Vickers, Red Bull come of age with first Chase berth

RICHMOND, Va. -- Shortly after Brian Vickers had raced his way into the Chase for the Sprint Cup in Saturday night's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway, Rick Hendrick briefly interrupted media interviews with Vickers to offer a congratulatory word followed by a hearty embrace.

Hendrick represented Vickers' past -- but at one time, not so long ago, the owner of Hendrick Motorsports seemed to be Vickers' future as well.

Sound Off

Brian Vickers comments on outracing Kyle Busch for the 12th position in the Chase.

• More

Video Moment

Brian Vickers gets the track position he needs late in the race to get into the Chase.

• More

Edge to Vickers

After battling Kyle Busch all night for the final Chase spot, Brian Vickers holds his position.

• More

That all changed when Vickers elected to drive a Toyota for Red Bull Racing, an upstart Cup team, in 2007. But it didn't change for good until this season, when Vickers' No. 83 team blossomed during the second half of the 26-race regular season until it proved it can be one of the best in the business -- solidifying a future plan that now definitely includes Vickers.

The driver came to Richmond last weekend sitting just outside of the top 12 that would qualify for the Chase, needing to race his way in. Others sitting around him in the point standings were just as desperate, including his new arch rival, Kyle Busch, who entered Saturday's race one spot behind Vickers.

They began the race in 13th and 14th, respectively. But with Matt Kenseth dropping like a rock and out of sight, out of mind, almost as soon as the race started, the Vickers-Busch battle soon became the best sub-plot of the night.

In the end, Vickers did what he had to do to hold off a furious charge by Busch -- finishing seventh in the race to Busch's fifth to carve out an eight-point edge in the Chase standings. It might as well have been 800.

The bottom line is that Vickers and Red Bull are in the 10-race Chase. Busch isn't.

And now that he's in, get this: Vickers insists he can win it, and he is quick to tell you why.

The numbers

First off, let's get it straight that Vickers isn't the only one in the Chase who thinks he can win it. In fact, all 12 drivers who qualified for it have professed the same belief, at least publicly -- and each has his own reasons.

But for Vickers and Red Bull to even be in this position is remarkable. In 2007, when they started out, they couldn't even qualify for all of the races. Vickers made only 23 and wondered if leaving Hendrick Motorsports for Red Bull was the mistake of his young life.

Last year they made strides as a team, winning a pole but no races and finishing 19th in points. But this year, the mandate from the outset was clear, according to Vickers, Red Bull general manager Jay Frye and crew chief Ryan Pemberton.

"We said we wanted to win a pole, and we've won six; we said we wanted to win a race and we won at Michigan; and we said we wanted to make the Chase. Now we've done that, too," Vickers said. (Continued)