Vickers’ pulse racing again

Brian Vickers didn’t know if he would race again and, more important, neither did his doctors as they prepared him for heart surgery in December.

They, in fact, didn’t like his chances.

But once Vickers was cleared to race, it was his doctors who had to convince the driver he could return as early as this weekend.

“It was their choice, not me,” Vickers said Friday. “I didn’t push them into this. Matter of fact, I sit there and push them the other way. I’m like, ‘Are you sure? I can wait until Phoenix (next week). I’m totally fine waiting as long as you want,’ and they were like, ‘No, no. You’re totally good. You’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.’ ”

Vickers, 31, even asked the day before he was to leave for Las Vegas whether he should go ahead and compete, and was told, essentially, to put on the fire suit. So Vickers will make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season debut at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On Friday he qualified in the 28th position in the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota.

Vickers missed the first two races this season after having surgery Dec. 13. He was hospitalized two days earlier after not feeling well before he was to leave for his primary sponsor’s photo shoot.

This wasn’t his first health scare. In 2010 Vickers had an artificial patch inserted to repair a hole in his heart, and he sat out the final five races in 2013 because of blood clots.

Then in December, Vickers’ doctors discovered the patch was being rejected.

One of Vickers’ first thoughts was whether he would race again. The doctors weren’t optimistic.

“I think they were trying to set expectations, and they were like, ‘It’s not looking good,’ ” Vickers said. “They didn’t want to say no, but they were a far cry from yes. They needed to really ... get into my heart basically — which sounds weird to say — and figure out what’s going on before they could really give me an answer. But they were setting the bar pretty low.”

Vickers said he was prepared to accept the consequences no matter what the doctors told him, even if that meant he had to give up the sport.

“It’s a very special part of who I am, and it’s something that means the world to me, but it’s not who I am,” he said. “If I can’t race, that’s OK. Life is going to go on. I think from that perspective, yes, I asked the doctors, ‘Can I go race, and I want to go race,’ but if they say no, I’m not going to fight them.”

The procedure and the recovery, though, went well, and this weekend was set as the return date.

NASCAR requires drivers to attempt to qualify in all 26 races before the Chase for the Sprint Cup to be eligible for the playoffs. The sport’s governing body, however, gave Vickers a waiver because of his health issues. NASCAR issued a similar waiver last season to Tony Stewart, who missed three races after fatally injuring sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr.

Vickers, who finished 22nd in the points standings last season, would love to get into contention for the Chase. For now, though, just being on a racetrack is almost rewarding enough.

“I think to a large extent a month ago I was as curious as probably some of you (in the media) were as to how I would feel Friday morning,” Vickers said. “I can tell you I couldn’t be happier. I was talking to someone on the way in, and they asked what my emotions were going into this, and I kind of look at it like a win-win. If we go out there and do well, that’s great. And even if we don’t, just being able to get back in a racecar again and go 200 (mph) is incredible.

“No matter what the outcome, I’m happy to be here and happy to be back in a car again and get a chance to do something I love, but I’m an optimist. I think we’re going to go out there and do well.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.