Vickers Wins at New Hampshire

For CLNS Radio.

Brian Vickers returned to victory lane for the first time since 2009 after winning the Camping World RV Sales 301from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

The win was Vickers' first victory since August 16, 2009 at Michigan, and it was the first of the season for the 55 team.  The team has three drivers throughout the season, with the bulk of the races run by Mark Martin.  Vickers said he could understand how it could be difficult to win in that situation.

"That's a testament to the whole team," Vickers told TNT.  "They're doing a great job with all three drivers."

The win marked the end of a comeback to the Sprint Cup Series for Vickers.  After winning and making the Chase in 2009, Vickers was sidelined in 2010 with blood clots.  Once he returned in 2011, he was told that the team he was driving for, Red Bull Racing, was folding at the end of the season.  In 2012 he landed at Michael Waltrip Racing, splitting the ride with Martin and Michael Waltrip.  Vickers said he was thankful for the opportunity.

"I got to thank Ty [Norris] for giving me that call and Michael and Rob [Kauffman] for believing in me," Vickers said in victory lane.  "Thank God for the chance and this team, and Rodney [Childers] for believing in me."

Vickers took the lead on lap 287, and he began to pull away from Tony Stewart.  But a debris caution with just five laps to go set the race up for a green-white-checkered finish.  On the restart, Vickers had to hold off Stewart and Kyle Busch, who combined to lead 137 of the 302 laps.  

Vickers was able to keep control of the lead, while Busch settled for second place.  Stewart, on the other hand, ran out of gas coming to the white flag and finished 26th.  

The bad finish relegated Stewart outside the top 10 in driver's points,  and he fell to 13th.  Due to Stewart's one victory however, he holds the final wild-card spot for the Chase.  

The win helped the 55 team get a wild-card spot in the owner's points standings.  The team is now 13th in points, holding onto the final wild-card spot in the owner's points.  

Here are the unofficial results:

1. Brian Vickers

2. Kyle Busch

3. Jeff Burton

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Aric Almirola

6. Jimmie Johnson

7. Kevin Harvick

8. Carl Edwards

9. Matt Kenseth

10. Jeff Gordon

11. Kasey Kahne

12. Jamie McMurray

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. Greg Biffle

16. Martin Truex Jr.

17. Paul Menard

18. David Gilliland

19. David Ragan

20. David Stremme

21. Denny Hamlin

22. AJ Allmendinger

23. Dave Blaney

24. Juan Pablo Montoya

25. Joe Nemechek

26. Tony Stewart

27. Bobby Labonte

28. David Reutimann

29. J.J. Yeley

30. Ken Schrader

31. Kurt Busch

32. Landon Cassill

33. Marcos Ambrose

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

35. Josh Wise

36. Casey Mears

37. Danica Patrick

38. Travis Kvapil

39. Ryan Newman

40. Joey Logano

41. Morgan Shepherd

42. Michael McDowell

43. Mike Bliss

Next week, the Sprint Cup Series has their final off-week of the season, before returning on July 28th.  On that Sunday, the Sprint Cup Series heads to the prestigious Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.  The race will also be ESPN's first race of the season, and it can be seen at 1:00 p.m. ET.