Sprint Cup Winners to Race in Nationwide

By Carly Signor

Joe Gibbs Racing announced on Tuesday that Brian Vickers will be driving a full-time Nationwide schedule in 2013.  This comes after a year of him running a part-time Sprint Cup schedule with Michael Waltrip Racing.

A NASCAR rule change a few years ago stated that a driver can only earn points in one of the top three NASCAR series.

AP Photo/ Steve Helber

Vickers returns to the Nationwide series after claiming 2 Sprint Cup Series victories.  He is a past winner of not only Nationwide races, but the 2003 Nationwide Championship.

JGR also announced that Dollar General will be Vickers’ full-time primary sponsor, something rare in today’s NASCAR sponsorships.

“I'm very happy to stay in the Toyota family, and when you look at the Nationwide Series over the past several years, no team has dominated like Joe Gibbs Racing,” Vickers said.  “Hopefully, we'll be able to get Dollar General, Toyota and JGR a Nationwide Series championship next season."

Vickers isn’t the only Sprint Cup winner that has announced a move to Nationwide this year.  At the end of October, JR Motorsports introduced Regan Smith as the full-time driver of the No. 5 Nationwide series car.

"Regan has always impressed me," said Dale Earnhardt Jr. "He gets the most of his car, no matter what he's driving or who he's driving for.  He takes care of his cars and gets good finishes. With his experience and ability, we feel he can excel in our equipment. He has a super personality, and his ability to work with everyone here at JR Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports will be important in getting us back to the winner's circle." Smith, winner of the 2011 Southern 500, is also excited about the move.

"This is an extremely good opportunity for me," Smith said in a team statement. "Dale Jr. and I first started talking about this several years ago, but the timing never matched up to where we could make it happen. Now it's time. I'm happy to be a part of this organization. I don't want to just win races. I want to be the team that dominates races and contends for the championship."

Smith and Vickers join Elliot Sadler, a former Cup series winner and current Nationwide series driver, as drivers to move down to the Nationwide Series.