Vickers encouraged by last race at California Speedway

The last time the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series raced at California Speedway, Brian Vickers posted the first top-10 finish for Toyota in a Cup race. That was in February. The time in between has been both frustrating and rewarding for the Toyota drivers. Most of the Toyota teams have struggled to qualify for races and crack the top 35 in owner points to guarantee starting spots in races.
Vickers said he is looking forward to coming back to California Speedway.
"It's a good track there," said Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Toyota for Team Red Bull. "We ran well there when we ran well in the first race. It's good to go back to a track where we did get our first top-10. I feel like we've learned a lot -- made a lot of gains in the cars, engines since then. If we had a top-10 there last time we can have a similar set up and work on the car and be able to do a lot better this time.”
One of the big differences between the February race and the September race at California Speedway is that the September race is complete at night. It starts at 5 p.m. and ends after the sun goes down. It can make for a challenging race once the sun starts to set.
“You just deal with it," Vickers said. "There is going to be a part of the race where you are going to go off into turn three blind and not really know what is there. You just kind of have to have a feel for the track and know when to lift and cross your fingers.”