Travis Kvapil (pronounced kwah-pil) (born March 1, 1976, in Janesville, Wisconsin) is an American race car driver. He is currently unemployed.
Early career
Kvapil began racing at Rockford Speedway in Rockford, Illinois, in 1992 and won the American Short Tracker division track championship in 1994.[1] He then moved up to super late models at Madison International Speedway and was the track rookie of the year in 1995. He became the track's youngest super late model track champion in 1996. He moved up to a Midwest regional touring series - the ARTGO series (now Midwest Challenge Series). He finished in the Top 10 in points from 1998 to 2000.
NASCAR career
Craftsman Truck Series
In 2001, Kvapil made his debut in the Craftsman Truck Series driving the #60 CAT Rental Stores Chevrolet owned by Addington Racing. He had one win and 18 Top 10 finishes in 24 starts to finish fourth in the season standings. He was awarded the Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year.
In 2002, he had one win and 14 Top 10 finishes to finish ninth in the final points standings.
In 2003, he switched to the #16 IWX MotorFreight Chevrolet for Steve Coulter and XPress Motorsports. He had an excellent year, winning his first Craftsman Truck Series Championship, one win and 22 top ten finishes in 25 starts. Kvapil also completed every lap but one throughout the season, recording a 99.9% lap completion rate that still stands as a Craftsman Truck Series record.
In 2004, he again changed teams, this time for Alexander Meshkin in the #24 Line-X-Benders Toyota for Bang! Racing. In 2004 Kvapil won the Line-X 200 at Michigan International Raceway to give Toyota their first win in the top tiers of NASCAR. He also made his first NEXTEL Cup start, driving three races in the #06 Mobil One Dodge for Penske Racing South.
For the 2007 season, Kvapil returned to the Truck Series to drive the #6 truck for Roush Fenway Racing, winning four races and recording 12 Top 10 finishes, and finishing sixth in the final points standings. He returned to Roush Fenway in 2008 after Joey Clanton was released from the #09 ride, in addition to driving for Yates in Cup.
Sprint/NEXTEL Cup
In 2005, he signed with Penske Racing to drive the #77 Kodak Dodge. He scored two top-10 finishes and finished 33rd in points. At the end of the season, Penske folded the team after Kodak pulled its sponsorship.
In 2006, he drove the #32 PPI Motorsports Tide Chevrolet. Kvapil's best finish came at Pocono and Talladega, both with 19th-place finishes. After spending one season in the Craftsman Truck Series, Kvapil returned full time to the Cup series in 2008 as the driver of the #28 Yates Racing Ford. He started the year without full sponsorship. For the Daytona 500, K&N Filters sponsored the team. Two weeks later at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he scored an 8th place finish, the third of his career. Zaxby's, Kvapil's sponsor in the Truck Series, sponsored the #28 team for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the fourth race of the season.
References
External links
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