Photo Credit: Noel Lanier
“I may not be on the track for six months or ever,” was a thought that crossed Brian Vickers’ mind several times over the past six years as he battled blood clots, but an opportunity to drive for the injured Tony Stewart this year has put him back in a competitive race car.
Vickers is a three-time Sprint Cup Series winner, but has been out of a full-time ride since the end of 2014. Vickers was scheduled to run all but the first two races of the 2015 season for Michael Waltrip Racing, but was diagnosed with blood clots prior to the Auto Club 400 last year and only raced four times. It was the fourth time he’s been sidelined due to medical issues.
While Stewart is out injured, Vickers has been splitting time in the No. 14 car with XFINITY Series driver Ty Dillon. Vickers scored his best finish of the season at Auto Club Speedway after finishing 13th this past weekend.
Although there’s no timeline for Stewart’s return, he isn’t expected to be out of the car long, and Vickers has no further racing plans set in stone past Martinsville.
“As of right now, I’m going to be in Martinsville in the Janssen Arnie’s Army Foundation car again,” Vickers said to the media on Friday. “(I’m) really pumped about that to kind of continue that forward. Then we are figuring out everything from there. Nothing has really changed I think everyone is really just kind of waiting to see how Tony shakes out.”
Vickers has expressed interest in returning to France this spring to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Vickers ran at Le Mans in 2012 as a teammate to Rui Aguas and Rob Kauffman finishing 31st overall.
“I am open to racing everything that has a seat, four wheels and a steering wheel if the opportunity presents itself,” said Vickers. “I would absolutely go back to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I would love to be back in a sports car again and anything else that comes along.”
In addition to an interest in returning to sports car action, Vickers is rumored to be one of four candidates to drive the third Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, though team owner Sam Schmidt says he is the “least likely” candidate.
Right now, Vickers is just focusing on driving the No. 14 car and embracing the opportunity.
“It has been a challenging five or six years for me. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, in a weird way I’m very thankful for those experiences. I’ve grown a lot as a person and a lot of good things have come from it,” said Vickers. “I was lucky to win my battle with blood clots, many people are not.”
