do -- that is the Red Bull lifestyle and I like that.

There are no restrictions. I get to enjoy the things that I have always wanted to do in life and I get the opportunity to get to do them with some of the best in the business. Don't get me wrong, they always want me to stay safe. When I went skydiving or flying in a stunt plane or kayaking, I did it with the best in the business -- the Red Bull athletes around the world. I went with their skydiving team, Kirby [Chambliss] in the stunt plane, Tao [Berman] in the kayak and on down the list.

Q: What about some of the appearances you are required to make?

Vickers: An appearance for them is very unique -- as a Red Bull appearance might be going to the Energy Station at the race track, which is not so bad. It's basically a night club and it's kind of fun.

It's the same thing away from the race track. For one appearance I went to the [freestyle motocross competitor] Travis Pastrana toast or roast -- whatever you want to call it. They called it a toast, I believe. It pretty much turned into a straight-up roast and that was a lot of fun. That was out at the X-games. It helps them and it presents Red Bull in the fashion that they want to be presented in, but it's also enjoyable for me.