Red Bull Motor Sports Racing

The Lady in Black and Track Too Tough to Tame made her one and only appearance of 2010 in Saturday night’s Showtime Southern 500. Brian Vickers led nine laps and finished 10th as the No. 83 regained lost momentum, and Scott Speed’s No. 82 ended up 28th after leading two laps — his first laps led since Las Vegas.
Speed started mid-pack and wheeled a loose No. 82 Red Bull Toyota from the start. He fell a lap down on lap 38 and got it back almost 20 laps later as the team tried everything to help the handling — wedge, track bar, spring rubber and air pressure adjustments. He led two laps during a round of green-flag pit stops, and when things cycled through Speed lost that valuable track position. He dropped one spot to 26th in the standings — 10 points behind 25th and 67 from 20th. Sound strategy put Speed on point. He led laps 149-150, giving him 21 laps led on the season. Only 11 races into Cup’s 2010 campaign, that number eclipses his total of 19 laps led from his rookie season.

Quick translation — one of the best, if not the best, runs the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota has had all season. BV started an impressive third and rocketed into the lead for nine laps on lap 38. From there, he was a fixture at the front, dropping no lower than 18th despite battling a tight condition early in each run. It was just a matter of finding a compromise in the opening 10 or so laps. Track position, per the norm at Darlington, was key and Vickers never could maintain what it took to fight for the win. Regardless, 10th was his best finish in eight Darlington starts and his best 2010 finish since a sixth March 29 at Martinsville.
Improved four spots to 20th in the standings — 122 points behind 15th and 160 from 12th. "It feels good for sure. I feel like we’re back on track and headed in the right direction. For the first time in a while I felt like we had a really competitive car to drive to the lead and take it. It was a good night." Compared to one year ago, Vickers has nearly double the points to make up to qualify for the Chase. At this point in 2009, Vickers was, ironically, 83 points out of 12th. And we all know about his late-summer charge into the Chase.

Tweet