NASCAR driver Brian Vickers yesterday signed a multi-year extension to continue driving Red Bull Racing's No. 83 Sprint Cup entry ( Red Bull Racing ). The AP's Jenna Fryer noted talks about a new contract "had been ongoing for several months, with Vickers insistent he wanted to stay with the team." Although verbal agreements had been made, Red Bull Racing ownership "had been slow to present paperwork that would have finalized a deal." Vickers left Hendrick Motorsports at the end of '06 to be the "face of the new Red Bull team." Vickers' win Sunday at the Sprint Cup Carfax 400 at Michigan Int'l Speedway, Red Bull's first Cup victory, moved him to 13th in the standings, 12 points out the Chase for the Sprint Cup ( AP, 8/18 ). DELAYED BUT COMPLETED : ESPN.com's Terry Blount wrote Red Bull officials "thought this deal was done six weeks ago, but Vickers hesitated until some details of the contract were clarified." That required Red Bull Racing VP & GM Jay Frye to "make a trip to Austria to iron out those details with" Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz ( ESPN.com, 8/18 ). Vickers said the extended negotiations "definitely affected me mentally and emotionally." Vickers: "This entire process has just taken a lot longer than it should have. For the most part, we had everything agreed to and come to terms in December, but it’s the world we live in now, the economy and everything. ... I think Red Bull corporate had to really think through things and had to make some decisions. Fortunately, they were able to come to a conclusion on that and we were able to wrap things up" ( "NASCAR Now," ESPN2, 8/18 ). IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: ESPN's Angelique Chengelis said of Vickers driving a Toyota during his victory at MIS, "When you look at the corporate side, this is not a good thing for Detroit to have Toyota come into their backyard ... and win. I don't think it sat well in any of the boardroom meetings." ESPN's Ricky Craven added, "I have to believe on Monday morning they feel like the away team came in and stole one on their homecourt." But ESPN's Boris Said replied, "I don't really know how many fans actually knew it was Toyota because all the cars look pretty much the same. ... I didn't see any resentment, everyone seemed happy" ( "NASCAR Now," ESPN2, 8/17 ).
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