Travis Kvapil

Kvapil after winning the pole at Talladega in 2008.

**Travis Wade Kvapil** is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series, driving the no.33 Chevorlet for Circle Sport part-time in 2015

Kvapil is also the 2003 Sierra Mist Truck Series Champion.

## Career

### 2004: First Starts

During the 2004 NASCAR season, Kvapil signed for a driver development program with Roger Penske, in hopes of moving up to the Pepsi Cup Series. It was believed by many that Penske was planning to bring Kvapil to the Cup Series for 2005; Penske and Kvapil did not comment the truth or falseness of the rumors. However, at the end of the 2004 season, Kvapil made his first Pepsi Cup Series start at Martinsville Speedway. Kvapil drove the No. 06 Mobil 1-sponsored Dodge, the fourth car on the track from Penske Racing. He made three additional starts in the No. 06 with his best finish being 21st in his debut at Martinsville.

### 2005: Rookie Year

In 2005, Kvapil took over the Penske-Jasper Racing's No. 77 Dodge full-time, replacing Brendan Gaughan.

Kvapil opened the 2005 season promising with a 19th place finish in the 2005 Daytona 500. Kvapil scored his first ever top-10 at Bristol Motor Speedway when he finished seventh during the Food City 500, thee races later. However following the top ten, Kvapil struggled as he could only gain six top twenties, and suffered six DNF's, with four due to crashes, and two due to engine failures. He picked up another Top 10 at Phoenix International Raceway during the Checker Auto Parts 500 in the second to last race of the year. Those two top-10 finishes pushed Kvapil to finish 33rd in the point standings during his first season in the series.

When the season ended, the No. 77 team temporarily disbanded when Kodak pulled out of the sponsorship deal, with Kvapil finding himself out of a ride.

### 2006: PPI Motorsports

After his departure from Penske, Kvapil signed with PPI Motorsports for the 2006 season. He drove the No. 32 Tide-sponsored Chevrolet for the 2006 season.

Kvapil began 2006, 27th in the Daytona 500. However Kvapil didn't run well with only five top twenties with a best finish of 19th at Talladega in the spring, Pocono in the summer, and Kansas. Kvapil ultimately finished 36th in points. PPI eventually shut down after 2006 due to the inability to find a sponsor to replace Tide after they departed from the team to Petty Enterprises. After the fact, Kvapil was once again knocked out of a ride, however this was also because his PPI contract only lasted one year.

Kvapil was rumored to drive the no.74 Chevrolet for Bobby Spencer Racing in 2007, though Kvapil would later deny it.

### 2008-2009: Robert Yates Racing

Kvapil drove the famous No. 28 Yates Ford Fusion in 2008. Prior to the start of the season, Kvapil and teammate David Gilliland did not have a full-time sponsorship on their Yates Racing Fords. While Gilliland's team found full-time sponsorship, Kvapil's team had to piece together sponsorship throughout the season. K&N Filters sponsored Kvapil's team for the Daytona 500. Two weeks later, Kvapil scored an eighth-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the UAW-Dodge 400. The finish at LVMS, which was in an unsponsored car, gave Kvapil his third Top 10 of his career. After the race, it was announced that Zaxby's would serve as a sponsorship for the No. 28 team in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a race in which he finished 29th. With a one-race sponsorship deal with Northern Tool and Equipment, Kvapil finished sixth in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega. This gave him his career-best finish in the Sprint Cup Series. Kvapil picked up another Top 10 finish in the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington. Despite the lack of sponsorship for the year, Kvapil collected another four Top 10 finishes, finishing 23rd in the points standings. He also won the pole at the fall Talladega race, which turned out to be the last pole award for Yates Racing.

Kvapil retuned the Yates in 2009. However with only four top tens in the season, Kvapil found himself out of the ride after the season.

### 2010-2011: Front Row Motorsports

In 2010, Kvapil joined the Long John Silver's-sponsored Ford for Front Row Motorsports. He drove all three cars throughout the year, in either the No. 34, No. 37, or No. 38, depending on each number's position in points (with the goal being to get all three cars in the Top 35 for 2011).

Kvapil's first with the team was the 2009 Daytona 500 in the no.37. Kvapil finished 29th in the 500. Kvapil then took over the no.34 for the following eleven races, scoring a top twenty at the 2010 Aaron's 499 at Talladega by finishing 18th. Kvapil then raced the following three races in the no.30 before driving the no.37 a second time at Sonoma. However Kvapil did not compete in the following race at New Hampshire. Kvapil then returned to the no.38 at Daytona in July, driving the next race after that before bouncing around the no.38 and no.37 in the next four races at Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen, and Michigan.

### 2012-2013: BK Racing

Leaving FRM after the end of the 2011 season, Kvapil was signed by BK Racing to compete in 2012.

He drove the No. 93 Toyota starting with the second race of the year at Phoenix, after [[David Reutimann]] drove the Daytona 500. Kvapil finished 19th. At Darlington, where David Reutimann drove the No. 93 once again, Kvapil drove the No. 73 for BK Racing, though he drove the No. 93 for the remainder of the season. Kvapil ended the 2012 season 27th in points, his second best finish in the points since his debut.

However, in 2013, both Kvapil and BK Racing struggled. Kvapil dropped to 31st in points, recording five Top 20 finishes but nine DNFs (including five blown engines). The team released Kvapil shortly before the start of the 2014 season.

### 2014-2015: Final starts

During Speedweeks 2014, Kvapil announced that he had signed to drive in the Sprint Cup Series for Go FAS Racing on a limited basis.