Red Bull happy with Fontana top ten

Vickers had qualified for the race on Friday, emerging as the fastest driver who needed to get his place on the grid based on speed. He lined-up 15th, second fastest among the Toyota drivers.

In the race he ran in the top-ten for most of the distance and was the top Toyota finisher.

"We finished in the top 10, which is great, but the racer in me thinks we finished nine spots worse than we wanted to," Vickers said.

"Really though, we just had a great race. Our goals were to come here and make the race, then finish every lap - we did all of those things and on top of that, we earned a really good finish.

"We're a first-year team, with a new engine manufacturer, and we pulled off a top 10. I think that says a lot about the potential of this whole group - but all of the pressure isn't gone until the first five races are over and we're still in the top 35 in points."

After Sunday´s result, the No. 83 car is 34th in the owner points standings that guarantee a place on the grid for the coming event.

However, the team has to maintain this status after the first five races of the season to take that benefit, as for now they will still need to get in the next three races based on their speed in qualifying.

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"I think we're perfectly capable of getting top 10s once we make races, but we still have to keep our main focus on making races," said Doug Richert, crew chief of the No. 83 car. "We have to get in the race, run as many laps as we can, and get consistent finishes."

The team has yet to put both of its cars on the grid for a race, as No. 84 car driver A.J. Allmendinger did not make the field again at Fontana. The former Champ Car star is still struggling in his switch to stock-cars.