Brian Vickers' return to Cup Series ends with crash (Video)
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Brian Vickers' first substitute driving appearance for Tony Stewart ended abruptly and viciously when he hit the turn 1 wall in Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited at Daytona.
Vickers appeared to have a right-rear tire issue as the field headed into the corner and he lost control. As he hit the wall he was clobbered into by teammate Kevin Harvick, who had nowhere to go. Vickers said he felt the tire go down on the straightaway but as he was rolling out of the gas, the car snapped loose on him.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch were also involved. Busch is also a teammate of Vickers', meaning Danica Patrick was the only Stewart-Haas Racing driver not involved in the crash. Clint Bowyer was involved too; he's replacing Stewart in 2017 in the No. 14 car.
Vickers was driving the exhibition race for Stewart after Stewart suffered a fractured vertebra in a sand buggy accident. Vickers climbed from the car after the crash and was evaluated and relased from the infield care center. It was his first Cup Series race since the Phoenix race in spring of 2015. Vickers missed the majority of the season because of blood clots.
It's possible a lap 7 close call could have contributed to Vickers' tire issues. He had a tire mark on the right-rear quarterpanel of his car after he made contact with Kyle Busch as the two drivers were on the outside of a four-wide manuever in the tri-oval.
Vickers will continue to sub for Stewart in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 21. A replacement driver for Stewart past Daytona has not been named.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
