NASCAR admits screwing Vickers

NASCAR admitted to Brian Vickers that it made a mistake in placing the Red Bull Racing driver behind Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s Mark Martin prior to a restart during the waning laps of the LifeLock 400 Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

For Vickers, that admission was important. Vickers said he had passed Martin two laps prior to the caution coming out. He believes he could have had a chance to win the race if he hadn't had to restart behind Martin.

Vickers went to the NASCAR hauler after the race to talk to NASCAR officials.

“They said, ‘We made an honest mistake – the 8 car [of Martin] was supposed to be behind you,’ " Vickers said Tuesday during a NASCAR teleconference. “That’s all you can ask for. It’s like when a driver on the race track gets into you, it makes all the difference in the world if they call you the next day and say, ‘Man, I’m sorry. I messed up. I’m sorry. Let’s just move forward from here on.’

“And I totally respect that. I’ve made many, many, many mistakes in my life, and I probably will make many more. The important thing is to just own up to it and move on."

Vickers ended up finishing fourth.

“I was pretty upset by it and rightfully so," Vickers said. “I wanted an explanation of why that took place. I felt like in a lot of ways it cost us a shot at the race. There’s no guarantees what would have happened, but it definitely hurt us."