Vickers had good reason to be mad at Michigan race

Brian Vickers said Tuesday that NASCAR officials told him they made a mistake when they placed him behind Mark Martin late in Sunday's race at Michigan.

Vickers was upset after the race, saying series officials put him fourth - behind Martin - for the final restart. Vickers had passed him earlier in the race.

"I was furious," Vickers said. "I felt like, in a lot of ways, that cost us a shot at the race. There's no guarantees what would have happened, but it definitely hurt us."

Vickers finished fourth.

"We made an honest mistake," Vickers said NASCAR officials told him afterward.

Vickers said he understands mistakes are part of the sport. While he can't change the impact this one, he's glad NASCAR officials admitted they were wrong.

"I've made many, many, many mistakes in my life, and I'll probably make many more," he said. "I think it's important to own up to it and move on.

"Unfortunately, in our sport, and if I was sitting in the (officials') tower, I couldn't do it any different; you can't just call timeout and go look at the replay and sort it out. It's a tough job. "

VALUABLE COMMODITY

Forbes recently released its rankings of NASCAR's most valuable Sprint Cup teams: Hendrick Motorsports tops the list.

The magazine estimates Hendrick's value at $335 million. Roush Fenway Racing is next at $313 million, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing ($184 million), Gillett Evernham Motorsports ($150 million) and Richard Childress Racing ($130 million).

Only two other teams rank above $100 million in value: Dale Earnhardt Inc. at $109 million and Penske Racing at $100 million. Petty Enterprises, which recently sold controlling interest in the team to Boston Ventures, ranked 12th with a value of $44 million.

SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY

Jeff Gordon's daughter, Ella, will celebrate her first birthday Friday. Gordon said it has been quite a year as a father.

"I think that the whole thing is overwhelming from the moment that you see your first sonogram," Gordon said. "I think that it's just an experience that you can't describe until you go through it. And then, all of a sudden when the baby is born, you know, that emotion and that feeling that you get, responsibility and being proud and excited, you know, there are not words that really describe it.

"And then you sort of get initiated into a club. It's an elite club and only people who are parents can understand it and are a part of it. And it's very special. It's a lot of hard work."

CUP DEBUT

Australian Marcos Ambrose will attempt to make his Sprint Cup debut this weekend, driving for the Wood Brothers.

Adding to Ambrose's stress is that the car is not in the top 35 in car owner points and must make the starting lineup on speed.

"There's a level of excitement, trepidation and anticipation," said Ambrose, who ranks 13th in the Nationwide points standings. "If I didn't have to qualify that car in, I'd have a totally different mind-set; I'd just be totally fizzed to get it there."

PIT STOPS

Robby Gordon is listed on the entry list as not having a sponsor for Sunday's race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., although he has one win there.... Ford is winless in the past eight Cup races.