His ubiquitous commercial – which also features Miami Heat star Chris Bosh and golfer Arnold Palmer – was about the only way Vickers stayed in the spotlight for most of the a year ago.
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Vickers is ready for a comeback of his own.
After a stunning accident involving Tony Stewart, the three-time champ will be replaced by veteran Brian Vickers in his No. 14 for the Daytona 500.
Vickers has no promises of another start. As a matter of fact, Vickers only managed to race in two events last season because of recurring blood clots.
Their approach led to one of the biggest moments in team history: Trevor Bayne’s 2011 upset victory in the Daytona 500.
Sprint Unlimited: Jimmie Johnson got the pole position in a random draw for tonight’s exhibition race (8:15, Ch. 13) at Daytona. “We wanted to race in a model that fit us at the time… which was race part-time but when we show up we are competitive and spending enough money to get all the right stuff, the right people and right driver”.
Vickers was picked in part because of his success at restrictor-plate tracks.
This past season included a victory in the Daytona 500, but Logano will have to buck the odds to win back-to-back editions of the Great American Race.
The veteran driver suffered a burst fracture of his L1 vertebra in an ATV accident January 31 in California.
Two flirtations with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship and the continuing strength of the Team Penske organization over the past two years have only intensified Joey Logano’s desire to win a first title in the series. While walking on a treadmill at his Charlotte residence, Stewart chatted with fans, telling one viewer, “We’ve been through a lot worse than this”.
“I have been living my life and waiting for the right opportunity”, Vickers said. “I felt it going down the straightaway, and at that point, I started to roll out”. He raced just twice last season. He also missed 25 races during the 2010 season when clots were discovered in his legs and lungs.
All four JGR cars worked well together Saturday night, which Hamlin noted is a good sign of things to come this season. He needed the surgery because his body was rejecting the artificial patch he received five years prior. Brian Vickers 19. Carl Edwards 20.
Stewart-Haas Racing fields top-of-the-line teams, having placed Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch in the Chase past year, meaning Vickers will have the equipment to contend coupled with a full eight days of Speedweeks to prepare.
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“They’ve taken a place like Daytona, where we have so much history and everybody wants to visit already, and made it one of our premier tracks”, said Austin Dillon, who will make his second start in the Unlimited.
