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VICKERS, NO. 83 LEARN WINNING WAYS

For Brian Vickers and his No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota Camry crew, the first 26 races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season gave ample proof of a team beginning to hit its sweet spot.

Six poles and a victory at Michigan International Speedway in August culminated in Vickers making the Chase for the Sprint Cup on the final weekend at Richmond - a huge accomplishment for a team in only its third season in NASCAR's top division.

From there, however, the 10 Chase races were a sobering reminder that the mysterious thing we call luck is always a component in success. Vickers finished 12th in his first attempt at NASCAR's playoff, the victim of some truly left-field happenings.

But as further proof of his and the team's ever-growing maturity and confidence in their abilities, Vickers is still able to draw positives from his challenging and somewhat disappointing end to the 2009 campaign.

"They always say in sports that you have to learn how to lose a championship before you can learn how to win one," he says. "That's kind of my take on this year.

"We made our first Chase, we won a race, we sat on those six poles. We said going into the Chase - I speak for myself and the whole team on this - that no matter what happened in the Chase, it's been an outstanding year."

That's true; it was an outstanding year for Red Bull Racing, Toyota, TRD and Vickers. Sure, it ended rather less spectacularly than Vickers, the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota Camry and the rest of the team might have hoped, but maybe that's because after 26 races they were already ahead of their own curve and, as a result, their expectations had changed?

"We wanted to go and win a championship," says Vickers. "We set our goals at the beginning of the season to sit on poles, win races and be in the Chase.

"But at the time, a two-year-old team racing for the title against an eight-year-old team (Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48) that just won three championships was a tall order. Nonetheless, it was one we were trying to tackle."

Making the Chase was a story for the ages. Replacing an axle on pit road at Atlanta - without losing a lap - keyed the drive to the Chase field, but that good fortune led nowhere once the final 10 races began.

"We were one of the best teams on the race track the 10 races leading up to the Chase, and then we had just about everything possibly go wrong that could go wrong in the Chase," Vickers says. "For example, we lost a solenoid. I've never heard of that, actually. I talked to the engine builder and he said he's seen it happen once in 20 years.

"We ripped a shock mount out of a chassis at California. When was the last time you heard about that happening? I don't know how to explain it. But nonetheless I look back on it and it was a good year for us. We learned a lot as a team, we accomplished all of our goals and we've still learned a lot in the Chase.

"A lot of it has been what not to do, but we still learned a lot from that."

The Chase has been regarded as a horse of a different color since its inception in 2004. The racing gets hotter, the pressure builds higher and the penalties for mistakes are magnified.

"I think that the competition stepped it up," Vickers reflects. "Some of the guys were definitely saving something for the Chase - whatever that elusive something is. We lost a little bit. I hate to use the word luck, because there are parts of me that believe you make your own luck. There are those times when something doesn't work out, goes wrong that you just can't explain, or times when a 20-car accident can take you out of a race and you're just like, 'I can't explain how that happened to us in the middle of the Chase, but it did.'

"We can't make those mistakes in the Chase. There are only 10 races. You make one or two and the next thing you know, you're mathematically eliminated."

Vickers says that crew chief Ryan Pemberton "brought a lot to the team," and that he's looking forward to taking on 2010 with him on the box.

"He brought more good people to the team and he has brought a lot of knowledge and excitement and enthusiasm. He's very passionate about what he does and he's good at it. He and I, our chemistry works really well together, we communicate really well. We always have our ups and downs, just like any relationship does, but I'm enjoying it and I'm looking forward to another season."

As for 2010, Vickers says the expectations will be similar.

"I'm not sure if there will be additional pressure," he says. "I think we had a lot of pressure on ourselves this past season to make the Chase, maybe externally. Within the media or within the sport, they'll be looking at us to make the Chase again next year.

"We were looking to make the Chase this year as much as we were looking to make it next year. Internally, I think it will probably be about the same, but externally there will probably be more exposure and more press."

Not that any of that is likely to put Vickers and his team off their stride. Remember the saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger?" Well, after the trials and tribulations of those Chase races, it's likely very true for the No. 83.

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