Travis Kvapil
No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra
Martinsville Speedway – Kroger 250
April 2, 2011
It seems as though the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team would not have any luck if it were not for the bad luck that has been following the team since the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway six weeks ago. This weekend the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series made their first stop of the season at Martinsville Speedway, the paperclip-shaped short-track in Southern Virginia, which has challenged drivers in NASCAR’s top divisions for the past six decades. Saturday’s 250-lap race was no exception for the Randy Moss Motorsports organization as they cut a tire and were forced to pit under green to spend most of the afternoon two laps behind the leader. However, the International Truck/Monaco RVs team proved that patience pays off as they fought through the challenges to come back from being two laps down and finished inside the top-20.
In a double-header weekend for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 35-year-old Travis Kvapil, driver of the No. 5 Toyota Tundra, found himself without much down-time during a jam-packed weekend at NASCAR’s oldest short-track. Kvapil worked closely with his crew chief Rick Viers during Friday’s two practice sessions to dial in their truck before qualifying on Saturday morning. After two-and-a-half hours of practice, Kvapil and Viers had finally dialed in the truck to Kvapil’s liking and adjusted it to find speed around the 0.576-mile track. By the time Kvapil went out for qualifying on Saturday morning, he picked up seven-hundreds-of-a-second to post a 20.256-second lap and start the race from the 13th position.
Throughout the early portion of the 250-lap race Kvapil reported a tight Toyota Tundra and asked the crew to help free up the truck during their first pit stop. As the race progressed, Kvapil noticed that the International Truck/Monaco RVs machine became looser on entry, but the tightness in the center of the corner never went away. The Janesville, Wis. native finally visited pit road during the lap 57 caution period when they made a variety of chassis adjustments and added spring rubbers to help their Toyota Tundra navigate the tight corners.
Kvapil started regaining track position at Martinsville Speedway, but on lap 68 he called into the crew to report a flat left front tire, forcing the driver to pull the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra down pit road under green flag conditions. The skilled crew quickly changed left-side tires and Kvapil returned to the track two laps behind the leader. Just moments later, the caution flag was displayed for a three-truck accident on the frontstretch.
Kvapil spent the next 150 laps methodically working through traffic while battling for the lucky dog award to regain lost track position. He worked closely with Viers and the crew describing the handling of the No. 5 machine to continually adjust and improve their truck. The crew continually discussed what their strategy would be when they returned to the lead lap, hoping to improve their truck and pick up as many positions as time would permit.
The caution flag was displayed for debris on lap 224 giving Kvapil his first free pass and allowing him to regain one of his two laps. The team patiently awaited their chance to return to the lead lap and hoped for another caution flag during the closing 26 laps. The team got their lucky break when the caution was displayed for the 13th and final time on lap 243, granting Kvapil a second free pass and returning him to the lead lap of competition.
With just four laps remaining at the Virginia track, Kvapil returned to the lead lap and started picking up positions. The 2003 NCWTS Champion moved from 24th to the 20th position before the checkered flag waved with 250 laps compete on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a rough day in Martinsville [Speedway] for our International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota,” commented Travis Kvapil following the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. “I felt like we had a pretty good truck. We started 13th and were a little too tight in the beginning so we slid back and lost some track position. We got pushed in the outside groove and it was really tight with all the rubber built up there, and we couldn’t make up any ground. We stayed there waiting to get to pit road and loosen our truck up. We cut a left front tire; we aren’t really sure what happened—we didn’t make any contact, so we must have run something over. That happened under green flag conditions and we lost two laps pitting under green, so that really put us behind for the rest of the day. We had the truck driving really great, but we were just two laps down. We ended up getting back on the lead lap, but we didn’t have much time to make up many positions after that. We had a little bit of bad luck, but I’m really happy that we had a fast Toyota today. We’re headed to Nashville [Superspeedway] next and it’s a track where I’ve won before, so I’m really excited for that and to hopefully put this bad luck behind us.”
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will travel to Music City for the 200-mile race at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday, April 22. The Bully Hill Vineyards 200 will be broadcast on SPEED Channel, Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio and MRN Radio beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST. SPEED Channel will also broadcast practice from the concrete oval at 12:30 p.m. EST, and qualifying at 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday afternoon. Fans can visit www.twitter.com/RMMRacing or www.facebook.com/RandyMossMotorsports for news and updates throughout the weekend.