Drivers React To Brian Vickers Hospitalization News

Brian Vickers’ peers were asked about the driver and blood clots in general on Friday as the Dover race weekend began with Vickers still in a Washington, D.C. hospital.

Here’s a sampling of what they had to say:

• Casey Mears, subbing for Vickers: “Brian called me first. From what I understand, it was Wednesday that everything kind of went down. He started understanding what he had. He didn’t know exactly how it was going to play out. But he called me and kind of told me the scenario. Said, obviously, if something didn’t come together he’d like to see me in it, more than anybody else. So it’s kind of nice to hear him say that.”

• Dale Earnhardt Jr.: “I just hope he recovers well. I’ve never had anything like that and I hear it’s not too good of a thing to get diagnosed with. I just hope he doesn’t have too rough a time with it.”

• Greg Biffle: “To us, it is very scary. Brian is a good guy and we hope that he is well. I look at it as that could be me. I could be laying in a hospital bed somewhere missing a race and it would be heart-wrenching for me to go through that. Certainly anything can happen to any one of us and we just...hope and pray that Brian is able to get back with us soon.”

• Jeff Burton: “When you’re in this sport, you believe that the only thing that matters is this sport. But the reality of it is that there are things that are more important. And I don’t know what Brian’s situation is, but we certainly wish him the best and it is important for him to do what he has to do to be healthy and to be safe. And sitting out a race or two or three, four, five or 10, ain’t going to ruin his career. ... The main thing is that he’s healthy.”

• Mark Martin: “Our pit crew coach, Mark Mullen, has had something we think is sort of similar, so we have experience with that this year. I was somewhat familiar with what we think Brian’s situation has. They say if you have a nervous fidget, you are fine. So there is no humanly possible way I could have that problem with the way I shake my legs.”

• Jimmie Johnson: “I spoke with him, he’s in good spirits and certainly hope that they get to the bottom of things and get him healed up and back in the race car as soon as possible. From when I spoke to him last night, there’s still a lot of question marks and concerns and trying to understand what in the world is going on. Until they can find out what’s going on, there’s a lot of worry and concern.”

• Kyle Busch: “I just want to say I hope Brian Vickers has a speedy recovery and can get back and join us here shortly back to the racetrack. Tough what he’s going through, I know, he’s probably sitting here like you and I right now wondering why he’s not in a race car, but hopefully his issues get taken care of quickly.”