Daytona 500: Red Bull Racing race notes

DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY "THE DUELS" ENTRIES:

Red Bull No. 83 Brian Vickers; Red Bull No. 84 AJ Allmendinger

RACE: NASCAR Sprint Cup, "The Duels"
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway; Daytona, FL DATE: February 14th, 2008

RESULT: No. 83 Brian Vickers (Start 6th, Finish 11th)
No. 84 AJ Allmendinger (DNQ)

DAMN IT FEELS GOOD TO BE IN THE DAYTONA 500!... Red Bull Racing driver Brian Vickers yelled over the radio to his crew after racing his way through "The Duels" and into Sunday's Daytona 500. Vickers was battling nine "go-or-go- home" cars in a 60-lap race for just two coveted positions that would make the transfer into Sunday's race.

The start of the race looked grim for the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Team when on lap 2, the No. 60 car made contact with the right rear of the No. 83 -- sending Vickers spinning wildly off the track and through the grass. After a caution and a pit stop Vickers was racing his way back up through the 27-car field, when he felt a vibration in the right rear. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin made the crucial call to bring the No. 83 into the pits for a right side tire change.

The next 30 laps of the race were full of emotion as the Red Bull Racing Team painfully watched the No. 83 get shuffled in and out of contention for the two coveted spots. A late caution and a green-white-checkered finish were all Vickers needed to make a brave move passing the No. 78 to earn the No. 83 Red Bull Camry a spot in Sunday's 50th running of the Daytona 500.

Teammate AJ Allmendinger in the No. 84 Red Bull Camry finished 13th overall, and 4th of the "go-or-go-home" cars, just missing the Daytona 500.

Brian Vickers, No. 83 Red Bull Camry: "It feels so good to know I'm racing in the Daytona 500 this weekend! I can barely even explain the feeling -- it's like we won a race! Talk about overcoming adversity. First it was ignition box problems during qualifying, then a spin at the start of the race today. We thought we were done for, but my crew really pulled it together. We've got a spot in the race and a really good race car. This sets the tone for the rest of the season and I couldn't be more thrilled."

AJ Allmendinger, No. 84 Red Bull Camry: "It flat out sucks to miss the race. I drove my ass off. Before the race I told my guys that if we give it our all, we can't leave Daytona feeling defeated. And we won't -- we'll hold our heads high and look towards the next race."

-credit: red bull racing