Kvapil Races Hard In Food City 500

BRISTOL, Tenn. – If Sunday’s Food City 500 was the last race of Travis Kvapil’s season, he made darn sure he left everything he had out on the track at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“We weren’t laying over for anyone today,” Kvapil said. “We had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Next week is questionable, so we were going to race as hard as we could. We were going to race 100 percent every lap.”

The 32-year-old Kvapil, driving the No. 28 Ford Fusion for Yates Racing, started the season on a shoestring, but a solid 18th-place in the season’s second race at Fontana, Calif., prompted Golden Corral to sign on as chief sponsor for the next three races.

The last of those races was Sunday, and Kvapil and his team arrived at BMS hoping to run well enough to make an impression on potential sponsors. He walked away from his hauler feeling he’d done just that.

He started 17th, got as high as 12th and dropped as low as 25th before eventually settling for 18th.

“I’ve felt like we’ve had pretty fast race cars all year long, but we’ve had some bad luck where it hurt us getting some finishes,” the Janesville, Wis., native said. “We had a pretty decent day today. We ran in the top 15 most of the day and raced hard. It’s just unfortunate, because I feel like we have a top-15, top-20 car week in and week out, that we’re going to have to pack it up.”

Kvapil demonstrated his determination around lap 400, when he fought off leader Kyle Busch for several laps, refusing to go a lap down.

“I wasn’t going to let him get by,” Kvapil said of his battle with the eventual winner. “I was going to give him one lane and run as hard as we could. If we could stay on the lead lap right there, maybe we finish 4-5 spots higher. You hate to do that to the leader, but Kyle raced me really clean.”

Kvapil said he that his team is talking to several potential sponsors, but he admitted it is unlikely anything will be worked out in time for next week’s race at Martinsville, Va.

“As of right now, this is our last race, unless a sponsor falls out of the sky in the next 36 hours,” he said. “As far as I know, there is nothing right now. I feel like any deals are a few weeks away before they’re reality.

“I’m frustrated, because I feel like we have a top-15 car. The prospect of not being at Martinsville is really upsetting. I know we can outrun half these guys every week, but I am not the one writing the checks. Yates Racing did a great job of keeping us going every week last season, but I guess at some point you have to draw the line. This looks like this might be it.”

If Sunday indeed was his last race of the season, Kvapil said there is probably no place he’d rather run it than at Bristol. All he can do now is hope someone with deep pockets noticed.

“I was definitely trying to make an impression today,” he said. “I’ve been trying to do that all five races. The sense of urgency was definitely there today. We did not give an inch today.

“I think you can make an impression anywhere. You can definitely show what you’re made of here.”

jcnockaert@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2572