The son of Clyde Vickers, president of one of the racing industry's most respected parts manufacturers and distributors — CV Products - Brian Vickers has been exposed to racing nearly all his life.
Vickers began his major racing career competing in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series in the Late Model Stock division in 1999 at North Carolina tracks such as Hickory Motor Speedway, Tri-County Motor Speedway and Caraway Speedway. He earned six victories and 11 poles that year. The following year, he was named the Hooters Pro Cup Rookie of the Year in 2000 after winning two races and finishing third in the points.
From there, he began his ascent up the NASCAR ladder, driving four NASCAR Nationwide Series races in 2001 and 21 in 2002.
Finally, in December 2002, Vickers joined Hendrick Motorsports to drive the No. 5 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet full time.
The choice to put him in a car full time turned out to be very wise, as he claimed the Nationwide Series driver championship in his first full season of competition on the circuit. The Thomasville, N.C., native posted three victories, 13 top-fives and 21 top-10 finishes. He also started in the top 10 on 23 occasions - more than anyone else.
By winning the title at the age of 20, Vickers became the youngest champion in the modern-era history of NASCAR's top three divisions, supplanting Rob Moroso, who was 21 when he won the Nationwide Series title in 1989.
In 2004, Vickers drove the No. 25 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with sponsorship from GMAC Financial Services, where he finished 25th in the final standings in his rookie season.
The 2005 season saw plenty of promise for Vickers in the Sprint Cup Series, as he improved to 17th in the championship standings on the strength of five top fives and 10 top-10s.
After coming close in the past, Vickers finally won his first Sprint Cup race in 2006, winning the fall Talladega race under unusual circumstances – as he unintentionally bumped teammate Jimmie Johnson into race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. late in the race, handing him the victory. Nonetheless, it was a fitting end to a season that saw him climb up to a career best 15th-place finish in the championship standings with one victory, five top fives, nine top-10s and one pole position.
Towards the end of the 2006 season, Vickers announced that he would leave Hendrick Motorsports at the end of the season and head over to the newly established Team Red Bull to drive the No. 83 Toyota Camry in 2007.
At 24, Vickers finished his 2007 Cup season 38th in the Cup Championship standings, with one top-five and five top-10s. He had only managed to qualify for 23 of the season's 36 races.
2008 saw a turnaround for Vickers with Red Bull. He rose to become the seasoned driver at the team as he started every race that season and scored three top fives, six top 10s and one pole. He led laps in 12 races and finished 19th in the points.
Vickers had some clear goals established at the beginning of 2009 as he entered his sophomore year with Red Bull Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. And the young driver accomplished all of them.
Vickers won the first ever race for the team when he captured the checkered flag from the pole position in the summer Michigan race. He sat on the pole six times, earning more poles than all of his previous seasons combined.
The victory was his only of the season, but combined with 13 top 10s in the first 26 races, including a stint of nine finishes of 12 or better heading into the playoffs, Vickers was able to make his first career appearance in the Chase.
That success leading up the Chase didn't follow him into the post-season, though, and Vickers and Red Bull Racing had the worst finishes of any Chase team, putting them in the 12th spot in the standings. He never finished in the top 10 during the Chase and had an average finish of 23.7 over the 10 races.
