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VICKERS
DOMINATES ROAD COURSE ACTION AT INFINEON
IN
NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL DIVISION, AUTOZONE WEST SERIES
SONOMA, Calif. (June 24,
2006) –
Brian Vickers dominated the action on the road course
at Infineon Raceway on Saturday, en route to winning
his first NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone
West Series race.
Vickers,
a regular in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, paced the
35-car field for 61 of 64 laps – winning the Blue
Lizard Australian Suncream 200 by 1.429 of a second
over road race specialist Boris Said.
“We
had a great car all day long,” Vickers said of his
GMAC-sponsored Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. “We
didn’t even have to make any adjustments to it on
the pit stops. I mean it was really, really spot
on.”
While Vickers – who had won the Budweiser
Pole Award with a lap of 90.872 mph – was dominating
the action up front, Boris Said was battling his way
forward from 13th on the grid. Said had his
Pacific States/DenBeste Transportation Ford in the
runner-up spot just past the midway point of the race
and pressured Vickers in the closing laps.
“Racing
Boris there at the end was definitely a challenge,”
Vickers said. “We were better exiting (the turns).
We were better through the esses. We were better
through the high speed stuff. That’s more along the
lines of what I do every weekend, driving fast and a
little loose through high-speed stuff. The braking
zones were a little more his forte.
“I
could have driven in a little deeper into probably
just about every braking zone, but it was my race to
lose and his to win,” the Thomasville, N.C., driver
said. “So, he was going to attack the corners a
little more than I was. I was in a little better
position to back the corners up and not take a chance
of wheel hopping, not take a chance of locking tires
up, rolling smooth and roll off fast. That’s kind of
how I attacked every corner, especially the esses. He
was in a position where he had ground to make up. So,
he was pushing it everywhere, especially the braking
zones.”
Series
rookie Brian Ickler of San Diego turned in his best
performance of the season. After qualifying third, he
made an early charge to second. Although he lost
ground after spinning off course on lap 11, Ickler was
able to battle back for a career-best third-place
finish in the NAPA Filters/McMillin Homes Chevrolet.
His
teammate at Bill McAnally Racing and fellow rookie,
Peyton Sellers of Danville, Va., finished fourth in
the NAPA Auto Parts/NAPA Belts & Hose Chevrolet. A
third series rookie in the top five was Justin Lofton
of Westmorland, Calif. It marked the first career top
five finish for the driver of the Lofton Cattle
Feeding Investments Chevrolet.
Rounding
out the top 10 at Infineon were Tom Hubert, Todd
Souza, Tom Dyer, Stan Silva Jr., and Jim Inglebright.
Vickers netted $11,000 for the win. His average
speed was 67.595 mph. The pace was slowed by four
cautions for 12 laps. It featured three lead changes
among three drivers – Vickers, Silva and Mike
Duncan.
Mike David, who led the championship standings
coming into the event, was involved in an incident at
the second turn of the first lap and lost more than 20
laps while repairs were made to his car. Despite
finishing 29th – the Modesto, Calif.,
driver was able to maintain a slim five-point lead in
the standings with 712 points. David was not the only
top ranked driver to encounter trouble at Sonoma.
Engine trouble sidelined Steve Portenga with a 33rd
place finish and Eric Holmes finished 10 laps down in
25th. The outcome jumbled overall
championship battle, with the top 10 drivers now
separated by just 88 points.
Peyton Sellers is second in the standings with
707 points. He is followed by Holmes of Escalon,
Calif., with 696; Duncan of Bakersfield, Calif., with
694 and Inglebright of Fairfield, Calif., with 691.
Completing the top 10 are Ickler at 683, Portenga at
681, Scott Gaylord at 628, Brett Thompson at 628 and
Lofton at 624.
Ickler and Sellers, each with 39 points, lead
the chase for this year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year
Award. Lofton is third with 35 – followed by Eric
Hardin with 27 and James Bruncati with 20. Other
rookies this year include Eric Humphries and Brian
Pannone each with 16 points, Nick Lynch and Daniel
DiGiacomo each with 15, Spencer Clark with 14, Justin
Fisher with eight and Ed Watson with two.
The next event on the NASCAR Grand National Division, AutoZone West
Series schedule is the BI-MART 150 presented by NAPA
Belts & Hose at Douglas County Speedway in
Roseburg, Ore., on Saturday, July 1.
For
Further Information Contact:
Kevin W. Green, NASCAR Public Relations,
661/392-8543, kgreen@nascar.com
Jeremy Davidson, NASCAR Public Relations,
386/253-0611, jdavidson@nascar.com
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