Brian Vickers, Red Bull Racing

February 11, 2010 @ 00:00:00

By Cory J. Bonini
Edited by Bryce McRae

11) Brian Vickers | No. 83 Red Bull Energy Drink Toyota | Red Bull Racing

Pros: His second career win came Aug. 16 in the Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway; Vickers won six poles on his way to registering four top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes. We know Team Red Bull's Toyotas are fast, and only Mark Martin won more poles (seven). Being 26 years old, Vickers undoubtedly has room for improvement and growth as a driver.

Cons: The cars are fast, but that doesn't take a driver very far when his team constantly struggles to make the intricate adjustments necessary to become a regular winner. We're not saying these errors cannot be corrected, but we want to see it before we believe it. Before 2009 Vickers hadn't finished better than 15th place (2006) in four full-time seasons. His failure to finish 15 races in the past three years (five each season) isn't encouraging.

Fantasy tip: Vickers is still figuring things out. Is this the year he puts it all together and builds off his first career playoff appearance? Too much uncertainty, a lackluster history, a pit team struggling to work out the bugs: All of these factors make Vickers a very risky driver to select as your No. 1. He is an awesome choice as your second driver, and it is likely he'll be available at top of the second wave of driver selections. He has upside, and his ride is fast, so positives exist in Vickers' future.

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Cory J. Bonini

Cory J. Bonini is a senior editor at KFFL. In late 2002, Bonini joined the KFFL staff as a research analyst. He vaulted himself into one of the industry's leading fantasy analysts.

Bonini has been involved in fantasy sports since 1996. A member of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association as well as Fantasy Sports Writers Association, he has been featured in print, on the radio and is also a published writer on scores of sites. Bonini co-hosts Big Lead Sports on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio each Wednesday evening from 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. ET.

Bonini was recognized with the 2010 Best Article in Print Award from the FSWA and was a finalist for the same award in 2011. In '11, he finished first overall in the FSWA NFL experts challenge that featured 60 of the industry's best competitors.

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