Red Bull Rundown: Red Bull Racing Team Gets Run Down by Ambrose

The Red Bull teammates collided after a three way battled with Ambrose.
Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

During Saturday’s Wonderful Pistachios 400 at Richmond, Red Bull Racing’s Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers were met by another bull – the charging No. 9 of Marcos Ambrose.

For Kahne, the race ended before it ever really started. Although Kahne went in to the race knowing the team had a slim chance of making the Chase, banking on previous success and a good qualifying run, the driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota remained optimistic about this season's second NSCS visit to Richmond.

With a decent shot at winning, Kahne started the race in 12^th. However, on lap 27, Kahne took a spin and after two trips to pit road ended up in the back of the field, but this wasn’t the end of it for Kahne.

Just 24 laps after his first wreck, the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota made contact with teammate, Vickers, as the two of them, along with Ambrose were racing three-wide.

Ambrose knocked into Vickers, sending him into Kahne. As Kahne hit the inside and outside wall, so ended his night and any chance of earning a spot in the Chase.

“I just know that I was on the outside going into the straightaway and then I just started to turn in and then the 83 hit me pretty hard,” Kahne said. “Honestly, he got hit by someone else, but I haven’t seen it so I don’t know what exactly happened. It was kind of a weird deal.”

Following the incident, Vickers showed Ambrose his disappointment by driving into him while under caution and blocking Ambrose from entering pit road.

Vickers and his team were hard at work repairing the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota. Vickers returned to the track on lap 120, 68 laps down. (It was originally reported that NASCAR had parked Vickers, though untrue.)

“What can I say? The 9 wrecked us. Both of us,” Vickers said. “Not a good day for the Red Bull cars.”

Following Saturday’s race, Vickers now sits 27^th in the point standings and Kahne in 21^st.

Although the Red Bull Racing team will not be competing in this year’s Chase, it is still important for the team to earn points and finish as high in standings as possible.

Statistically this season, Kahne and Vickers have three combined top 10 finishes and one top-five at the 10 upcoming tracks on the NSCS schedule with those finishes earned at New Hampshire, Dover and Phoenix.

Overall, out of those upcoming races, Kahne has found the most success at Charlotte with three wins, five top-fives and seven top-10s while Vickers has had luck at Talladega with one win, three top-fives and five top-10s.

This weekend the NSCS heads to Chicagoland for the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

In last season’s visit to the track, Kahne finished 6^th. Although Vickers was unable to compete due to health problems, he finished 7^th at Chicagoland in 2009 after starting from the pole.