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Johnson continues dominance at one of NASCAR’s premier venues
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — So what else is new?
Jimmie Johnson, who won last fall’s race at Martinsville Speedway from the top starting spot, continued his mastery of the paper-clip-shaped track during Friday afternoon’s time trials.
In the first competitive appearance of NASCAR’s Gen-6 race car at Martinsville, Johnson blistered the vaunted short track in 19.244 seconds (98.400 mph) in winning the pole for Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500, as the top six drivers in the field topped the former track record of 98.084 mph established by Tony Stewart in October 2005.
In winning his third pole award at Martinsville and the 30th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole of his career, Johnson edged Marcos Ambrose by .007 seconds. Brian Vickers qualified third, followed by Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon. Kahne and Gordon, Johnson’s teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, ran identical speeds (98.185 mph), with Kahne getting the fifth starting spot based on his car’s higher standing in owner points.
In his first practice run earlier in the day, Johnson knew his No. 48 Chevrolet SS was fast.
"In the first run out, we were in (qualifying) trim and made two or three laps, and I knew right away that we had a great shot at it today," said Johnson, a seven-time winner at Martinsville. "At that point, I just needed to do my job and not mess up.
"So I’m very proud of that. It’s very easy to (mess up) at this race track, especially once practice ends. You sit and have lunch and relax for a couple hours and have to do it all over again. A great day across the board — team, driver, engine, car, everything that’s new. We were able to step up and figure it out and get the car dialed in."
Early in Friday’s session, the track record fell. Logano, the third driver to make a qualifying run, toured the .526-mile short track in 19.269 seconds (98.272 mph), breaking the record set by Stewart, one of his Fontana antagonists from two weeks ago.
Six cars later, Ambrose (98.384 mph) knocked Logano off the provisional pole, and Vickers followed with a lap at 98.287 mph to push Logano back to third after 14 of 44 cars had taken time trials. Johnson’s pole run late in the session bumped Logano to fourth.
The No. 2 Ford of defending series champion Brad Keselowski was late getting through inspection and made it to the grid with seconds left on the five-minute clock. Keselowski nevertheless qualified seventh at 98.078 mph.
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NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program™ Delivered by UPS seeks to reduce carbon footprint
Waving the “Green” flag will have unprecedented significance for NASCAR this month as the sport embarks on its most ambitious environmental awareness campaign ever — perhaps the most concentrated month-long effort in major league sports.
NASCAR already uses ethanol-infused Sunoco Green E15 gasoline, boasts the largest recycling program in sports and now plans to exponentially increase a tree-planting program that will benefit communities across the country and essentially eliminate its carbon footprint.
NASCAR’s Race to Green initiative is the result of nearly five years of work dedicated to making the sport as environmentally friendly as possible and calls on its corporate sponsors, tracks, teams and fans to join in.
This race weekend at Martinsville, Va., longtime NASCAR partner UPS will literally plant the seed for the project as sponsor of the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program™ Delivered by UPS. The company, which joined forces with Arbor Day Foundation, has pledged to plant more than 8,000 trees — including 90 in each remaining market the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in this season.
"We have over a dozen partners who have formally committed to tree planting as part of this effort."
— Mike Lynch, NASCAR managing director of green innovation
The trees will absorb carbon emissions equivalent to all the racing in NASCAR’s three national series for the entire season. Other partners such as Green Earth Technologies, Sprint, Ford and 3M will be among those joining the pledge as well and by visiting www.NASCAR.com/green, fans can also purchase tree saplings to be planted as part of the program.
“We’re already feeling tremendous momentum going into this month,’’ said Dr. Mike Lynch, NASCAR’s founding and managing director of green innovation. “We have over a dozen partners who have formally committed to tree planting as part of this effort.
“We essentially kicked off NASCAR Green four-and-a-half years ago and now we’re in this really great spot where research shows that NASCAR fans are twice as likely as non-fans to say their house is very green … up from 70 percent as likely last year. We are moving the perception of tens of millions of fans in a way that’s just bigger than anything else the U.S. has ever done, and what that does is create a very fertile environment where a company like UPS or Green Earth Technologies can be incorporated.’’
UPS has had an eye for green for years and is considered a worldwide leader in its green efforts.
Not only is it the presenting sponsor of NASCAR’s tree planting programs, earlier this season it debuted one of its most interesting, progressive and practical innovations: a solar-powered trackside services trailer. Even the miniature UPS package car that makes deliveries during the race weekends is battery powered with back-up solar panels.
“It’s one of our core priorities,’’ UPS Director of Sponsorships and Sustainability Betsy Wilson explained, of the company’s focus on green initiatives. “UPS in 2012 made a commitment to plant more than a million trees globally, partnering with a lot of organizations to organize and provide grants so it was an organic extension to partner with NASCAR on their tree planting program, if you’ll pardon the pun.
“UPS has been committed to sustainability for many years and is a core value to what we are as a company and that finds its way into all the engagements we have, whether sponsorship agreements or employee programs. … It was really a natural extension to a part of this program in NASCAR.’’
Lynch couldn’t agree more and uses UPS as a prime example of what NASCAR is capable of and what the possibilities may be.
“Bringing in partners always means you have unique challenges,’’ explained Lynch. “But you have this incredibly receptive environment now with this huge audience open to considering these green messages and the real key, they are open to evaluating for themselves through the lens of the sport, the effectiveness and cost-saving and job-creation and environmental benefit.
“There’s so much evidence now, it makes the case more straight-forward.
Florida-based Green Earth Technologies got the message.
The company — which manufacturers environmentally safe home cleaning products and the G-CLEAN pressure washers — is eager to seize on the evolving and progressive green mindset in NASCAR as both a series sponsor and a team sponsor.
As part of the Race to Green program, the company has committed to planting one tree for every Sprint Cup Series green flag lap run in the month of April.
Green Earth Technologies President Jeffrey Loch only half-jokingly says he dreams of the day a race-winning driver will get out of the car, plant a company flag in the grass and then actually kiss the earth.
“NASCAR is synonymous with high performance and partnering with them will allow us to reach millions of consumers who desire to keep their homes clean and green without giving up product performance and value,’’ Loch said. “I bought into this in the beginning and I literally tracked them (NASCAR) down as opposed to them coming to me, are you kidding me?”
While NASCAR is green all year, it will be an even brighter green during April, a month that boasts Earth Day (April 22) and Arbor Day (April 26).
NASCAR and UPS will kick off the NASCAR Green Clean Air Tree Planting Program this week at Martinsville. In two weeks at Kansas Speedway, the infield will prominently sport a NASCAR Green logo and a Toyota Camry Hybrid will be the pace car. For Earth Day — the Monday following the Sprint Cup race there — NASCAR will host a park renovation in Kansas City.
And Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, one of NASCAR’s leading-edge tracks in green technology and commitment, has announced it will partner with NASCAR in donating 8,000 tree seedlings to the National Park Service, to help with a reforestation effort at the Flight 93 National Memorial, which honors those lost on United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
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NASCAR honors first African-American driver to win Premier Series race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The Commonwealth of Virginia honored NASCAR diversity trailblazer Wendell Scott with a historical highway marker in his hometown of Danville, Va., to celebrate his legacy as the first African-American to win a race in what is now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Scott broke racial barriers in NASCAR over his 13-year career at NASCAR’s top level that included 20 top-five and 147 top-ten finishes in 495 starts.
“The Commonwealth of Virginia is deep with NASCAR heritage and support,” said NASCAR President Mike Helton. “Wendell Scott is very much a part of NASCAR’s and Virginia’s history. We join others in thanking the Commonwealth of Virginia for the honor they are bestowing on Mr. Scott, one that is well deserved. The Scott family has been instrumental to NASCAR as we developed our multicultural efforts, and it was Wendell Scott who served as such an inspiration to us all.”
During the ceremony, Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders declared April 5, 2013 as Wendell Scott Day and his restored No. 11 race car was displayed along with cars exhibited by Occoneechee Historic Speedway Group, Early Dirt Racers of Virginia and North Carolina and the Old Timers Racing Club.
Aside from Helton and Saunders; other speakers included: Earl Reynolds, Danville director of community development; Sarah Latham, president of the Danville Historical Society; Kathleen S. Kilpatrick, director of the Department of Historic Resources; and Wendell Scott, Jr.
“Our father was a proud Virginian, so this honor from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources is very humbling,” said Sybil Scott, daughter of the late Scott. “We believe daddy is with us in spirit, smiling on his friends, peers, family and especially his fans and our mother who are witnessing the fruits of his labor. The historic marker stands tall and today’s representation by local, state and NASCAR officials assure that his struggles against the odds, but more importantly, his accomplishments are undeniable.”
"The Scott family has been instrumental to NASCAR as we developed our multicultural effort …"
— NASCAR Preident Mike Helton
Scott, who officially retired from racing in 1973 and passed away in 1990, enjoyed a prolific career that spanned well beyond NASCAR’s premier series. In 1959, he won both the NASCAR Sportsman Division Virginia championship and the Sportsman Division championship at Southside Speedway in Richmond, Va. In 1957, Scott finished third in the Virginia standings behind NASCAR Hall of Famer Ned Jarrett. Since his retirement, he has been inducted into 13 halls of fame, including the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Last year, Scott was among the 25 nominees up for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
During his career, Scott blazed a trail of diversity that extends to today’s NASCAR. This season, NASCAR is home to several diverse and female drivers in its three national series, including Danica Patrick, Juan Pablo Montoya, Aric Almirola, Nelson Piquet, Jr., Kyle Larson, Miguel Paludo, Johanna Long, Juan Carlos Blum, German Quiroga and Darrell Wallace, Jr.
“The story of Wendell Scott reminds us all of what gritty determination and eyes-on-the-prize perseverance can accomplish,” said Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. “I applaud Danville for working with the Commonwealth in recognizing Scott’s singular achievements. I am also grateful to NASCAR for celebrating Scott’s legacy this weekend in Danville and at the Martinsville Speedway, a remaining original NASCAR track, and bringing the story of Scott and Virginia’s motorsports legacy to the nation and racing fans around the world.”
Virginia’s historical highway marker program, which began in 1927 with the installation of the first historical markers along U.S. Route 1, is considered the oldest such program in the nation. Currently there are more than 2,200 official state markers, most maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation, as well as by local partners in jurisdictions outside of VDOT’s authority such as Danville.
The next NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will be The STP Gas Booster 500 on April 7 at 1 p.m. ET. It will air on FOX, FOX Deportes, Motor Racing Network Radio and SiriusXM Radio with additional coverage on NASCAR.COM.
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The marker for Scott stands in Danville, Va.
The marker for Scott stands in Danville, Va.
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Jeb Burton beats out Darrell Wallace Jr. in final qualifying run
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Rookie Jeb Burton backed up his fast time in practice, winning his first pole position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in Friday’s qualifying at Martinsville Speedway.
Burton, who will make just his seventh start in the series in Saturday’s Kroger 250, set a track record for the series with a fast lap of 96.666 mph. He’ll start first in an all-rookie front row after knocking Darrell Wallace Jr. off the pole as the last driver to make a qualifying attempt.
Burton, the 20-year-old son of former Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton from nearby Halifax, Va., made his series debut in this race last season. He qualified seventh and finished on the lead lap in 13th, but Friday’s accomplishment trumped his already solid debut.
"I was crying like a baby when I got out of that race car," said Burton, who was still emotional in the post-race news conference. "It means a whole lot for me and my family."
Former Martinsville winners Timothy Peters and Johnny Sauter — the series points leader — qualified third and fourth, respectively, with another rookie, German Quiroga in fifth.
Two other Rookie of the Year candidates locked up starting spots in the top 15. Brennan Newberry, the pole-sitter in the season opener at Daytona, qualified 10th and Ryan Blaney logged the 14th-fastest lap.
Kevin Harvick, the defending race winner, will start 16th Saturday.
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All four Hendrick Motorsports drivers finish in top 10
See full practice results here
Jimmie Johnson is used to being in the front at Martinsville Speedway, and that’s exactly where the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion found himself following Friday’s first practice for the STP Gas Booster 500.
Johnson turned in the top time of the 90-minute session, completing a lap around the .526-mile paperclip track in 19.214 seconds (98.533 mph). Johnson has seven wins at the historic track, including one in the fall race last year.
Juan Pablo Montoya posted the second-fastest speed of the session, at 98.502 mph, a lap time of 19.224 seconds.
Clint Bowyer (19.252 seconds, 98.359 mph), Jeff Gordon (19.272, 98.257) and Brad Keselowski (19.276, 98.236) rounded out the top five.
It was a strong session for Hendrick Motorsports. In addition to having two of its four drivers in the top five, Kasey Kahne logged the seventh-fastest lap time at 19.306 seconds and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was ninth-fastest with a time of 19.335 seconds.
Among other notable drivers Friday, Mark Martin — who is replacing injured Denny Hamlin in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Toyota — was 18th on the speed chart, turning his best lap in 19.406 seconds.
Ryan Newman finished just outside the top 10, recording the 11th-best time (19.343 seconds). Newman also lightly bumped David Stremme toward the end of practice, but neither car lost control.
It was the lone Sprint Cup Series practice before qualifying, which is scheduled to begin Friday at 3:40 p.m. ET.
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Hamlin happy with teammate’s response; Patrick hopes for progress
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — In the days since his injury at Auto Club Speedway, Denny Hamlin learned just how much his competitors in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series are pulling for his speedy recovery. More significantly, he learned that his biggest ally is also his newest teammate.
Of all the drivers that sent Hamlin texts and tweets with get-well sentiments, Matt Kenseth may be the most vigilant well-wisher.
"You hate to see anybody ever get hurt, especially not be in the car. That’s tough," said Kenseth, who joined the Joe Gibbs Racing fold in the offseason. "He was probably getting sick of me texting him — you know, nobody calls anybody any more. They just text, right? I checked on him quite regularly, so it’s nice to see him at the track today. Seems like he’s in a good mood. Hope he heals up quicker than we think."
Hamlin, who was a near-constant presence in the garage area Friday at Martinsville Speedway, estimated earlier in the week that Kenseth had "probably texted me 50 times, literally every day or every few hours checking in on me." The outpouring of support grew larger Friday with a personal visit from Jimmie Johnson in his hauler and a "Get well soon, Denny" decal atop the B-pillar on Tony Stewart‘s car.
"It means a lot. We’re all fierce competitors on the race track, but we all have hearts for each other," Hamlin said. "This is a tight family, the NASCAR group is. Obviously, it makes you very humble to look at the support you get, whether it be through Twitter, on race telecasts or your peers coming up and talking to you personally."
Like clockwork
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have tried their best to corner the market on Martinsville victories over their careers, topping all active drivers with seven wins each. In doing so, they’ve enjoyed the lion’s share of a unique Martinsville tradition.
The speedway has given grandfather clocks as the trophy for NASCAR’s premier series without fail since Sept. 27, 1964, when Fred Lorenzen claimed the first one by winning the Old Dominion 500. The tradition of awarding antique furniture has continued into modern times, with Gordon and Johnson reaping the primary benefit.
So what does one do with seven nearly 8-foot-tall timepieces?
"I have them all. My friends and even family keep threatening to take one or the next one I win is theirs," Johnson said before winning the Coors Light Pole Award for Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500. "Six of them are in my warehouse, my man space that I have, and one is at the office. They don’t work. They don’t all cling and clang at the same time. Yes, we turned them off. It’d be a little annoying."
Gordon, who qualified sixth for Sunday’s race, was not quite as fastidious with his inventory of clocks.
"I couldn’t go through and tell you which rooms they’re in," Gordon said. "I know that they’re accounted for, but I have a pretty bad memory. I think there’s one still in a box, and I think that there are several spread out between Rick Hendrick and Ray Evernham and maybe even Brian Whitesell and myself. But they’re out there. Our decorating at home doesn’t really lend itself to grandfather clocks, so it’s just not one of those trophies you’d typically display at home, but usually at the race shop or waiting for that place to put it one day.”
Danica’s debut at Martinsville
Danica Patrick made her first official laps at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, not knowing what to expect. After 90 minutes of practice and a qualifying session, at least she’s consistent and more experienced than when she started.
Patrick was 33rd on the practice charts and qualified 32nd for Sunday’s 500-lap main event, but hopes that a dry run at the Little Rock test facility in Rockingham, N.C., and pointers from her boss, Tony Stewart, will help her cause.
"I always feel like the more new a situation is, kind of the less expectations there are and in general the less pressure and less nerves go on," Patrick said. "I’ve always felt like the more expectation level that exists and the longer you’ve been around, that’s when I get more nervous because it’s time. Definitely being here for the first time and understanding how challenging it is, I feel like it’s only up from here.
"I have no doubt that it will be a hard day, but I’m also of the belief that it can also be a really fun day. I mean, a good car is a good car. If it’s good and it’s hooked up and it’s turning, and the practice day we did a few weeks ago translates to this track and the car performs as well as it did at practice that day, there’s no reason we can’t have a decent day."
A decent day would go a long way to improving Patrick’s 29th-place position in the Sprint Cup points standings. Since her historic eighth-place effort from the pole in the season-opening Daytona 500, Patrick has four straight finishes of 26th or worse, all off the lead lap.
"It’s been not as good as what I had hoped for," Patrick said. "Then again, I also said I’m not going to set expectation levels at this point and time. I’m going to see how it goes. I think based on that, for me I would say that we just need to get a grasp as to what I need out of this new car."
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Three principals in Auto Club dust-up haven’t spoken to each other, try to move on
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — The waters may have calmed somewhat after the slam-bang finish that produced sparks and stoked tempers nearly two weeks ago at Auto Club Speedway. Yet Friday at Martinsville Speedway, 12 days and some 2,500 miles removed, that race’s protagonists — Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Tony Stewart — are still the prime topic of conversation.
The only ones not talking about it? Hamlin, Logano and Stewart … not amongst themselves, anyway.
All three drivers insisted Friday that their focus was not on the makings of a budding rivalry, but on trying to make their cars navigate the .526-mile paper-clip layout of one of NASCAR’s charter tracks that much better ahead of Sunday’s STP Gas Booster 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX).
"I’ve got a lot of stuff to do other than worry about something that happened two weeks ago."
— Tony Stewart
"I’ve got three race cars and we are in Martinsville, Virginia, this week," said Stewart, referring to his driver-owner title with Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick at Stewart-Haas Racing. "I’ve got a lot of stuff to do other than worry about something that happened two weeks ago. I can’t change it. I can’t do anything about what happened two weeks ago."
What happened two weeks ago was one of the more compelling final dozen laps of the season. Logano led on the final restart and twice blocked Stewart as he drove away; Stewart shoved Logano on pit road after the 400-miler to express his displeasure, then berated the 22-year-old driver in a post-race interview.
In the matter of Hamlin v. Logano, the two rivals carried over the bad blood from their altercation the week before at Bristol Motor Speedway. The two collided multiple times battling for the win on the final lap at Fontana, but only Logano saw the checkered flag. Hamlin’s car planted nose-first into the inside wall, and Logano scraped the outside wall, losing the race to former teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin lost even more, winding up with a broken vertebra that will leave him sidelined for up to six weeks.
For all the fireworks, scrutiny and name-calling that emerged from Auto Club, last weekend’s layoff for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series may have helped the heated emotions simmer. Another stronger contributing factor might be the necessary distraction of getting back to work.
"I feel like with Tony and I, I think it’s pretty much over," Logano said. "We have not talked to each other, but we had an off weekend and time to relax a little bit and cool off, so I feel like that’s over. I feel like we’re moving on. I think we’re both out there trying to improve on what we’ve got already."
If Logano hasn’t talked to the ever-busy Stewart, the avenue for talking to Hamlin would seem to be much easier this weekend. As luck would have it, Hamlin’s No. 11 and Logano’s No. 22 are 10th and 11th respectively in Sprint Cup car owner points, meaning their garage stalls and team transporters are located beside each other in the pecking order.
During the first Sprint Cup practice, Hamlin consulted with teammate Matt Kenseth and relief driver Mark Martin while Logano talked shop with his crew, some 25 paces away.
"We are obviously parked next to each other, but when you’re in your car and we’re focused in on making our car go fast and trying to get our car to qualify well right now," Logano said. "We were focusing on that hour-and-a-half (of practice) trying to make sure our car gets running the way we want it."
Hamlin, trying to help his Joe Gibbs Racing team even with his back in a brace, echoed the sentiment.
"I’ve been, especially during practice, so focused on trying to help Mark and trying to make Mark better and answer the questions that he has, I haven’t had time to get my mind on anything but that," he said.
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No. 4 Chevy takes the fastest lap by .001 seconds
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Rookie Jeb Burton, poised to make just his seventh start in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, led the speed charts Friday morning in the series’ only practice session at Martinsville Speedway.
Burton, a second-generation driver from nearby Halifax, Va., turned a fast lap of 96.244 mph in preparation for Saturday’s Kroger 250, the second race of the year for the truck tour.
Johnny Sauter, a former Martinsville winner, was second-fastest at 96.239 mph, just one-thousandth of a second off Burton’s time. Ron Hornaday Jr. was third-fastest at 96.010 mph with Brendan Gaughan fourth-fastest at 95.728.
Burton topped the list of five Rookie of the Year candidates at the historic .526-mile track. Darrell Wallace Jr. was fifth and German Quiroga Jr. eighth on the practice report. Brennan Newberry, the pole-sitter in the season opener at Daytona, was 15th-fastest with Ryan Blaney 21st.
Two drivers making their first truck series start — Chase Elliott, 17, and Erik Jones, 16 — will be taking advantage of the series’ new rule permitting drivers under 18 on tracks of 1.017 miles (Rockingham Speedway) or shorter. Elliott was 12th-fastest on the practice chart with Jones 14th-fastest.
Kevin Harvick, a three-time Martinsville trucks winner who prevailed from the pole position in this race last season, was 26th in the practice session.
Unseasonable frozen precipitation overnight and an early morning drizzle forced an adjustment to the morning schedule. The 60-minute and 80-minute sessions with a half-hour break in between were combined into a single two-hour practice. Truck qualifying is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.
The damp conditions marked the race-weekend debut of the NASCAR Air Titan track dryer. Officials deployed a smaller version of the new system on a trial basis in conjunction with conventional jet dryers.
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Hamlin’s fill-in has been forced to sit and watch due to past health issues
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brian Vickers has a very good idea of what Denny Hamlin is going through these days.
Vickers will fill in for the injured Joe Gibbs Racing driver for four of the five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races Hamlin is expected to miss due to an L1 vertebra compression fracture suffered in a last-lap crash at Auto Club Speedway. Vickers’ first start with the No. 11 team is scheduled for next week at Texas Motor Speedway.
Vickers missed 25 races in 2010 after he was diagnosed with blood clots. He has since returned to competition, racing full time with JGR in the Nationwide Series and splitting seat time with Mark Martin and co-team owner Michael Waltrip on the Cup side for Michael Waltrip Racing.
"The first time I saw my car go around the race track, I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get back in it."
— Brian Vickers
“You grow up and you watch a lot of races that you’re not in, but not ones that you’re supposed to be in when your car is going around the race track,” Vickers said Friday at Martinsville Speedway. “… I think the best thing for him right now is knowing that he’s going to get back in the car.”
That wasn’t the case for Vickers, who also underwent heart surgery as part of his initial treatment.
“The first time I saw my car go around the race track, I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get back in it,” Vickers said. “So I’m sure his emotions are going to be a little different than mine. They would probably be different anyway even if the situations were the exact same.
“It’s a better question for Denny, but I’ve told him that it’s not going to be easy and he’s not going to like it, but at least you know it’s temporary and we’ll see you back soon.”
Vickers wasn’t expected to be called upon in a relief role — JGR officials initially announced that Martin would fill in for Hamlin during his recovery. Less than a day later, both MWR and JGR groups announced that Martin would serve as a substitute for Hamlin at Martinsville, while Vickers would handle the remaining races.
Either way, Vickers said he saw it as a no-lose situation. So much so that he told officials with both teams that once they had determined a solution, he would be happy with the outcome.
“They are two phenomenal organizations — the opportunity to drive for Aaron’s in the 55 at MWR, the opportunity to drive for FedEx in the 11 at JGR — how could I go wrong?” Vickers said. “I wasn’t going to stress about it.”
It will be an opportunity to improve his chances for a full-time Cup ride in 2014, but Vickers, 29, noted that the circumstances really aren’t any different from what goes on within most organizations each week.
“I think your performance on the race track every week has a bearing on what happens the following year,” he said. “I think that’s the situation for every driver on the race track. Your performance week to week, year to year, always has a bearing on your future possibilities as an athlete.”
“Do I think that my performance in the 11 is going to have a bearing? Of course it will.”
Martin, slated to be idle this weekend until getting the call to step into the No. 11 Toyota, said the challenge presented by stepping into another car, with another team, “is something that motivates me to make sure I’m engaged 100 percent.
"I’ve seen that car on the race track, followed it on the race track with Denny behind the wheel and tried to figure out and mimic how he was doing what he was doing, especially at Richmond,” Martin said. “And here as well.
“Denny is a master at being able to make the rear tires last and get good speed at the same time, so it’s a challenge for me. … It has me up on my toes paying attention and trying to get in sync with a whole group of people … but that’s a good thing.”
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