It seems from this observer’s point of view, NASCAR teams fall into a pecking order of several different levels. First- you have the “occasional entry” team- you know like Boris Said, Carl Long or Brandon Ash. Then you have your “go or go homers”- those near dozen group of teams that hover anywhere from 30th to 45th in the points. It takes an especially strong stomach and intestinal fortitude for these teams, because every week is “Hell Week” until qualifying is done.
Living at least a little more comfortably are the (at least in terms of the bottom line) “mediocre mid-packers.” Unless these teams have a hellaciously bad run- they don’t have to worry so much about qualifying, just trying to make that steep climb to the next level. For the sake of of argument, I tend to think of teams between about 17th or 18th in the standings to 29th or 30th. Then beyond that, you have the “borderline chasers” and the “bona fide chasers”-which require little explanation.
Team Red Bull, as well as a number of other upstart Toyota teams, made a nice climb upward in 2008. They went from a team living through the angst of qualifying, to being a team that actually made their presence felt.
Relatively speaking, Brian Vickers made a quantum leap in 2008, rising from
38th to 19th in the points. If not for Dale Earnhardt Jr’s. fuel mileage strategy at Michigan, he may have actually given Toyota its first non-JGR victory at the Cup level. With 3 top 5s and 6 top 10s, the North Carolinian actually threatened to crack the Chase for part of the season.
As the lead team at Red Bull, the question will be one of whether or not Vickers can lead the organization to the next level. Sideswiping a serious shot at Cup contention were 5 DNFs, and 9 sub-30th finishes.
That number has to come down, or Vickers will have to off set the bad days with better good days. In other words, he’s going to have to be a genuine threat to win some races.
Quite often, it looks like the Red Bull cars are fast enough. It seems more of a question of keeping them together for a 4 or 500 mile event. As with most things in life, a little bit of blame will fall on either side, with a smidgen of bad luck.
Toyota has invested a lot in its racing program, Team Red Bull has supplied Vickers with a sense of stability and support, and the young veteran has experience from his days at Hendrick with a winning organization.
Vickers broke out of NASCAR purgatory, but that jump to the next level, that’s a bigger hurdle.
A much bigger hurdle.
Vickers will open 2009 with a new teammate, Scott Speed, a former Formula One stalwart who made a bit of a name for himself in the Craftsman (now Camping World) Truck Series. The Californian showed enough promise in the eyes of Red Bull to warrant kicking A.J. Allmendinger to the curb.
Give Speed props. He’s worked for Red Bull in Formula One, and he’s had moments of brilliance in the RE/MAX ARCA Series. In 5 Cup starts, he had only one DNF. There’s not necessarily a whole lot else to bowl you over at this moment in terms of NASCAR’s bottom line, but why not try Speed? One thing you can say that Speed has loads of confidence and equal helping of attitude. The question for him is whether or not Speed has whatever ingredient it is that Dario Franchitti and Jacques Villeneuve didn’t have.
As much as Speed looks like 15- year old trying to sneak into an “R”-rated movie, he is actually several months older than Vickers.
Speed is whacky, he’s blunt, and he’s very off-center- even when compared to….well, there’s really no one else like him. Crew chief Jimmy Elledge really loves this guy, and there’s someone who knows what he’s talking about.
Very interesting cat, this Scott Speed.
An inability to crack the top of the NASCAR line-up will have as much to do with the dominance of NASCAR’s top teams as it will Team Red Bull’s inability to put that right combination of car and driver together.
Like I’ve said before, it’d be nice to have someone shake things up. In some ways, the current environment and economy lend itself a bit towards that.
The question is: will it be Team Red Bull?
PHOTO CREDITS- Team Red Bull Photo by Craig Antill. Vickers photo taken by shedger23, and Scott Speed by Jaytor. These photos and more may be found at flickr.com.
