Travis Kvapil describes racing at a superspeedway like a chess game – a lot of strategy and little handling – but it’s a game that Front Row Motorsports plays well. With solid performances from Kvapil and his teammate David Gilliland throughout the year at restrictor-plate races, the No. 38 team is looking to surpass TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 car for 35th place in owners’ points this weekend, guaranteeing a starting spot in the races ahead. Heading to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway for Sunday’s Good Sam Club 500, Kvapil’s team is just 16 points outside the key cut-off point in the standings.
Kvapil has proven that he is not just another pawn at the two-and-a-half-mile track. In 2008, he earned his career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish of sixth place in the Aaron’s 499. Just a few months later, he won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole at the tri-oval.
Teams could see changes with the two-car tango for the upcoming restrictor plate race. NASCAR announced last month that new rules will be implemented for Sunday’s race, increasing the restrictor plate size and recalibrating the relief valve on the car’s cooling system. While the team thinks the changes will reduce the amount of time they can push another car, they do not think it will have too much of an impact on the race.
Comments from Long John Silver’s team driver Travis Kvapil heading into Talladega:
“We’ve had great speedway cars at Talladega and Daytona. Our first Talladega race we actually had to make some adjustments behind the wall after the green flag dropped. That was due to making sure we got the car qualified on speed, which in hindsight we probably didn’t have to do. We had plenty of speed in the car but we didn’t want to go to the house. All of that is behind us, but our Daytona 500 car was good and our July Daytona car was good. Obviously, our Talladega car was great; we were able to lead the pack even though we were a few laps down.
“I love speedway racing. It’s a lot of strategy and making the right moves at the right time. There’s not a lot of handling involved. It’s kind of a chess game. I feel like we’ve got good cars for the superspeedway races and we’ve got great Ford horsepower. We just need 500 miles of staying out front and keeping the car out of trouble and we can have a great finish that day.
“I don’t think the changes that NASCAR implemented are really going to hold anyone back. These teams are really smart and we always seem to kind of work our way around the rules, not necessarily cheating or anything, but you find other ways to get the end result. We probably won’t be able to draft completely tucked up in line as long as we could for the earlier superspeedway races, but it’s still going to be the same style of racing. That’s where these cars have the most speed, so that is what we’re going to do. We just have to really work on our cooling package and have a good strategy to make the right moves. I think the bigger restrictor plate will obviously have more speed but it’s still going to be the two-car draft that we’ve seen earlier this year.”
FRM PR
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