NASCAR Sprint Cup Team Report: Red Bull Racing
The Red Bull Racing team has come a long way in a short amount of time. In 2007 the team launched full-time in NASCAR as one of the main teams for Toyota as the Japanese car manufacturer looked to break into stock car racing. However, their first attempt was not successful; both team cars failed to qualify for the Daytona 500.
Things would turn around one week later, as Brian Vickers was able to put his car into the field at California Speedway in Fontana and eventually finish 10th. It's set a pattern that's continued for the two-car team through today: Vickers has become a driver capable of contending at any race track on the circuit while the second team car has continued to be a source of difficulty for the team.
Here's a look at the two drivers who make up the Red Bull Racing team in NASCAR:
Brian Vickers: The Thomasville, North Carolina native has been with Red Bull Racing since its first race in NASCAR and has built a comfortable home for himself with the team. Last year was his finest in NASCAR – he won at Fontana while qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time. Despite finishing 12th out of 12 cars in the playoff, the accomplishment proved that Vickers and the Red Bull Racing team are here to stay as a consistant force in the sport.
Vickers was a hot shot driver in 2003 when he won the NASCAR Busch Series title at age 20 while driving for Hendrick Motorsports, becoming the youngest driver ever to win a title in that series. Hendrick would move him into a Cup car for 2004, where Vickers would finish third in the Rookie of the Year standings with two poles and four top 10 finishes. He would move from 25th to 17th in the series standings the following season, and in 2006 he would get his first career victory at the fall race in Talladega while moving up 15th in points. However, that wasn't enough for the competitive atmosphere at Hendrick Motorsports, and Vickers moved on to Red Bull Racing at the end of the season.
Scott Speed: Perhaps it wasn't intentional, but the #82 car with Red Bull Racing has become a default position for ex-open wheel drivers looking to transition to NASCAR. It was first manned by A.J. Allmendinger, who had left a successful career in CART racing to try his luck at stock car racing. However, the move did not pan out: in two seasons with Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger cold manage just a pair of top ten finishes and could not get into the top 35 in points in either season.
In 2009, Red Bull Racing decided to go a different route by replacing the former CART open wheel ace with limited NASCAR experience with a former Formula One open wheel ace with limited NASCAR experience. Scott Speed had driven for Red Bull's Toro Rosso team through 2007, becoming the first American driver in the series since Michael Andretti's brief foray into the sport in the early 1990s. By 2007, it was clear that he wasn't working out in Formula One. But Red Bull still believed in him, so a decision was made to bring him into NASCAR.
Speed ran a limited number of ARCA races in 2007 before running the full series in 2008. He was a championship contender in 2008 with ARCA, although he was involved in an ugly on-track incident with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. that ended his title hopes. However, Red Bull felt that Speed had gained enough experience to warrant a full-time ride in the Sprint Cup car in 2009 after limited drives in it in 2008.
2009 was filled with highs and lows for Speed. The spring race at Talladega was a highlight – Speed qualified eighth and finished fifth, still his best result on the Sprint Cup circuit. But 2009 also brought a struggle for consistancy and staying out of trouble. Still, Speed finished 35th in points – higher that Allmendinger had managed in his two previous years.
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