Beginning the Kobalt Tools 500 in the 17th position, Brian Vickers and his No. 83 Red Bull Toyota grew wings and took off to a fifth place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Clearly one of the two cars to beat, Vickers engaged in battle with the race winner Kurt Busch in the closing laps of the race. At one point Vickers was able to trim the gap between himself and Busch to under one second. However, an untimely caution reduced the No. 83's chances of catching the "Blue Deuce".

Running second with four laps remaining, the caution flag was brought out for the 11th time. With worn tires and low fuel, Vickers was forced to pit with the leaders. Vickers lost four spots during the pit, dropping from second to sixth.

With the cars back on track, they prepared for a green-white-checkered finish. Vickers was able to pass one car en route to his third consecutive top-10 finish.

"We would've finished first or second - or wrecked trying," Vickers stated. "We obviously had the better car there at the end. Kurt and I were running the same line, so it wasn't going to be easy to pass him. He was driving his butt off as well. I'm really proud of the Red Bull guys. I had a great car all day."

"We always seemed to have one of the best cars - if not the best car - at one point throughout a run," Vickers added. "I was really hoping it would stay green. It was going to be a great race to the finish with Kurt and I."