Catchfence

DRIVERS: Scott Speed (No. 82) / Brian Vickers (No. 83)
EVENT: Goody’s 500; Monday, March 29, 2010
TRACK: Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Va.
RESULTS: Speed (start 18, finish 33) / Vickers (start 14, finish 6)

+ MARTINSVILLE GETS A CASE OF THE MONDAYS

Add Brian Vickers to the list for driver media availability the Friday of Phoenix weekend. A 2009 Chaser, Vickers moved to 12th in the standings after grinding out a sixth-place finish in the rain-delayed Goody’s 500.

BV’s the highest-ranking Toyota driver and is the manufacturer’s lone representative currently in the top 12.

“That was exactly what we needed as a team to get our momentum back,” Vickers said. “We battled all day to get our track position back after a few incidents earlier in the race cost us some spots on the track. It was an awesome job all around today.”

Rain canceled qualifying Friday, and the lineup was set on car owner points. Two days later, more rain pushed the race to Monday.

82 . SCOTT SPEED START/FINISH: 18/33 DISASTROUS MOMENT: The front-end damage the No. 82 sustained on lap 51. Television offered little other than Speed’s smoking car limping to the pits. Whatever it was — call it “one of them short track deals” — it was big enough to send Speed to pit road, where he lost 12 laps for repairs. He returned in 38th, remained in ride-around mode and ended up 17 laps down in 33rd.

RADIO CHATTER: “All I know is a car came from the outside lane to the inside lane right in front of us. I just couldn’t stop.” — Speed

POINTS PICTURE: Speed and the No. 82 crew, in their second full season together, targeted a top-20 points finish in 2010. He lost three spots and left Martinsville 21st in the standings, only four points behind 20th-place Kasey Kahne.

STAT THAT MATTERS: Last season, Speed didn’t finish in the top 20 until the ninth race at Talladega. He’s hit that mark already three times in six races this season.

83 . BRIAN VICKERS START/FINISH: 14/6 DEFINING MOMENT: Just about the entire race. This was one of those grind-itout sixth-place finishes. Twice Vickers rebounded from trouble — the first on lap 140 when he lost eight positions after contact from the No. 88; the second on lap 245 when he couldn’t avoid the slow car of Brad Keselowski and damaged the No. 83’s nose. But BV kept digging, and the car began sticking off the corners. Crew chief Ryan Pemberton’s call for four tires eight laps from the finish helped Vickers gain seven positions over the final two restarts, including a green-white-checkered.

RADIO CHATTER: “It’s show time.” — spotter Chris Lambert to BV on a restart with three laps to go

POINTS PICTURE: See opening paragraph. And Vickers is only 51 points out of fifth.

STAT THAT MATTERS: Sixth is Vickers’ best finish in 11 starts at NASCAR’s shortest track. His previous best Martinsville finish of eighth came in April 2006.

+ UP NEXT

An off week for Easter, then the Subway Fresh Fit 600 on Saturday, April 10 at Phoenix.

- Red Bull Racing Team, Press Release