NASCAR president Mike Helton took a few minutes Friday to speak with Brian Vickers to make sure the 19-year-old driver understood why he was black-flagged while leading the Busch series race last Saturday in Texas. Vickers appeared on his way to his first career win when he moved to the left of a lapped car on the restart to avoid running into the back of it. NASCAR made him pit for a stop-and-go penalty that cost him the win. “I still disagreed with him, but I told him I understood the rule now,” Vickers said. “But I appreciated him taking the time to try to talk to me about it.”(ThatsRacin.com/AP)(4-5-2003)
