NASCAR Cup Series

Vickers enjoys life away from NASCAR

Published Aug. 9, 2011 5:17 p.m. ET

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Few NASCAR drivers seem to feel as comfortable here as Brian Vickers.

He sees the city as an escape. That may appear counter-intuitive — most New Yorkers or even visitors would say they need to escape from the intensity, crowds and constant noise.

Born in small-town Thomasville, N.C., and currently living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Racing Toyota owns an apartment in Manhattan and visits about 40 days a year.

He was drawn to the big city because it afforded him a bit of anonymity and freedom from autograph-hungry crowds — though he lost most of his 2010 season due to blood clots and heart surgery. He also found New York to be an exciting diversion from the racing world.

“The energy, the people, the culture, the diversity,” Vickers said, regarding what initially attracted him to the city when he visited with fellow drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who both have apartments here. “The nightlife is probably the best in the world. The restaurants are the best in the world.”

Just don't think of Vickers as a tourist. Recently, he trekked through the heat to show off some of his favorite spots in the city to The Daily. Times Square was not among them.

The personal tour began on the Bowery in East Greenwich Village at upscale boutique John Varvatos, which was once the location of the famed underground rock club CBGB What followed was a subway ride uptown to Central Park. Vickers frequently rides his bike there to take a rowboat out from the Boathouse or to picnic in the park's lush Sheep Meadow. In fact, his favorite city view is there.

“You see the skyline in the distance. It reminds you that you’re not there, but you’re close. It’s peaceful and quiet,” he said, standing in the middle of that spot in the park, gazing at the edifices dotting the city's Upper West Side.

It was here Vickers reflected on his life-changing adversity. In May 2010, he experienced chest pains and shortness of breath. On a bike ride from downtown Manhattan to Central Park he found that he was exhausted, unnatural for someone so athletic. A few days later, Vickers was in Washington and could barely breathe. He went to the hospital and was diagnosed with blood clots around his lungs and leg.

“When [doctors] first told me I had blood clots, I was thinking, ‘Well, that’s cool, I’ve got practice at 10 a.m. on Friday, so whatever you have to do, let’s just do it.’ They kind of looked at me like, ‘What? You’re out of your mind.’ Doing what I do, you just think to a certain extent maybe you’re invincible.”

The process of using blood thinners to cure the clots would take much longer than he thought — Vickers took the rest of the season off — and the problems didn't stop there. Doctors discovered a hole in his heart that needed repair.

Soon after, he traveled the world, making stops in Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Wyoming, Colorado and, of course, New York.

“I started checking off some bucket list stuff,” Vickers said. “Right after you have heart surgery, the bucket list seems more important than a lot of other things.”

Vickers came back to NASCAR to the Red Bull team this season. He says he has more of a passion for racing because it was almost ripped away.

“At the same time, there was this new understanding that life was more than just racing,” he said as he headed out of the park toward the lavish Italian eatery, Lavo.

That fresh perspective has come in handy during an up-and-down 2011 season. Entering the upcoming race weekend at Watkins Glen International, Vickers has five top-10 finishes, but also has eight races in which he was 30th or worse. On top of that, his contract ends this year and Red Bull Racing is pulling out of NASCAR and looking to sell its two-car team.

“I want to race; I want to be with a good team; I want to win championships. That’s the only reason I fought so hard to come back after last year’s illness,” Vickers said. “In the past, I’d be more worried. After what I went through last year, my passion and love for racing is as high as it’s ever been. I have a realistic understanding and appreciation that there’s more to life than just that.”

Those close to Vickers see that he appreciates the finer things. His investments include real estate and Ty Ku, a sake company. He's comfortable discussing current events, economics and the media.

“From tech to finance to talking politics, it’s not your typical driver’s interests or passion,” said Vickers' close friend Ryan Giunta, who joined him at John Allan's, a men's grooming club, near Wall Street for the final stop of the day. “He reads all the time and he’s an entrepreneur on the side.”

“I definitely feel different,” Vickers said as he defeated all comers on the pool table at the back of the club before getting a trim. “I don’t think it’s necessarily good or bad, I have passions outside of racing. Some of my peers do as well. I read a couple of newspapers every day and I keep up with world events.”

And perhaps that's why New York City is his escape. It's a place for him to expand life beyond the track.

“I really want to race,” he said. “But if I had another clot or something else happened, for whatever reason, my life took another path ... I wouldn’t be happy about it, I’d be like, ‘Okay, that’s what it is.’ “

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