FONTANA, Calif. – Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner Michael Waltrip set no timetable for driver Brian Vickers’ return to Sprint Cup Series competition after being sidelined Friday again by blood clots.
Vickers who missed the first two races of the season after corrective heart surgery last December is currently in Los Angeles under the care of his doctors, where he’s already begun treatment.
“We’re here to talk about Brian Vickers,” said Waltrip addressing the media at Auto Club Speedway Friday morning. “He unfortunately had another episode with clotting last evening and he is going to miss the race this weekend. It’s Blood Clot Awareness Month and Brian was here on behalf of our partner Janssen to talk about the importance of recognizing the symptoms and the feelings that you get when you are experiencing clotting.
“That was going to be the message for the weekend for Brian to talk about that and unfortunately he’s not going to be able to do that, but I think it’s just a great example of how important awareness is and understanding what the symptoms are that if you have clotting. He recognized those symptoms. He got in touch with his doctors and they began treatment on Brian. His heart surgery back in December was a success. He was able to return and have a very competitive race in Las Vegas and we were really proud of Brian for that and now he’s going to be sidelined again. We support Brian. We love his heart, we love who he is and we don’t know how long he will be sidelined. This is all very fluid and new information and we’re learning as we go.”
The team said Friday morning that the 31-year old has been placed on blood thinners, which makes it too dangerous for him to drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota Camry. If Vickers was injured, it would be nearly impossible to stop the bleeding given his current condition.
Brett Moffitt, who raced in absence of Vickers at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway this weekend has been tapped to drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota Camry in Sunday’s Auto Club 400. Moffitt was scheduled to drive the No. 34 for Front Row Motorsports Ford, but being on-loan from MWR, the team exercised their right to place him in the seat.
Vickers has been tormented by health problems since 2010 when Vickers’ first spell of blood clots began in his legs and lungs. It was during that time that Vickers’ heart issue was also first discovered. He missed 25 races that season.
A recurring issue forced Vickers to miss the final five races of the 2013 because he was placed on blood thinners to treat a clot in his right calf.
“Thankfully, because I recognized the signs and symptoms, the doctors caught this early and I’m going to be ok,” Vickers said in a statement. “I had finished my treatment for the clot I had in my leg back in 2013 and I haven’t needed to be on a blood thinner for a clot in my leg or lung since. Now I won’t be able to race because I’ll need to be back on a blood thinner. I’m going to follow doctor’s orders and do everything I need to do to get well.”
Coincidentally, March is Blood Clot Awareness Month and Saturday’s NASCAR XFINITY Series race is dubbed DRIVE4CLOTS.com 300 – all honed on raising awareness to blood clots.
“Believe it or not, it’s Blood Clot Awareness Month and I was supposed to be at the track this weekend doing some work with my partners at Janssen focused on getting the word out. I’m disappointed I can’t be there but if there is a silver lining in all of this, hopefully, what’s happened to me will help to raise awareness on this important health issue,” said Vickers.
Waltrip said that the team is confident that substitute driver Moffitt can duplicate his eighth-place run from AMS a few weeks ago.
“As far as Brett (Moffitt), he was here and he’s a part of the MWR family and in the system. He was doing some virtual testing for us this week, so he’s been plugged in all week long and he fits in Brian’s seat so there are no issues at all with getting Brett into the car,” Waltrip added.
“He’s never run a lap here at California Speedway, so that will be fun to watch. I love kids and he’s like, ‘I’ve never run here before and this is going to be cool.’ As the owner, he’s never run here before, but he certainly over-achieved for us at Atlanta in being able to – I was afraid when he got there with that youthful enthusiasm and exuberance that he would overdo it and mess up and he was the opposite. He was just smart, methodically made his way through the race and produced a great result at the end out-running Brad Keselowski on the same tires for that eighth-place finish. I was really proud of that accomplishment for that young man. Love his heart and his spirit and am glad he’s going to be able to step into Brian’s car for him.”
Waltrip would not speculate on whether this latest epoxide would keep Vickers sidelined permanently.
“I just know his heart and his passion and he would not say that and therefore I can’t say that,” Waltrip said. “He will tell you that he would be back in a couple weeks or a couple months or whatever the decision comes from his doctors that it will be. He’s certainly overcome a lot and I expect him to be able to overcome this. Obviously, this is a setback for our team and for Brian and I think this morning we’re just glad that Brian is okay. We look forward to learning more and coming up with a plan.”
Ford Performance driver Chris Buescher will drive in place of Moffitt at Front Row Motorsports this weekend. Moffitt, subbing for David Ragan who’s subbing for the injured Kyle Busch was using the Front Row Motorsports opportunity to gain additional seat time. The MWR development driver finished 37th at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway and 32nd at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway respectively.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
