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Brian Vickers

Brian Vickers crashes out of Sprint Unlimited

Brant James
USA TODAY Sports
Clint Bowyer (15) runs into Brian Vickers (14) after Vickers wrecked coming out of Turn 1 during the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brian Vickers’ return to Sprint Cup was both eventful and thankfully uneventful Saturday, as he crashed out of the exhibition Sprint Unlimited in the early laps but reported no medical problems.

A veteran of 318 Sprint Cup races who has been plagued by blood clotting problems that cut short his full-time career, Vickers, 32, had been tabbed by Stewart-Haas Racing to replace the injured Tony Stewart in the Unlimited and Daytona 500 next Sunday.

But a failure in a right rear tire on Lap 23 of a scheduled 75 laps sent Vickers out of the pack in Turn 1 and into the wall violently before he was rammed by teammate Kevin Harvick. Vickers said he had sensed the tire deflating early and tried to escape the pack. He wasn’t sure whether earlier contact with Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski could have caused the cut.

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Vickers said he didn’t have any immediate medical worries following the hit, even considering the procedures — including open heart surgery in December, 2014 — he had undergone.

“Not really,” Vickers said. “Every wreck sucks, especially the hard ones. I don’t think it was so much scary. If you’re thinking about whether or not it’s scary, you’re fine. For me, as soon as you hit the wall, it’s really more of a process of, like, why did I hit the wall.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, AJ Allmendinger and Kurt Busch — another SHR driver — were also involved.

Vickers, who had raced as high as eighth, had by far the most damage but was able to walk away from the incident. He was evaluated and released from the infield care center.

"I guess if you're going to wreck, tonight is the night to wreck," Harvick said. "Just the wrong place at the wrong time."

That the No. 14 car was even in the 25-car field was only due to a special exception made by NASCAR. Tony Stewart was supposed to be in the race but broke his back in a sand dunes accident and is out indefinitely after surgery.

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NASCAR ruled this week that Vickers could replace Stewart in the Unlimited although invitations typically are attached to the driver and not the team. The series cited the worked SHR had already put into building a car especially for the exhibition.

Vickers, who had not raced since March, received medical clearance this week after going off blood thinners.

“I’m back racing. I’m having fun,” he said before returning to his garage bay to debrief with crew chief Michael Bugarewicz over a mashed race car. “The Daytona 500 is next week. I don’t have a lot to complain about.”

Follow James on Twitter @brantjames

PHOTOS: 2016 NASCAR Sprint Unlimited

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