Brian Vickers sidelined with blood clots

Brian Vickers has experienced a reoccurrence of blood clots and will not race this weekend at Auto Club Speedway, Michael Waltrip Racing announced Friday.

Team co-owner Michael Waltrip said Vickers called MWR vice president Ty Norris 1 a.m. Friday morning to inform them of the reoccurrence. Waltrip and Norris declined to say where the clots formed.

“We support Brian,” Waltrip said. “We love his heart, we love who he is and we don’t know how long he will be sidelined. This is all very fluid and new information and we’re learning as we go.”

This is the fourth time Vickers, 31, has missed time due to an issue related to blood clots. In 2010 blood clots were found in his left leg and lungs and his right calf in 2013. Last December, Vickers underwent heart surgery to fix a patch originally inserted in 2010 to help prevent blood clots from recurring. He missed the first two races of this season recovering from the operation.

“Thankfully, because I recognized the signs and symptoms, the doctors caught this early and I’m going to be OK,” Vickers said in a statement. “I had finished my treatment for the clot I had in my leg back in 2013 and I haven’t needed to be on a blood thinner for a clot in my leg or lung since. Now I won’t be able to race because I’ll need to be back on a blood thinner. I’m going to follow doctor’s orders and do everything I need to do to get well.”

Neither Waltrip nor Norris would not speculate on Vickers’ long-term prognosis, stating only he would be out for the “foreseeable future.” As for Vickers possibly retiring, Waltrip knows Vickers wants to return though his doctors will ultimately make the decision.

“I just know his heart and his passion and he would not say that and therefore I can’t say that,” Waltrip said. “He will tell you that he would be back in a couple weeks or a couple months or whatever the decision comes from his doctors that it will be. He’s certainly overcome a lot and I expect him to be able to overcome this.”

Norris described Vickers as “disappointed” about the latest setback. Vickers remains in Los Angeles, about 50 miles west of ACS, meeting with doctors.

“Brian has a lot of things in perspective,” Norris said. “He was aware of the issue, thought he knew what it was, it was confirmed and he’s getting the right treatment and, as a human being, he’ll be fine moving forward and that’s the most important thing.”

MWR named Brett Moffitt to drive the No. 55 Toyota. Waltrip drove for Vickers in the season-opening Daytona 500. Moffitt filled in for Vickers at Atlanta Motor Speedway, finishing a career-best eighth place.

Although a MWR and Toyota test driver, Moffitt was scheduled to race the Front Motorsports No. 34 Ford at ACS. The team replaced him with Chris Buescher, who will make his Sprint Cup debut Sunday.

“(Moffitt’s) a part of the MWR family and in the system,” Waltrip said. “He was doing some virtual testing for us this week, so he’s been plugged in all week long and he fits in Brian’s seat so there are no issues at all with getting Brett into the car. ... Love his heart and his spirit and am glad he’s going to be able to step into Brian’s car for him.”