Travis Kvapil No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra Phoenix International Raceway – Lucas Oil 150 February 25, 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-106 in Friday’s 150-mile NCWTS race at Phoenix International Raceway. The chassis was last utilized by the No. 5 team at Phoenix International Raceway in Nov. 2010, where the team started eighth and went on to score a sixth-place finish.
* Racing for a Championship…In 2011, NASCAR drivers are only eligible to race for one championship in the sport’s top three divisions. Despite being an experienced NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Travis Kvapil opted to race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. The Janesville, Wis. native won the series’ title in 2003, and hopes to record his second championship in the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra in 2011. Kvapil will also compete in nearly the entire Sprint Cup Series schedule, missing only a few events that conflict with his NCWTS schedule.
* Daytona Flashback… Travis Kvapil made his debut with Randy Moss Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway last weekend. After posting the second-fastest speed in final practice, Kvapil raced inside the top-10 for most of the night and was running in the sixth position on lap 74 when the International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra cut the left rear tire going into turn 1. Kvapil was sent into the outside retaining wall and eventually to the garage after sustaining race-ending damage. The No. 5 team was credited with a 29th-place finish.
* Follow Travis…Fans are invited to follow Travis Kvapil, driver of the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra, on twitter @TravisKvapil and on Facebook (facebook.com/TravisKvapil). Fans can also check out http://www.traviskvapil.com for news, updates, and photos throughout the week.
* Watch and Listen…The Lucas Oil 150 from Phoenix International Raceway will be broadcast live on SPEED, MRN Radio and Sirius-XM NASCAR Radio, channel 128, beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 25. Fans can also watch practice live on SPEED at 11:00 a.m. EST on Friday, followed by qualifying at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Travis Kvapil on driving at Phoenix International Raceway “I’m really looking forward to running with Randy Moss Motorsports and the International Truck/Monaco RVs team this weekend at Phoenix [International Raceway]. We had a great truck in Daytona and likely would’ve come home with a top-five finish if we didn’t cut that tire. We’re taking another strong truck to race at Phoenix [International Raceway]; it’s a truck that the guys put a lot of time and hard work into preparing, and one that has run very well there in the past. I’m excited to see how everything comes together.”
Crew Chief Rick Viers on racing at Phoenix International Raceway “The race at Phoenix [International Raceway] is always an exciting race and a great show for the fans. The track itself is like a big short track—it has a mix of characteristics that you’d see at both a short-track and an intermediate track, which makes it like no other track on the circuit. In order to run well there, you have to have every piece of the puzzle—brakes, downforce, and handling—to be successful. The group with the right package is likely the team that you will see in victory lane at the end of the night on Friday.”
Travis Kvapil Driver Bio Birthdate: March 1, 1976 Hometown: Janesville, WI Residence: Mooresville, NC Status: Married to Jennifer Children: Kelsey, Carson, Caden With the 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship highlighting his resume, Travis Kvapil is sure to be an asset to the No. 5 International Truck/Monaco RVs Toyota Tundra team throughout the 2011 season at Randy Moss Motorsports. Over the last decade, the Janesville, Wis., native has established himself as a tough competitor in the top levels of motorsports and a mainstay in the NASCAR arena. In 2011, Kvapil will take over the wheel of the No. 5 machine to chase his second NCWTS title in his young career.
Growing up working on cars in his dad’s garage, racing was a natural progression for Wisconsin-native Travis Kvapil. Kvapil first got behind the wheel of a racecar at the age of 14, competing at Rockford Speedway and sharpening his skills on the Midwest short track circuits. By 18, Kvapil won the American Short Tracker division track championship, and then moved up the ranks to race Super Late Models at Madison International Speedway. “Wisconsin’s Fastest Half Mile” couldn’t slow down Kvapil, who earned Rookie of the Year honors in 1995 in his first season of competition. Kvapil returned to the track the following year, earning the championship and becoming the youngest Super Late Model track champion in Madison International Speedway’s history. In 2001, Kvapil made his debut in the NASCAR ranks, earning a ride in the No. 60 Addington Racing entry in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Kvapil posted his first top-10 when he finished runner-up in his just his second NCWTS start at Homestead-Miami Speedway that February. Kvapil would ultimately score 11 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes in 24 races that season, finishing fourth in the NCWTS driver standings as a rookie. Kvapil earned his first win in the series at Texas Motor Speedway and took home the NCWTS Rookie of the Year title. After signing with Xpress Motorsports, Kvapil drove the No. 16 truck in 2003. Kvapil added another win to his stats after taking the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway, and completed all but one lap that season, earning a 99.9% lap completion rate. With 13 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes in the first 24 starts of the season, a sixth-place finish at the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway would allow Kvapil to edge out Dennis Setzer by nine points to win the 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. In 2004, Kvapil brought his talents to Bang! Racing, driving the No. 24 truck for Alexander Meshkin. During that season, Kvapil gave Toyota its first win in one of NASCAR’s top-three series at Michigan International Speedway, and then earned his second win of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Kvapil earned his first career pole and totaled six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes, finishing in the top-10 in driver points for the fourth consecutive season. Additionally, near the end of the 2004 season, Roger Penske invited Kvapil to drive the No. 06 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry for Penske Racing for three races. Kvapil qualified fifth in his NSCS debut, finishing 21st. Roger Penske was so impressed by Kvapil’s performance in the three races he completed that he signed him to drive the No. 77 for the 2005 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Despite earning two top-10 finishes, the No. 77 team closed its doors at the end of the season. Kvapil got behind the wheel of the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet for PPI Motorsports in 2006. Kvapil received a huge opportunity when Jack Roush, owner of Roush Fenway Racing, offered him a seat in the No. 6 Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2007. Kvapil had a landmark season, collecting four wins, three poles, eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes, ending the season sixth in the driver standings. Since 2008, Kvapil has been a mainstay in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage while racing for Yates Racing and Front Row Motorsports. With a handful of top-ten finishes and a pole award from Talladega Superspeedway (Oct. 2008) in the Sprint Cup Series, Kvapil returns to Randy Moss Motorsports with the hope of winning his second NCWTS title.
