Topic: Brian Vickers

Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983 in Thomasville, North Carolina) is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Vickers was the 2003 Nationwide Series champion, and at age 20, the youngest champion in any of NASCAR's three top-tier series. After taking a medical leave of absence during the 2010 season, Vickers returned to the #83 Red Bull Toyota Camry for Red Bull Racing Team in 2011.

Vickers began running go-karts in 1994. Over the next three years, he won eighty races in the World Karting Association, and won three championships, including the 1995 championship against three-time winner Mike Schwartz (WKA). In 1998, he moved to the Allison Legacy Series, and won five races during the course of the season. After competing in the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series in 1999, he moved to USAR ProCup, winning Rookie of the Year and two races in 2000. The next season, he won five more races and finished second in points.

In 2001, Vickers made his Nationwide Series debut at the GNC Live Well 250 in the #29 owned by his father, Clyde Vickers. He qualified 30th but finished 37th after a crash. Vickers ran three more races that season, his best finish a 25th at North Carolina Speedway. In 2002, Vickers began running the Nationwide Series in his father's #40 Dodge Intrepid. He drove in 21 races, and his best finish was 7th at the Hardee's 250, his only top-ten of the season.