Red Bull Racing Team's Brian Vickers looked poised to be a major contender for the win in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 for the second year in a row. Leading four times for a total of 61 laps, Vickers took his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota to the front early and stayed there, until a vibration ruined an otherwise promising night.

By Lap 150, Vickers - while leading - came over the radio telling his crew the car had developed a vibration. The 23-year-old worked hard to diagnose the problem, while maintaining the lead. When the caution flew for the second time on Lap 161, Vickers' problem had gotten even worse.

"Something's wrong," Vickers told his crew. "Something's bad wrong. If [there is] no flat or loose wheel, it almost feels like the trackbar's broke. Vickers was able to stay out front, despite the car's issues, and led the field to the green flag on Lap 174. Shortly after restarting the race, the No. 83 Toyota Camry began falling back.

The vibration had picked back up, and by the tone of Vickers' voice over the radio it was evident there was a problem. It all came loose - quite literally - on Lap 184, when the left rear tire of Vickers' car came off the car, sending the No. 83 around and hard into the outside wall.

The tire bounced on the track, hitting David Gilliland's No. 38 in the hood causing massive damage. That contact sent the tire bouncing down the banking and into the infield, in the laps of some Hardcore Race Fans watching from their campers. Luckily no one was injured and security was quickly on the scene to recover the tire.

What looked to be a great night for Vickers was cut short by this unfortunate incident. The Red Bull Racing Team driver explained after leaving the infield medical center the team was unsure of what caused the problem.

"We knew we had a problem the last two runs and we had the left-rear wheel work loose toward the end of a run, but it stayed on," Vickers explained. "The first time it happened was very gradual and the last time it happened it was very, very sudden. It was like one lap it started with the vibration and a couple guys got by me and the next lap it just completely came off.

"We were the fastest car on the race track and we were really moving and that was with the left-rear loose," Vickers went on to say. "It's a couple years now where we've led a lot of laps here and haven't been able to close one. Hopefully we'll get one soon."

With the incident, Vickers was forced to settle with a 42nd-place finish and fell three spots in the series standings to 20th. Heading to Dover International Speedway, the Red Bull Racing Team driver hopes to improve on his record at the Monster Mile. In eight races at the high-banked concrete Monster, Vickers has only one top-5.

"It's been a really long road," Vickers said. "Last year was really difficult for everybody, but we've made so many gains. We just have to finish it off - we've got it to where we can lead laps and where we can stay in the top-20 in points. Now we just have to finish it off where we don't have any problems week in and week out."