After attempting to qualify his #40 Engineered Machined Products/U.S. Army Dodge for the Carquest Auto Parts 300 (Saturday, 1 p.m./FOX) – and then, if he has made the race, taking part in Happy Hour – final practice – he’ll leave Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, NC and drive 55 miles to Trinity, NC, for his high school graduation ceremonies. Vickers will graduate with honors (Beta Club) from Trinity High, thanks to a 4.43 grade-point average. As that GPA indicates, finishing high school never was up for debate in his family, despite the lure of a ride in the BGN – the nation’s No. 2 motorsports series. “My father always had a rule that I had to keep a B” average in order to race,” said Vickers, an 18-year-old who is amid a 24-race, 2002 BGN campaign. Vickers responded by getting “A’s”. That effort mirrored what he always has put forth on the race track. Vickers prefaced his four-race NASCAR debut in 2001 by running in the Hooters Pro Cup stock-car series. He was the HPC Rookie of the Year in 2000; in 2001 he won two races and had 14 top-10 finishes. Thus far in 2002, he has started five NASCAR Busch races, with one top-10 finish. Vickers looks forward to his graduation, especially since he missed his prom, the weekend of March 23. In his defense, he was sort of busy – driving his Dodge around the Bristol Motor Speedway half-mile oval, one of the toughest tracks in all of NASCAR. Vickers took solace by comparing his race car to the limousines or parents’ cars his friends were renting for prom night.(NASCAR PR)(5-22-2002)
