Vickers underwent an examination
this morning that revealed a small blood clot in his right calf. His physician,
Dr. William Downey, has placed him on blood thinning medications that will keep
the 29-year old driver out of Michael Waltrip Racing’s #55 Aaron’s Toyota for the
remainder of the season.
Vickers said he is confident
he will be able to return to competition before the start of the 2014 NASCAR
Sprint Cup season.
Today’s news is
the second blood-clot related issue for Vickers in the last three years. In
2010, Vickers was diagnosed with blood clots in his left leg, lungs and fingers
after driving for Red Bull Racing in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in
early May. He underwent surgery
to repair a heart issue and was placed on blood thinners to treat the clots and
prevent a recurrence, missing the final 25 races of the season.
“If there’s anything to be
positive about with today’s news it’s that this is only a temporary setback,”
said Vickers. “The timing for this is never good, but I’m glad we’ll get it out
of the way now and be ready to run for a championship with the Aaron’s Dream
Machine in 2014.”
“We were just informed this
morning and our concern is for Brian’s health,” said MWR co-owner Rob Kauffman.
“Anything else will be worked out in due course.”
As previously announced, two-time Daytona 500
champion Michael Waltrip will drive the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine at Talladega
Superspeedway this weekend. A replacement driver for the remaining events will
be named later.
In 22 races with MWR in 2012
and 2013, Vickers has earned five Top-5 and 10 Top-10 finishes, including a
victory on July 14 of this year at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery go out to Vickers. Seems like MWR just keeps getting hit again - and again - and again...
ReplyDeletesorry to hear he has had bad luck he a good driver
ReplyDeleteTypo at the first part of the story I thought he was going to miss all of next year. It should say 2013. Feel bad for Brian he is a very good racer. Get well!
ReplyDeleteGads, Karma seems to be working overtime to make MWR its bitch, doesn't it? I really feel back for Brian, this has to be so hard for him, and he's a great guy that doesn't deserve this. It's tough having a nagging, potentially life-threatening health concern like this that you can't entirely put out of your mind because you're not sure you're really cured. But he's a tough guy behind the niceness. - Mike, NH
ReplyDelete