NASCAR's Brian Vickers at Spa and Le Mans

We expected Michael Waltrip to be at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, but there will be another NASCAR driver in the Belgian Ardennes: Brian Vickers. The American will join Robert Kauffman, driver and team owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, and Rui Aguas in the Ferrari 458 Italia entered by AF Corse in LMGTE Am.

Brian Vickers will not be away from NASCAR for long. He will contest eight NASCAR Sprint Cup races in 2012 with the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine. The driver 29 year old native of North Carolina, is pleased to be at Spa-Francorchamps: “Running at Spa is pretty cool. It’s such a historic place, and the high speed Eau Rouge corner sure gets your attention. It will be a challenge in the race. Le Mans will be one of the highlights of my career. This is an opportunity I never thought I would have. I can’t wait to get there and soak up the atmosphere. I’ve raced a lot of places but Le Mans will be special.”

With two wins in the bank in the premier class of NASCAR, Brian Vickers will strive to meet the objectives set by Rob Kauffman: "We have more experience and data by racing at Sebring, the Rolex 24 in Daytona, Petit Le Mans and Le Mans itself. We want to run the full 24 hours and continue on our learning curve. We’re still fairly new and just want to keep developing our program. Amato (Ferrari) and the guys at AF Corse are fantastic to work with. ”

Brian Vickers, who began karting at the age of 8, will be at Spa-Francorchamps on Thursday for the first free practice session. Who will be the next NASCAR driver to try endurance racing?

Cécile Bonardel (quotes from team press release)