Vickers Qualifies 21st at Gateway

MADISON, Ill. (May 9, 2003) – For the second week in a row, Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet, was 21st-quickest as the NASCAR Busch Series qualified at Gateway International Raceway on Friday. "That's about where we practiced this morning," Vickers said. "The car is pretty good everywhere with the exception of getting into Turn 3. "We've planned to make several changes to try and help it out, but it's also going to take me some more laps to get this place figured out. Fortunately, I can use our final practice session on Friday night to get us dialed in." Prior to Friday morning's first practice session, Vickers had never competed at the 1.25-mile oval. His lap of 34.817 seconds and 129.247 mph puts the No. 5 Chevy on the inside of Row 11. Kerry Earnhardt will start to the outside of Vickers. Ashton Lewis, driver the No. 46 Chevrolet, grabbed his first career Busch Series pole position with a lap of 131.903 mph. Live coverage of the Charter Pipeline 250 can be seen live on FX beginning at 3 p.m. EDT on Saturday.