24-year-old Brian Ickler is following in the footsteps of one of NASCAR’s winningest drivers, 4-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

Ickler was born and raised in Southern California, as was Johnson, and cut his racing teeth in the SCORE Offroad Racing Series where he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2003 at the age of 17. Johnson was the SCORE Rookie of the Year in 1995.

In 2005, Ickler made the transition to stock cars when he began running in the Super Late Model Division at Irwindale Speedway. In his 15 starts that year, he earned one victory, one pole, six top-5 finishes and nine top-10’s.

The quick success behind the wheel of his late model pushed Ickler to further pursue a career in stock car racing.

For the next two years, he ran in the NASCAR Grand National West Division (now Camping World West) for Bill McAnally Racing. Again proving to be successful in the driver’s seat, Ickler was awarded the NASCAR Grand National West Driver Achievement Award both years.

At the end of the 2007 season, the California native moved to Race Country USA, Mooresville, NC.

Ickler ran in the NASCAR Camping World East Series in 2008 and earned three wins, one each at Iowa, South Boston and Mansfield, and shattered two track records as well as making his first start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. 

This past season was one of the busiest for the young driver who strapped in for five ARCA RE/MAX races, 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events for Billy Ballew Motorsports and he made two starts in the Nationwide Series for Braun Racing.

While plans for the 2010 season remain up in the air, although rumors have surfaced that he will run for the newly formed Kyle Busch Motorsports, Ickler’s solid performances throughout his career have certainly attracted attention and wherever he ends up he will definitely not disappoint.

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