Vickers puts Daytona crash behind him with pole run

FONTANA, Calif. -- Sometimes you're on the top of the world. Sometimes the world is on top of you. In the span of one week, Brian Vickers has been in both places.

Five days after being caught up in a Daytona 500 crash with Dale Earnhardt Jr. that left him with a 39th-place finish -- and left frenzied fans hotly debating who was at fault -- Vickers made amends Friday by winning the pole for Sunday's Auto Club 500 with a lap of 183.349 mph (watch video).

Forgive and forget

It's not the easiest thing to, but drivers in the garage agree Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers need to move on from Daytona.

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"Obviously, the best way to move on from a situation or controversy is to give them something else to talk about," Vickers said. "So far, we've done that this week in a positive way."

That's one thing about racing. No matter whether you draw the king one week or the joker the next, the deck is always shuffled for a new deal by the time the haulers show up at the next venue.

For Vickers, putting a frustrating incident like Sunday's crash in the rear-view mirror is something that comes naturally.

"For me, it's pretty easy," Vickers said. "I don't know if it's the way I was raised, or my mentality or what. I don't get mad very easily. Things can happen that will bother me, and I will keep that in the back of my mind and I will learn from those instances, and how I will handle those situations and people in the future. But in general, I don't let other people affect my daily life."

If there's anything that Vickers wishes he could change is the lingering anger he has when the gaff is his fault.

"I may make a decision or make a mistake that makes me mad, and I have a hard time letting that go," Vickers said. "But I don't let other people ruin my day. Honestly, I probably have the hardest time moving on when it's a mistake on my part rather than a mistake on somebody else's."

Vickers went out fourth of the 48 cars scheduled to take a qualifying lap, which meant making his attempt in the warmest part of a California winter afternoon. But as the sun dropped lower in the horizon -- and the track temperature dropped -- no one was able to surpass that run, although Jimmie Johnson came within five-hundredths of a second of Vickers' time.

"I couldn't ask for much more out of the car," Vickers said. "[Crew chief Ryan Pemberton] and the guys from the Red Bull team did an amazing job. The Toyota pulled strong down the straightaway.

"We fought tight in practice quite a bit and we found something right there in the last run that helped us. It really seemed to help on the lap."

Vickers and Earnhardt spoke on the phone about Sunday's incident, and it appears both have put the crash behind them. But once the race was over, Vickers said his mindset automatically changed from worrying about the past to concentrating on the present.

"The only thing that matters in my mind when I leave Daytona is that we couldn't collect enough points that we needed or wanted to race for the championship," Vickers said. "The best way to resolve that this week is to come here and just do the best we can, start on the pole, lead every lap and win the race."

One down, two to go. And for Brian Vickers, it's all about getting back on top of the world, one week at a time.