Vickers 'embarrassed' by team penalty
Published: Sun, Oct. 26, 2008 12:30AM
Modified Sun, Oct. 26, 2008 01:41AM
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closeRed Bull Racing driver Brian Vickers said Friday the people responsible for altering the sheet metal on his Cup car last weekend at Martinsville, Va., have been fired by the organization or "severely punished."
NASCAR penalized Vickers' No. 83 Toyota team after finding sheet metal on the car that did not meet minimum thickness requirements.
Vickers and the team were each docked 150 points, and crew chief Kevin Hamlin and car chief Craig Smokstad were suspended indefinitely. Hamlin was also fined $100,000.
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"I'm embarrassed that it happened. It's never been the way that I've operated in my racing career," Vickers said Friday on Sirius Satellite Radio's "Tradin' Paint" show. "I think Red Bull has taken full responsibility. Unfortunately, it's a very isolated incident in which a few individuals made bad decisions."
Vickers, however, sought to correct reports that the sheet metal was altered through a process of acid dipping.
"There was absolutely, positively no acid dipping," he said. "That's just something the media has taken off and run with.
"NASCAR even said there was none."
NASCAR officials on Friday confirmed Vickers' assertion.
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