Vickers Seeking Victory at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (May 2, 2003) – Since May of last year, a lot of things have changed for Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet, but one thing that has not is his love for racing at Richmond International Raceway. For the first time this season, the NASCAR Busch Series will run under the lights on Friday night at RIR, where Vickers scored his first career top-10 result on the circuit in May of 2002, finishing seventh after starting 38th. The 19-year-old tied that mark at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway earlier this spring. “Any time you run well at a particular track, you automatically look forward to returning there to race,” Vickers said. “Richmond is one of those tracks a lot of us (drivers) grew up racing on and it brings back a lot of memories. I just wish there were more tracks like it on the schedule. At one point the Busch Series schedule had a lot more short tracks races on it, but those dates have fallen by the wayside.” Prior to joining Hendrick Motorsports in December of 2002, Vickers had posted only one career top-10 finish, but since that time he and the GMAC Racing team have captured three top-10s in the first nine races of the season and probably should have a few more. Vickers is still looking for his first career top-five finish. “We’ve run strong everywhere we’ve been so far this season and that’s very encouraging,” Vickers said. “We’ve established ourselves as one of the teams to beat every week and it’s not going to be long before the GMAC team goes to Victory Lane. “The guys on the team are preparing great cars week in and week out, but we just need everything to line up for that first win. Despite the ups and downs we’ve been through so far this season, the morale on the team couldn’t be any better. I just think getting a win would alleviate a lot of anxiousness on their behalf, and mine, too.” The Hardee’s 250 from Richmond International Raceway can be seen live on FX beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night.