[picapp align="left" wrap="true" link="term=brian+vickers&iid=7811166" src="f/5/3/3/Daytona_500_Practice_8643.jpg?adImageId=9955277&imageId=7811166" width="234" height="156" /]Brian Vickers

2009 Stats: Points Finish 12th, 6 Poles, 1 Win, 4 Top Fives, 13 Top Tens, Average Finish 17.3, Average Position 16.7, Laps Led 101, Driver Rating 82.8

Before the 2009 season started some people picked Brian Vickers as a sleeper to make the Chase. Not me. I would never do that. I told people to examine how he performed in the last 10 races of 2008. His best finish over that stretch was 11th and his team was caught cheating (Martinsville). I was wrong about Brian Vickers making the Chase, but my warnings lived themselves out in the playoffs.

In the 2009 Chase Brian Vickers and the 83 team had a historic collapse and finished a record 723 points behind the champion. Brian Vickers also never finished in the top 10 and his best finish in the Chase was 11th at Martinsville (also at New Hampshire). History does repeat itself and unfortunately for Brian Vickers it isn’t very good history.

Strengths- Brian Vickers is a good qualifier. Last season he won 6 poles and was second to only Mark Martin when it came to starting first. Also Vickers and the 83 team are at their best at intermediate tracks.

Weaknesses- Brian Vickers is a streaky driver. He got into a hot streak in the summer which propelled him into the Chase, and he got onto a cold streak in the fall and crumbled like a cookie when it mattered.

Intermediate Track Grade- B+, These are easily the tracks where Brian Vickers feels the most at home at. If there’s a high line to used at these tracks you most likely will find Brian Vickers using it. One concern I have  is that whenever the pressure is truly on Vickers at these tracks he always has problems whether it’s a tire coming off, a bad pit stop, or in situations in the Chase when he needs to produce a good finish he finishes 37th (Kansas), 29th (California), 34th (Lowes), 26th (Texas), and 20th (Homestead).

Flat Track Grade- B, When it comes to flat tracks the longer they are the better Brian Vickers performs. Vickers is  competitive at Pocono and Indy but on the shorter one’s I would mark him down for about a 20th place finish.

Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B+, Brian Vickers got the first win of his career at Talladega in dramatic fashion. Since then he’s consistently run towards the front of the pack at these tracks (doesn’t mean he finishes there). In 2009 Vickers finished in the top 13 three times. That’s pretty good at these tracks.

Short Track Grade- B-, There isn’t any particular short track where I would suggest Brian Vickers is a good pick. He had a good race at Richmond but I would say it was Kyle Busch’s destiny to miss the Chase. Other than that race I would say it was either ugly for Brian Vickers on these tracks in 2009 or he was so-so. From a historical prospective its all ugly.

Road Course Track Grade-B-, He won the pole at Infineon and lead 15% of the race and in August he finished 11th at Watkins Glen. I personally don’t think he’ll be able to reduplicate these races in 2010.

How to use Brian Vickers from a fantasy racing perspective in 2010?

I would focus on using Vickers at Intermediate tracks and the long flat tracks. He had good finishes at other tracks in 2009, but I would say forget about it and only use Vickers as I suggest to the letter.

Click HERE for more Brian Vickers stats

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