Red Bull Racing to leave their mark after good showing at Sylvania 300 – NASCAR news
Red Bull Racing may be folding up shop after 2011, but their drivers showed that they still have plenty to offer in the Chase.
Red Bull Racing filed a notice last week as part of North Carolina’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that they were going to layoff 152 workers and the layoffs were expected by December 17, 2011. RBR joined NASCAR in 2007 and has a two-car
racing team, with Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne currently driving for the team.
Both drivers gave the team reason for optimism as they put in a strong performance on the weekend. Both Red Bull drivers qualified in the top 3 for the Sylvania 300, with Kasey Kahne qualifying in 2nd place and Brian Vickers qualifying
in 3rd.
Kasey Kahne put in a great show throughout the race and was in the top 3 until the final few laps when his car went low on fuel and he had to go into the pits with 16 laps to go. He ended up in 15th place.
“We had a good car — top two, three all day,” Kahne said. “We just didn’t have very good fuel mileage and didn’t think we could make it. So we were hoping for cautions, never got them and ended up 15th. Just didn’t work out for us, but we had a great car.”
His teammate Brian Vickers had a better finish as he conserved fuel in early stages and ended up in a strong 5th position.
“The car was so good, probably one of the better cars on the track,” Vickers said. “We had to pass 20 cars just to get back to the top five and ran out of time, but I'm really proud of the effort by everyone.”
Vickers will be out of contract once Red Bull Racing have exited the scene and will be hoping to make a good impression on future employers for the rest of the Chase season. Kasey Kahne is already set to drive for Hendrick Motorsports next season.
For Red Bull Racing, the results are a good sign for the team as rumours are that former Formula 1 Champion Jacques Villeneuve is interested in purchasing the team. Therefore, the team may still have a future in NASCAR.
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