| | | | | | NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED | Red Bull team investigating Vickers' tire incident | |
| | Bob Pockrass / SceneDaily.com The Red Bull Racing team is still investigating why Brian Vickers’ right rear wheel came off his car during the Coca-Cola 600, crew chief Kevin Hamlin said Tuesday afternoon.
The car had loose wheels prior to that and Hamlin said he believes the studs had been compromised. The wheel came off, hit David Gilliland’s car and bounced into the Lowe’s Motor Speedway infield. No one was injured.
“We’re investigating everything that could be part of the problem, [we'll] try to diagnose it properly and take care of it,” Hamlin said during a break in testing at Pocono Raceway. “We had a couple of them loose by that time, and by that time we had already deteriorated the studs, I’m afraid and there was no way to fix them [during the race] without changing the studs.
“A bad scene turned into a worse scene before it was over with.”
Hamlin said the team is doing some things different at the test this week at Pocono Raceway, but most of the investigation is going on back at the shop. He said it did not have anything to do with the things teams are trying with the rear-end housing because the team has had similar problems with front wheels as well.
“They’re really studying it hard and are pretty intense with it,” Hamlin said. “Whether it’s the quality control of the pieces we’re using or the way we’re using them is what we’re trying to determine.”
| | Posted May 27, 2008 , 7:35 pm EST
Last Updated May 28, 2008 , 6:44 pm EST | | | | | | | | | | |
