Kvapil Knocked Out of Contention AgainTravis Kvapil, No. 6 K&N Filters Ford F-150
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PHOENIX, AZ. (November 9, 2007) – Travis Kvapil and the No. 6 K&N team headed west to Phoenix, Arizona with high hopes and plenty of confidence but couldn’t seem to shake the bad luck. A record 13 cautions waved over the 150-lap race including one for an incident on lap 55 that severely damaged the No. 6 K&N Ford and forced Kvapil to settle for a 23rd place finish.
The weekend started out status quo for the No. 6 team as the K&N Ford surfaced to the top of the speed charts during both practice sessions on Thursday. During Friday’s qualifying session Kvapil ran a fast lap time of 27.444 seconds placing him third, on the inside of the second row for the start of Friday night’s race. Mike Skinner claimed the pole with a lap time of 27.416 seconds and it was off to the races for the 36-truck field.
The No. 5 brought the field to the green under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway and it wasn’t long before the first caution flew. The No. 10 spun the No. 16 on lap three bringing out the first of 13 cautions for a total of 46 laps. Kvapil reported that the truck needed more front tire grip but also said it they were really close on the set up and felt they just needed some laps under their belt. Lap 35 saw caution number four and the first round of pit stops. Kvapil brought the No. 6 K&N Ford to a stop in pit stall number 27 to take on four tires, re-fuel and make a slight track bar and air pressure adjustment. The team returned Kvapil to the track in fourth for the re-start on lap 40 where Kvapil battled the No. 33 for position.
As the battle raged on, the No. 75 spun Kvapil’s teammate Erik Darnell on lap 43 ultimately ending Darnell’s night early. Kvapil sat fourth under a brief red flag until the field resumed green flag conditions on lap 50. Kvapil raced three-wide for position and looked to be a top contender when on lap 55 he was passing the No. 47 when the No. 47 turned into him sending Kvapil into the wall and wrecking not only the No. 6 truck, but the team’s night. Kvapil made several trips down pit road while the K&N team worked diligently to fix the toe and other various problems on the Ford. During the series of pit stops Kvapil went one lap down and re-started the race in 33rd on lap 61.
While Kvapil reported that the No. 6 truck was not very good the seventh caution flew and Kvapil was the recipient of the “lucky dog” award. Back on the lead lap Kvapil dodged more cautions and a late race accident that sent Andy Lally hard into the interior wall on the front stretch. The red flag was displayed over the track for over 15 minutes while crews made repairs to the wall and when it was all said and done, Kvapil crossed the line in 23rd while Kyle Busch went on to win.
“It’s really unfortunate,” Kvapil said following the race. “We had a great truck tonight. Mike Beam (crew chief) and the entire K&N team has been working really hard to give me fast trucks and tonight we had a fast truck. It was a brand new truck and we had a lot of confidence heading into the race. I don’t know what happened there, I thought I had cleared the No. 47 but he obviously didn’t know I was there. It’s just frustrating that we have such great stuff and we keep having bad luck but we’ll be back next week at Miami.”
Kvapil maintains third position in the point standings while Skinner leads. Kvapil’s teammates finished 15th (T.J. Bell) and 35th (Erik Darnell). The Craftsman Truck Series returns to action next week for the final race of the 2007 season at Miami-Homestead with all the action carried live on Speed.
About K&N Engineering, Inc.
K&N Engineering, Inc., with headquarters in Riverside, California, has been the world's leader in performance filter technology since 1969, serving the needs of the automotive, motorcycle, marine, industrial and military markets. K&N is heavily involved in nearly every form of motorsports from off-road and powersports to drag racing, stock cars and road racing. For more information about K&N Filters, please contact K&N Engineering, Inc., P.O. Box 1329, Riverside, CA 92502-1329, (800) 213-4182 for a dealer near you, (800) 858-3333 for technical service/questions, (951) 826-4001 Fax, e-mail
tech@knfilters.com, or visit
www.knfilters.com.
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating 14 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O’Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell; and one in the ARCA/REMAX Series with Colin Braun and Darnell. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto
www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.