VICKERS
SIDELINED, MOFFITT TO DRIVE NO. 55 AT AUTO CLUB
SPEEDWAY
CORNELIUS, N.C. – Brett Moffitt will drive Michael
Waltrip Racing’s No. 55 Toyota in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club
Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
The team’s regular driver Brian
Vickers informed MWR he has experienced a reoccurrence of blood clots, which
will require the 31-year-old driver to begin taking blood-thinning medication
and he is not able to race while on the medicine.
“First and foremost our thoughts are
with Brian and his family,” said MWR founder and co-owner Michael Waltrip. “He
isn’t just our race car driver, he is our friend and we know the NASCAR
community will continue to rally around Brian. We are fortunate to have Brett
Moffitt in our system and marveled at his great drive in Atlanta three weeks
ago, so we know he can get the job done in the No. 55 this weekend. As this news
is very fresh and the situation is very fluid, we can only plan for this weekend
at this point.”
Vickers missed the season’s first two
races recovering from December heart surgery. He finished 15th at Las
Vegas and 41st at Phoenix.
“Thankfully, because I recognized the
signs and symptoms, the doctors caught this early and I’m going to be ok. 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,” said
Vickers. “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.”
“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.
In 60 races driving MWR’s No. 55
Toyota, Vickers scored eight top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. He won the July
race at New Hampshire in 2013 and captured the pole at Talladega in October
2014. The 2003 Nationwide champion owns three victories and 12 poles in 318
career Sprint Cup starts.
Moffitt, 22, of Grimes, Iowa, finished eighth at Atlanta on
March 1 driving the No. 55. He has also raced twice for Front Row Racing in
2015.
