Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR
After missing the majority of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season due to blood clots in his lungs, Brian Vickers was poised to make 2011 really count. Unfortunately for Vickers and his Red Bull Toyota team, things did not go as planned. 2011 was a struggle all year long for the 83 team. By the end of the season, Vickers was out of a ride and Red Bull was on its way out of NASCAR's Sprint Cup series.
Vickers placed in the top five three times in 2011, fifth on all three occasions at Dover, New Hampshire and Talladega. However, the team lacked consistency as did not have back to back top 10 finishes at any point in the year. As the season came to a conclusion, Vickers and his team were completely out-classed by his teammate for the season, Kasey Kahne. Even though Vickers had some good runs through the year, 2011 for him was marred by controversy. First there was an incident between he and Tony Stewart at Infineon Raceway in the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Later in the year in the Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville, Vickers found himself in the eye of the proverbial storm on several occasions. Two weeks later at Phoenix, Vickers was the center of controversy yet again when he made contact with championship contender, Matt Kenseth.
On the penalty side of things, Vickers was penalty plagued for most of the first half of the season. Vickers earned at least one penalty in 11 of the first 20 events in the year. Fortunately, Vickers was only penalized three times in the final 16 events. In all, Vickers' crew was penalized three times by NASCAR all year while Vickers was caught speeding five times and pitted before pit road was open without any problems with his car a single time during the season.
2011 Statistics For Brian Vickers
25th in Sprint Cup standings
3 top 5s
7 top 10s
Best Finish: 5th in the FedEx 400, Sylvania 300 and Good Sam Club 500
7 laps led
2011 Penalty Report For Brian Vickers
Race 1 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area, pass thru/tail end
Race 2 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 4 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage; Outside half of the pit box tire violation/Team member not in contact with the outside tires, Tail of Field
Race 6 - Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field
Race 8 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 10 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 12 - Speed-Exiting pits, Tail of Field
Race 14 - Speed-Exiting pits, Pass Thru; Speed-Exiting pits, Stop & Go
Race 16 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end; Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 19 - Pitting before pit road is open, Garage
Race 20 - Pitting before pit road is open, tail end
Race 31 - Removing equipment from assigned pit area, Stop & Go
Race 33 - Pitting before pit road is open, Tail of Field
Race 35 - Speed-Entering pits, pass thru