Vickers grateful to be racin'

WHEN I INTERVIEWED Brian Vickers recently at Pocono Raceway, I expected to write about his comeback from treatments for blood clots that sidelined him much of last season. I never thought I'd be including news of the withdrawal of his race team's sponsor.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that Red Bull will depart NASCAR at the end of this racing season. The energy-drink company sponsors Vickers' No. 83 team and Kasey Kahne's No. 4 team.

Since entering NASCAR in 2007, Red Bull teams have not experienced much success. This year, Kahne is 19th in points; Vickers is 24th.

One reason given for Red Bull's withdrawal is that NASCAR's appeal is slipping in the 18-to-34 age group, where Red Bull aims its marketing. (It would seem those of us over, um, 65 need the product more than younger people, but what do I know . . . )

Next year, Kahne will take over Mark Martin's ride at Hendrick Motorsports, while Vickers will be a free agent. Jay Frye, vice president and general manager of the teams, is optimistic about finding new sponsors.

Back to Vickers. He is one of the more intriguing people in NASCAR, with such wide-ranging interests as skydiving, travel and investments. While recuperating from multiple blood clots and heart surgery to repair a hole between his left and right atrium, he realized he might be done racing at age 27.

"I knew it was possible," Vickers said. "I didn't want to think about it. My focus the whole time was to get healthy and get back in the car. I was lucky to make that happen.

"The No. 1 thing in my life is racing, but I did realize during the time off that there is more to life than just racing. I would've moved on and done something else."

Skydiving is one of Vickers' passions. He's made more than 30 jumps. His latest was the week before Pocono, when he made an airborne entrance into Daytona International Speedway to promote the July 2 race there.

"Skydiving into Daytona was an entirely new thrill," he said. "Skydiving into a stadium is difficult. It was more challenging than I anticipated. You can't miss your mark. There's no room for error.

"The tri-oval is a little smaller than a normal drop zone. In a normal drop zone, there's a lot of areas to bail out if the wind is too strong. At Daytona, with the grandstands and lot poles, there's no place to bail."

Vickers, who qualified for his only Chase for the Championship 2 years ago and finished last, didn't expect to muscle his way into the top 10 in points immediately this season. But he thought he would be higher than 24th.

"We'd like to have run better than this," he said. "From the standpoint of going fast and being comfortable in the car, we've had some really good runs [he finished fifth at Dover, Del., last month]. We haven't had the [high] finishes, because we've either been wrecked or things have happened to us that were mostly out of our control."

Vickers, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and Joey Logano play themselves in Sunday's episode of "The Glades" (10 p.m., A&E). The scenes for the crime drama were shot at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

INFINEON NIGHTMARE

Marcos Ambrose was only seven laps from winning his first Sprint Cup race last year at Infineon Raceway in Fontana, Calif. Then, during a caution period, Ambrose stopped his Toyota to save fuel. The car stalled, and Jimmie Johnson went on to his first road-course victory. Ambrose finished sixth after NASCAR penalized him for not maintaining "a reasonable speed" when he restarted the engine.

Now driving the No. 9 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports, Ambrose can't avoid questions about last year's race as the Sprint Cup Series returns to the scenic Northern California course Sunday.

After saying he lost plenty of sleep over what happened last year, Ambrose said: "I am looking forward to a fresh chance to win. Racing is all about split-second decisions. I was running out of tires [and] fuel. I couldn't get the motor refired, for whatever reason."

If Ambrose wins Sunday, his sponsor, Stanley Black & Decker, will donate $1 million to the Children's Miracle Network.

DOVER DATE ADJUSTED

Next year, Dover International Speedway will return to its traditional early June race weekend: June 1-3. For the past 2 years, the Delaware track's first Sprint Cup race has been in mid-May, and attendance at the spring races declined.

Dover's second 2012 race weekend will be Sept. 28-30. This year, the track's fall race, the AAA 400, is Oct. 2. Dover's fall race is the third race in the Chase.

THIS WEEK'S RACE

Toyota/Save Mart 350

Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif.

When: Sunday, 3 p.m.

TV/Radio: TNT/WNPV (1440-AM), WDSD (94.7-FM)

Race course: 1.99-mile, 12-turn racetrack

Race distance: 110 laps/219 miles (350 kilometers)

Race forecast: Sunny, 82 degrees

Last year's winner: Jimmie Johnson

Last year's pole winner: Kasey Kahne, 93.893 mph

Track qualifying record: Jeff Gordon, 94.325 mph (June 2005)

Track facts: Jeff Gordon's five wins at the track top all active drivers. Gordon also has the most poles (five) at Infineon. Tony Stewart (two) is the only other multiple race winner at the track among current drivers . . . Jimmie Johnson led 55 laps, including the last seven, to win last year's race. Robby Gordon was runner-up; Kevin Harvick was third. Polesitter Kasey Kahne finished fourth. He didn't lead one lap . . . Mark Martin will make his record 21st start at Infineon Sunday. He has one win (1997) and seven top-five finishes at the track . . . Six road-racing specialists are entered, including Boris Said in the No. 51 Chevrolet . . . Clint Bowyer has three top-fives in five Infineon starts.

Wins: Kevin Harvick, 3; Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, 2 each; Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, 1 each.

SPRINT CUP STANDINGS (Through 15 of 36 races)

1. Carl Edwards 532

2. Kevin Harvick 512

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 505

4. Kyle Busch 503

5. Jimmie Johnson 503

6. Matt Kenseth 491

7. Kurt Busch 491

8. Ryan Newman 456

9. Denny Hamlin 455

10. Clint Bowyer 455

11. Tony Stewart 454

12. Jeff Gordon 438

13. Greg Biffle 425

14. Mark Martin 418

15. Juan Montoya 409

16. Paul Menard 402

17. A.J. Allmendinger 402

18. David Ragan 395

19. Kasey Kahne 387

20. Martin Truex Jr. 376

Up next: Coke Zero 400, July 2, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla., 7:30 p.m., TV: TNT; last year's winner: Kevin Harvick.