Jay Frye looking to lock in driver, automaker, for Red Bull Racing
INDIANAPOLIS - Jay Frye, vice president and general manager of Red Bull Racing says he expects to have driver Brian Vickers’ contract extension finalized, and a manufacturer decision made, after he travels to Austria next week to meet with Red Bull officials.
Frye said several weeks ago that a contract extension between Red Bull – which owns and sponsors the team’s two-car effort – and Vickers was one step away from being completed, but had not been approved. While ironing that out will be a priority, so to will be determining whether to remain with Toyota or making a move to another manufacturer.
“In this scenario, the most unusual thing about it is that the guy that owns the team [Red Bull’s Dietrich Mateschitz] isn’t here. He’s 6,000 miles away,” Frye said Sunday. “So to sit down and have a meeting … [to lay out] the different scenarios, what might be best for the future, to kind of map out the next five years, that’s kind of where we’re at.
“It’s unusual that we have a driver and manufacturer situation simultaneously. These are important issues that we have to resolve for the long term.”
Vickers, who has driven for the team since 2007, told reporters Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that he was “keeping all my options open … the ball is in their court.”
Although he entered the Allstate 400 16th in points, Vickers trails 12th-place Matt Kenseth by only 146 points. He has eight top-10 finishes through this year’s first 19 races, and five poles.
Teammate Scott Speed, who joined Red Bull Racing for the final five races of the 2008 season, is 36th in points, just one position outside of a guaranteed spot in each week’s field.
Red Bull Racing was one of Toyota’s original teams when the automaker joined NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series in 2007. Despite reports that have paired the organization with Chevrolet in 2010, Frye said nothing has been determined.
While other teams under the same brands have developed technical alliances among themselves, such as Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing for Chevrolet and Roush Fenway Racing/Yates Racing at Ford, the Toyota and Dodge camps have been, for the most part, slow to adopt such a working relationship. Michael Waltrip Racing, which fields Toyotas, is the only one of note, as it does have an alliance with JTG Daugherty Racing.
While Frye said working with Toyota “has been great,” he said such alliances will likely determine how the sport evolves in the coming years.
And that could impact decisions regarding manufacturer support.
“It’s kind of like, ‘OK, guys what are our goals?’ What they [Red Bull] have done to this point has been spectacular,” he said. “They’ve come in, done things right, funded properly, everything. If we have three different scenarios, then there are three different sets of goals and options that would come with that.
“Their biggest thing is performance. They want to win. Well, that’s great. So do we. What do we have to do to win?”
