SHOWTIME SOUTHERN
500 (Sprint Cup) DARLINGTON RACEWAY, DARLINGTON,
S.C.: The Lady in Black 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.
MR. MO-MENTUM REJOINS THE 83: 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.
VITAL SIGNS: Improved four spots to 20th in the
standings — 122 points behind 15th and 160
from 12th.
BACK IN THE SADDLE: “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.” — Vickers
STAT THAT MATTERS: 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.
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