Out for three months: Brian Vickers discusses latest medical setback in Fontana

By Tom Jensen
Published

Brian Vickers will miss at least the next three months of racing as he recovers from his latest round of blood clots in his lungs. And Vickers worries that his latest setback could be a career-ender.

Thursday, Vickers was diagnosed with a recurrence of blood clots and as a result had to step out of the cockpit of the No. 55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. The treatment for the blood clots involves taking blood thinners and it is unsafe to race while undergoing medication. 

"Unfortunately, now I am back on blood thinners for at least three months and through those three months I'll try to figure out what makes sense with my doctors if I can come back off of them to go racing," said Vickers. "If there's some kind of plan that works and if not, then that's that." 

Vickers said he began suffering chest pain on a flight from New Orleans to Los Angeles Thursday and went to the UCLA Hospital in Santa Monica, where the diagnosis was confirmed. "I had small blood clots in both lungs," Vickers said. "And that's that."

Asked if he's concerned that the injury could be career ending, Vickers said, "We're so far away from crossing that bridge at this point, I can't really say. Certainly your questions crossed my mind about a thousand times in the last 24 to 48 hours, but the funny thing is I've been told now three times that I'll never race again and I've raced the last two weeks. I'll never give up."

Still, it was a huge setback for Vickers. 

"It's been a tough week and frustrating," said Vickers. "Probably as much or more kind of on the emotional side."

And Vickers said while he hopes to come back, he might not get the chance.

"I love racing more than any other activity," he said. "I don't love it more than my wife, who takes good care of me, or my family or my friends. But it's not who I am, it's something that I do, something that I love doing. There's more to life than just this. I think keeping that perspective is important, but it's also my favorite thing to do in the world. I want to try to come back."

This isn't the first time Vickers has had medical issues.

In 2010, Vickers first developed blood clots while driving for the now defunct Red Bull team and was sidelined for the final 25 races of the season. Three years later, Vickers missed the final four races of the season due to blood clots in his calf, and he missed the first two races of this year while he recovered from off-season heart surgery.

Vickers' seat at MWR will be filled by Brett Moffitt, who will start today's Auto Club 400 from 30th place.

And by Vickers' own admission, his future remains to be seen.

"By no means have I given up," said Vickers. "To kind of reiterate some of the things we've discussed, I don't know what's next. I know I will be on blood thinners for the next three months and then after that I'm going to do whatever I can to get back in a race car, but what's next is next and we'll cross that bridge when we get there. No matter what, I appreciate the support -- the support in the NASCAR community has been amazing every time and every step of the way as I expected it to be from the fans to the media to the people in the garage. Thank you for all of that."