The Bud Shootout is a race that can be summed up by the catch phrase- Go big, or Go Home. For Brian Vickers, this was the kickoff to the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season and if tonight was any indication of the the Red Bull Camry will run this season, you might want to place your bets sooner than later.

A cold and crisp February night in Daytona was the setting as the field took the green flag under the lights on the 2.5 mile Super Speedway and it was quickly apparent that Brian was going to be a threat to run up front all night. With the format set in place (25 laps, mandatory yellow/break and a 50 lap run to the finish) BV stay up in the top seven for most of the first segment with the majority of the time running the second spot behind one of the dominant cars of the night, Carl Edwards. He stuck to his bumper for a dozen or so laps in the opening sprint with the proverbial shuffle that always happens in the draft and was bounced around the top five. The the yellow came a lap early with a wreck on the front stretch. The team took their time in the pits and made adjustments to free BV up. He only had two complaints all night. One- the car was tight and he thought he was wearing the right sides a bit too hard and two was some issues with the radio communication. Both which were resolved quickly. Two turns of wedge in the right side to fix one and a click on the radio to fix another.

Just a side note- how many people have a tough time talking on their phone while driving- much less at 190MPH with 22 other cars around?

The second segment was much of the same. Stick towards the front and try not two get shuffled too far back- which ultimately happened two thirds of the way through the 50 lap run to the finish.

Fifty laps is a long way to run on gas at Daytona, so the yellow 8 laps in allowed the Red Bull guys to bring him, get four fresh Goodyears and top off to be able to run the rest of the race. Twice Brian was hung out and shuffled to the back, but he was able to climb back up towards the front and after the final yellow that set up a green/white/checker finish- Brian dodged the final race ending wreck in turn four and came across the line with a eigth place finish.

“We had a great run and were in a great position toward the end,” Vickers said. “We learned a lot tonight that will help us in the 500. Based on how well the car handled, we are going to have a very competitive car next week." The finish matched Vickers’ best in five Shootout starts. He also was eighth in 2007 — Red Bull Racing Team’s first race of any kind. “With the new rules, I thought there was a little more throttle response,” Vickers said, referring to the larger restrictor plates allowed by NASCAR. “I felt like if you got shuffled back or got in a bad spot, it was easier to recover."

Saturday was also Daytona 500 qualifying day which didnt go quite as hoped. The set up was off and BV bottomed the Camry out numerous times and hit the race track hard. The real qualifying for the 500 is the two 150 mile duels on Thursday at 2pm. Brian is in the second one and will start 18th to detrmine the lineup for Sunday