Brian Vickers out for Rest of 2013 Season

Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Brian Vickers will be missing the rest of the 2013 Sprint Cup racing season due to "health issues."

After an exam, Vickers' doctor put him back on blood thinner meds after a clot was discovered in the calf region of one leg.

It's expected that he'll be back in race shape long before the 2014 race season gets underway.

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That's a shame, considering I think this was a great match up for both the team and Vickers.  (Barring the obvious scandals, the team can still perform)

But this casts a shadow over Vicker's as a driver, doesn't it?  I don't mean his talent, but what of his health?

If you get sponsors based on a driver, or the driver brings sponsors, will sponsors still be willing to back a driver whose underlying health condition can wave a red flag at any time?

For some sponsors, I imagine that makes him more of a gamble than normal when sponsoring a driver or his team.

And MWR is already having sponsor issues from their stunts they pulled at Richmond.

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Regardless, I like Brian Vickers abilities on the track and I hope this little set back gets resolved sooner than later and he gets back in good standing with his blood!

In the meantime, Michael Waltrip will be helming the No. 55 car at Talladega this upcoming weekend and a replacement driver for the remainder of the season will be announced.

[MWR press release]

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