Travis Kvapil Nashville Superspeedway Event Preview

Travis Kvapil

No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra

Nashville Superspeedway – Bully Hill Vineyards 200

April 22, 2011

No. 5 Randy Moss Motorsports International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra News and Notes

• This Week’s Tundra… The No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team and driver Travis Kvapil will race MDM-110 in Friday night’s 150-lap NCWTS race at Nashville Superspeedway.  MDM-110 is the newest chassis in the RMM stable and made its debut at Darlington last month with Tayler Malsam behind the wheel.
• Music City is a milestone start for Randy Moss Motorsports… The Bully Hill Vineyards 200 at Nashville Superspeedway will mark Randy Moss Motorsports’ 300^th consecutive NCWTS race.  The streak stems back to the 1999 season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway where Dollar owned the No. 46 Ford driven by Rob Morgan. 
• Crew Chief Swap… Dan Stillman will join the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team this weekend as crew chief for Travis Kvapil and the No. 5 team.  Stillman has been with Randy Moss Motorsports since last fall, and was most recently the crew chief on the No. 25 Toyota Tundra driven by Tayler Malsam. 
• Nashville Win…  In 2007 Travis Kvapil left Nashville Superspeedway with the coveted guitar trophy designed by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.  The Janesville, Wis. native started the 200-mile event in the 11^th position while driving the No. 6 truck for Roush Fenway Racing.  After leading 47 laps around the 1.333-mile concrete oval, Kvapil crossed the finish line first with more than a two-second lead over second-place Ron Hornaday, Jr. 
• Meet Travis... Fans at the track outside Nashville, Tenn., will have the opportunity to meet Travis Kvapil in the hours leading up to the NCWTS race on Friday, April 22.  The driver of the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra will join other competitors from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series to meet fans and sign autographs during a free autograph session.  The session will be held in the Expo area at Nashville Superspeedway outside Gate 3 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CST on Friday, April 22.
• Watch and Listen…The Bully Hill Vineyards 200 from Nashville Superspeedway will be broadcast live on SPEED, MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio, channel 128, at 7:30 p.m. EST on Friday, April 22.  The afternoon will also feature broadcasts of final practice at 12:30 p.m. EST and qualifying at 5:00 p.m. EST from Nashville Superspeedway.  Both broadcasts will be televised on SPEED Channel.    

Travis Kvapil on driving at Nashville Superspeedway

 “It means a lot to me to be able to race for Randy Moss Motorsports in their 300^th consecutive [NASCAR Camping World] Truck Series race this week at Nashville.  This team has been around for such a long time and has been competitive for so many years; it’s an honor to be driving the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra this season.  Plus, I’ve got a pretty good track record at Nashville, including a win back in 2007, so we’re heading into this weekend looking to jumpstart our season.  David [Dollar] and Randy [Moss] put in a lot of time to make this team one of the strongest in the [NASCAR Camping World] Truck Series garage, and I’d like to hand them one of the Gibson guitars in Victory Lane to congratulate them on this milestone.”

Crew Chief Dan Stillman on racing at Nashville Superspeedway

“I’m very excited to have the chance to be crew chief for Travis Kvapil and the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team.  Travis is an extremely talented driver, and I’m looking forward to having him behind the wheel of our Toyota Tundra as a past winner at Nashville [Superspeedway] as well as a former [NCWTS] Champion.  We’ve been spending a lot of time preparing our trucks and our pit crew has been practicing hard, so the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team is excited to get to Nashville [Superspeedway] and to bring home a solid finish.” 

Randy Moss Motorsports Co-Owner David Dollar on reaching 300 Consecutive Starts

“I can’t believe I’ve been around for 300 consecutive starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.  It takes a long time to get to 300 starts, and I feel very fortunate to be able to reach this milestone in my career as a team owner.  The great thing about NASCAR—and one of the things that I have enjoyed most about my involvement in this sport—is the people.  Over the last 15 years I’ve met so many great people through this sport—from the folks working at NASCAR, to other competitors, to great sponsors like International Trucks, Monaco RVs, and Toyota—I’ve been able to work with and become friends with a lot of good people and high-caliber professionals. I’m very proud of the partnership that was formed between Randy Moss and myself in 2008.  Randy is a fantastic person and it has been great working with him; we look forward to continuing our partnership and hope to compete in another 300 NCWTS races.” 

Travis Kvapil Martinsville Speedway Race Report

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 13^th 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 13^th 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 24^th to the 20^th 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 13^th 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.