Brian Vickers returns to Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 55 Toyota at Martinsville Speedway buoyed by his top-five finish at Bristol Motor Speedway in the combination’s debut.

Five races into the 2012 season, MWR’s plan is working. The combination of Vickers and Mark Martin has put the team into the top 10 in NASCAR Sprint Cup owner championship points along with the No. 56 of Martin Truex Jr. and No. 15 of Clint Bowyer.

Vickers has work to do at Martinsville, where a sixth-place finish in 2010 is his best of two top-10 finishes in 13 starts. He has yet to lead a lap around the 0.526-mile “paperclip” layout and has finished on the lead lap six times.

Bowyer led 91 laps of last year’s Martinsville spring race and finished ninth. In the fall race, well, his luck wasn’t as pronounced. Vickers’ No. 83 Toyota was listed in five of the 18 caution periods.