| | | | | | | 83 - Brian Vickers | Thomasville, North Carolina |
| | Primary Sponsor: Red Bull
Manufacturer: Toyota
Car Owner: Dany Bahar
Team: Team Red Bull 2007, 38th in NASCAR Nextel Cup driver standings; 2006, Nextel Cup race winner at Talladega; 2005, Nextel Open race winner; 2004-06, Nextel Cup four-time pole winner; 2003, NASCAR Busch Series champion (youngest NASCAR champion at age 20); 2000, USAR Hooters Pro Cup rookie of the year; three-time World Karting Association champion.
Red Bull Racing Team’s No. 83 showed flashes of brilliance in its first season, as its occupant, North Carolina-bred Brian Vickers, put one top-five and four top-10 finishes on the board. The record books show that Vickers was the first to reserve Toyota a space in both statistical categories.
Vickers’ skill showed at an early age — first in karts, then Allison Legacy cars, then late model stocks and into his days in the Hooters Pro Cup Series, where in 2000 he won two races and was named rookie of the year.
He debuted in the Busch (now Nationwide) Series in 2001 and the next season made 21 starts as the only rookie driver with an independent team. He graduated from high school the same evening he found himself the highest-qualifying rookie at Charlotte.
In 2003, Vickers earned a seat in the No. 5 car at Hendrick Motorsports, one of the sport’s top teams. He pinned it straight to the championship at age 20, becoming the youngest champion in NASCAR history. The title earned him full-time Sprint Cup status in Hendrick’s No. 25 for 2004. Since then, he has racked up four poles and 11 top-five finishes through 2007, and the big breakthrough came in the fall of 2006 when he scored his first win at Talladega.
The No. 83 gets Vickers where he wants to go on ovals, but anywhere else the savvy businessman prefers public transportation and the subway. To keep fit for 140-degree cockpit heat, he bikes mountains and country roads and kayaks and plays golf.
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