Vickers doesn't owe anyone an apology

By Bob Pockrass

Monday, October 16, 2006

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This is what Jimmie Johnson had to say about teammate Brian Vickers last April, when Johnson passed Vickers on the final lap at Talladega: "That kid did an awesome job today and deserves to win a lot of these. I didn't regret the move, but I feel for him. He's going to have plenty of wins in the near future."

This is what Johnson had to say about Vickers after Vickers unintentionally wrecked him as he tried to push Johnson into the lead on the final lap at Talladega Oct. 8, resulting in Johnson and leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecking and Vickers finally earning that elusive first Nextel Cup win: "Got crashed by a teammate," Johnson said.

Johnson is a really good driver but what did he expect with Vickers behind him on the final lap of a race at Talladega, especially just five or so months after Vickers had a chance to win and didn't? Johnson had to know that Vickers would be going full bore once Johnson tried to make a move past Earnhardt Jr.

Johnson had to know that one slip and Vickers was going to hit him.

Johnson had to know that even without a mistake, he better be ready for a smash in his rear bumper.

Vickers gave it to him and Johnson couldn't hold on. Tough cookies.

When a driver waits for the final lap to make a move, he's got to expect craziness, even from a teammate, especially from a teammate who is leaving at the end of the season and desperate for his first career win.

If anybody has paid his dues to earn such a move, it is Vickers after nearly three years of Cup racing without a victory. He didn't wreck Johnson intentionally, but he wasn't going to just parade behind him for the win. If he did, then Hendrick Motorsports should have refunded the money of fans at Talladega.

They deserve to see a race and Vickers raced to the finish.

After the race, Vickers, who is leaving Hendrick to join Toyota's Team Red Bull next season, said that everybody makes mistakes, alluding to Johnson's past history of causing accidents at restrictor-plate tracks.

It's even hard to consider what Vickers did a mistake. If a driver is in third and the guy in second fails to make a move until the final lap, then all bets are off. Just because a driver is in the Chase For The Nextel Cup or just because a driver is one of the elder statesmen in the team's stable doesn't mean he gets a free pass. It means that he should be good enough to anticipate what the guy behind him will do.

Maybe Johnson didn't think Vickers had the guts to do what he did. Maybe Johnson didn't think Vickers would dare touch him.

Maybe Johnson underestimated the smaller restrictor plate and thought he would get better throttle response to pass Earnhardt Jr. and just didn't get the push he needed.

Instead, he got shoved right out of the way.

He was sour at Vickers after the race, which might have just been emotions after a hardfought event. But Johnson needs to get over it.

If not participating in the Hendrick square dance at the end of the race means he's a bad teammate, then Vickers should plead guilty with no regrets.

And if racing hard on the final lap means that he can shed the nice-guy-who-can't-win label, then Vickers should plead guilty as well.

Vickers should apologize for nothing. It was the last lap and if there ever was a time for him to have a career breakout moment, the Talladega backstretch was the prime place to do it.

And if Johnson and other Hendrick people don't like it, Vickers should have no problem walking out the door in November, firing up his Team Red Bull engine next year and planning on doing the same thing again - to Johnson or whoever joins him in the Red Bull stable - if the situation arises.