Vickers avoided all of the late-race mayhem last week at Talladega to finish fifth in the Aaron's 499. It was his best run with Red Bull since finishing fifth in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte nearly a year ago.

It doesn't matter to Vickers that the style of racing at Talladega differs greatly from every other Cup track except Daytona. He's banking on taking the momentum generated in Alabama with him into Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowery 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

"Yes, I think you can take momentum into anywhere -- momentum is momentum," Vickers said. "No matter what track you are going to, it is the same. We had our best run of the season last weekend in Talladega, so I think that will definitely carry over to Richmond."

It appeared Richmond would be one of Vickers' better tracks early in his Cup Series career. He started from the pole there in his first attempt in May 2004 and finished eighth. But his next six starts on the three-quarter-mile track have produced finishes outside the top 20.

For a driver in his sixth Cup season, it's easy to forget that Vickers, 24, is one of the younger drivers in the series -- of the top 43 drivers in the points standings, only Kyle Busch, David Ragan and Reed Sorenson are younger -- and still learning.

Yet Vickers isn't thought of in the same way. Perhaps because he has experienced so much in such a short time.