Brian Vickers has been cleared to return to NASCAR after missing the final five races of the 2013 season due to a reoccurrence of blood clots.
Vickers competed in 17 Sprint Cup races for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2013, winning at New Hampshire. He also competed full-time in the Nationwide Series last season for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Doctors do not anticipate Vickers getting another blood clot. He said the one from last year was the result of a boot he had worn.
“To get back down there is going to be special,’’ Vickers said during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Media Tour on Thursday. “I’m curious to see if it’s going to feel the same this year, that excitement, that energy and that love, as it did the first time I went to Daytona. I have a feeling it will. I think being gone for so long and going through so much since the last time I was there, it’s going to have a similar feel to me. That’s a great feeling.’’