Lee Spencer
FOXSports.com
Posted: 5 hours ago

There's something to be said about first impressions.

While riding in a van with Brian Vickers on the Hendricks Motorsports' campus in 2004, the Nextel Cup rookie made a flip comment after passing a Pepsi stage where a fan was winning a million-dollar prize.
"Who could possibly live off of that?" Vickers asked.

All I could think of was what a smug S.O.B. he must be. Had this kid ever really worked a day in his life? Obviously not, if he couldn't relate to the relevance of a million bucks to the average race fan. Vickers was 20 at that time. Certainly, his youth had to be taken into consideration. Couple that with Rick Hendrick's impeccable sense of personnel and it seemed only fair to cut Vickers a break.

The kid was running in rarefied air during that era. His name was referenced more commonly in Page 6 references in the New York Post than for his on-track performance — which wasn't worth noting in the sports pages. Other than winning two poles, Kasey Kahne outshone Vickers in rookie honors and was quickly becoming NASCAR's sweetheart.

Halfway through his third Cup season with Hendrick, word started seeping that Vickers was Red Bull Racing's new $4 million man. He left a lasting Hendrick experience by taking out his buddy and teammate Jimmie Johnson (not to mention NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.) on the closing lap at Talladega.

It didn't matter. Vickers was on to the greener pastures of Toyota.

Then he missed the Daytona 500. Vickers failed to qualify for the races at Las Vegas, Martinsville, Phoenix, Talladega and Richmond, too.

The Red Bull No. 83 Toyota Camry entered Lowe's Speedweeks 41st in owner points, but with Toyota's new engine program under the hood for the first time.

The results were immediate.

For just the third time this season, five Toyotas made the field. Vickers qualified 26th, but didn't stay there for long. Vickers cruised to the point for the first time on Lap 113. All totaled, Vickers led four times for a total of 76 laps and finished the Coca-Cola 600 fifth — two milestones for NASCAR's latest manufacturer. Vickers' 10th-place finish at California had been the season-high result for Toyota prior to last Sunday.

"I think we had the best car tonight and we showed that every time we took the lead," Vickers said. "We struggled through so many tough times tonight with the power steering problem, the starter going out and cutting down the right-front tire. But, nobody on the team gave up all night — we just kept going after it all night."

Leading the charge was the driver. Vickers was up on the wheel even though his power steering broke before the halfway point of the race. His arms ached, but after making just his sixth race of the season Vickers had something to prove. He had learned the hard way that there are no entitlement programs in NASCAR. Missing half the schedule can be a humbling experience.

Under the tutelage of veteran crew chief Doug Richert, Vickers has the direction he was missing the last few years at Hendrick. Richert led the late Dale Earnhardt to his first NASCAR championship in 1980. He's certainly not going to settle for anything less from a racer behind the wheel. And with the deep pockets of team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who made a cameo appearance at the All-Star race, this team has all the necessary resources to be contenders.

With the Nextel Cup tour rolling into Dover International Speedway this weekend in the Car of Tomorrow, Vickers will have to rely on his past experience to make the show. Despite his first top-five last week, Vickers is still 39th in owner points and will need to qualify on time. In six Cup races at the Monster Mile, Vickers was third fastest twice in time trials, but his average start is 16.3. His best finish was sixth.

Vickers has qualified for half of the COT races, but feels it's the weak link in their organization right now.

"That's where we struggled the most at the beginning of the season and we really have to put our emphasis on that program," Vickers said. "I feel like our car of yesterday — our intermediate program is pretty good."

It was certainly good enough to win last Sunday. Without the power steering, starter and tire tribulations, Vickers could have given his Hendrick replacement Casey Mears a run for the finish. Vickers said he had no regrets seeing the No. 25 Chevrolet win the race, after all Mears is his buddy. He only wishes he could have been up at the point to race Mears to the finish.

Vickers won't have to wish much longer.

Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com.

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