Vickers tells Hendrick he wants to look for another ride - NASCAR - Yahoo! Sports: "So it's unclear why Vickers now wants to leave one of NASCAR's super-teams."

Actually, the answer is very clear. He's an idiot.

Think I'm being too hard on the kid? Peruse some of the "highlights" of his career:

• Talledega, 2004. His crash at the end of this race pretty much caused the introduction of Green-White-Checker finishes to Cup racing. Everyone watching the race knew Junior was poised for victory, but Vickers' crash allowed his teammate Jeff Gordon to win the race under yellow, leading to Gordon's infamous burnout through a sea of Junior memorabilia thrown onto the track by distraught fans
• At Watkins Glen later that year, Dale Jarrett still had a reasonable chance of making the first Championship Cup Chase. Being spun-out early in the race by Vickers pretty much destroyed his chances.
• Ah, the seminal Brian Vickers' moment, at least in my opinion. At Vegas in 2005 , he and Junior had a crash early in the race. Though the TV commentator's placed the blame solely on Junior, later analysis showed that, really, both drivers were equally at fault. How did both drivers handle this incident? Contrast Earnhart's contrite, calm and professional response with Vickers' finger-pointing and whining. Seriously, I've never seen anyone who wasn't a pre-teen girl pout more. Yeah, it's frustrating being out of any race so early, but who should be more frustrated: the guy who's sponsor is Budweiser, or the guy representing a second-rate online mortgage company?
• Finally, Darlington last month. Ever wondered what a "Dear-in-the-Headlights" looks like? I'll refer you to Vickers' post-crash TV interview, where he was completely befuddled about spinning out in front of Bobby Labonte. Though television clearly showed that Labonte was close but didn't tap him, the 43 must have touched him, right? After all, what else could have caused him to spin out like that? Hmmm. Let me think about that for a minute. Wait, I've got it - you're a lousy driver, Brian!

So, Vickers thinks he can be successful someplace else. Is he high? Seriously, I could win a couple of races a year if I had the 25 team behind me. Any relative success he's had at the Cup level have been because of the support of his team, not in spite of it.

Yeah, the former Busch series champion had potential, but he's never lived up to it. While contemporaries such as Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch soared past him, Vickers has wallowed at the bottom of the barrel his entire Cup career.

I've always wondered why a class organization like Hendrick would keep a talentless hack like him around for so long. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he was signed by the late Ricky Hendrick. In any event, Vickers dumping Hendrick, after the incredible patience and support they've given him (he was signed through 2009, for heaven's sake!), may very well go down as the stupidest move in the history of NASCAR.