Brian Vickers back in the Sprint Cup Series at Las Vegas

Brian Vickers will make his 2015 Sprint Cup debut at Las Vegas on Sunday.

Vickers missed the first two races of the season after offseason heart surgery to address a complication from a patch that was inserted in his heart in 2010. And he said Friday that doctors originally weren't committal about his ability to return to driving in 2015.

"Going into the surgery, it was certainly a question I asked several times throughout the process, right?" Vickers said. "'Am I going to be able to race again,' and early on it was like – I think they were trying to set expectations and they were like, 'It's not looking good.' They didn't want to say no, but they were a far cry from yes"

"They needed to really kind of get in there and get into my heart basically – which kind of sounds weird to say – and kind of figure out what's going on before they could really give me an answer, but they were kind of setting the bar pretty low. I kind of dealt with that and then as they learned more, as they came out they were like, 'Okay, we definitely know what happened and why and we fixed it and we're not worried about it moving forward, so we think you're good to go, but let's do a checkup in a month and we'll see,' and, you know, kind of see how it goes. But of course I was asking them, 'Can I go racing?'"

However, as he continued, Vickers said he had learned over the recent years that racing didn't define him. He missed time in 2010 with blood clots and after Red Bull Racing shut down following the 2011 season, he was without a ride. He drove part-time for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2012 and 2013, winning at New Hampshire in his second part-time season, and it led to a full-time deal in 2014 with the team.

"It's something I love. It's something over the last 10 years and my life and particularly the last five years dealing with everything, I've learned that my love for racing has only increased – my love for what I do and how much I appreciate it – but I've also learned that it's not who I am," Vickers said. "It's something I do and it's part of who I am. It's a very special part of who I am and it's something that means the world to me, but it's not who I am. If I can't race, that's okay – life is going to go on. I think from that perspective, yes, I asked the doctors, 'Can I go race and I want to go race,' but if they say no, I'm not going to fight them."

Last week, Brett Moffitt drove the No. 55 to an eighth-place finish. He's in the No. 34 for Front Row Motorsports for the next three weeks while Vickers is back and has been praised for his one-race performance while subbing for Vickers.

"I'd love to see him get more experience and seat time," Vickers said of Moffitt. "I think he's been a valuable asset to MWR. I think he could be unquestionably a contender in any series, but if he could get a ride in the XFINITY Series, Truck Series and get some experience and then get in the Cup – I mean listen, he's done well in the Cup Series, but I think that thinking back to my own personal experiences, you just need seat time, right? That's what he needs and I'd love to see him get that shot and maybe it's in a Cup car. He's got an opportunity the next few weeks in a Cup car and I think he'll do well."

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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