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Yates Racing's Travis Kvapil has no guarantees he'll be racing at end of the month
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Yates Racing's Travis Kvapil starts 22nd in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Rusty Jarrett
Getty Images
HAMPTON, Ga. – Travis Kvapil still needs sponsorship to keep racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series beyond the upcoming race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Yates Racing co-owner Max Jones said Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kvapil, who finished 23rd in the points in 2008, was left without a full-time ride when Hall of Fame Racing brought Bobby Labonte and sponsor Ask.com to Yates and Paul Menard brought his family sponsorship (Menards) to the team. Points swaps among the group left Kvapil without a locked-in position in races this season.
Yates Racing had pledged to run at least five races with Kvapil and then reevaluate.
“Right now it’s still five,” Jones said. “We’re still talking to people. Hopefully it can be more, but we don’t have any firm commitments for more than five right now.”
Kvapil finished 42nd after an accident at Daytona and was 18th in California but failed to qualify for the race last week at Las Vegas by 0.008 seconds. He will start 22nd today.
“Last week, I don’t want to say it took us by surprise, but we felt confident that we had plenty of speed,” Kvapil said. “We approached this week a little bit different. We worried about Sunday [after qualifying].”
The team has had Golden Corral as a sponsor the last two races.
“They’re very interested and they’re looking at it,” Jones said. “If we can go out here and run really well today, that would surely help. … We threw that [team] together in the last minute, and I think they’ve run really well.”
Kvapil’s team is 38th in owners points, 29 points out of the top 35. Obviously getting in the top 35 in owners points would help because Kvapil would not have to worry about missing the race.
“We’ve still got a chance to get in the top 35 and hopefully get us some optimism for the rest of the season,” Kvapil said.
Would a top-35 position help in sponsorship?
“Yes, but I need money to run that,” Jones said. “And so we’re doing everything we can. We want to run it for the whole year.”
One thing that gives Kvapil optimism that he might race beyond Martinsville is that the team has plans to test the new Martinsville-style track next to Rockingham Speedway.
“I know we’re going to test ‘Little Rock,’ and the only reason to test Little Rock is to go to Martinsville,” Kvapil said. “We haven’t made any announcements what our plans are, but Golden Corral came aboard for here [at Atlanta] and they’re an associate for more races, so it’s important to run good for them. If there is going to be any future with them, we’ve got to run good and this is a start.”
Jones can sell Kvapil’s success from last year as well as the team’s strength in having Bobby Labonte 10th in points entering Atlanta. He said Menard has run well, though he is 39th in points.
“He’s run in the top 15 in every race and was going to have a top-10 last weekend and got wrecked,” Jones said. “Paul has done an outstanding job of driving and [new crew chief] Larry Carter has done a great job. That team is really strong. I feel good about them, we just need a little bit of luck.”
Mentioned Drivers: Travis Kvapil
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6248 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -184 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -192 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -239 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -279 |
| 6 | Kurt Busch | -312 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -340 |
| 8 | Ryan Newman | -402 |
| 9 | Kasey Kahne | -414 |
| 10 | Carl Edwards | -437 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | -448 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -556 |
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Comments
5 responses to "Yates Racing's Travis Kvapil has no guarantees he'll be racing at end of the month". Post a Comment.
MS said:
Mar 8, 2009 at 8:53 PMGosh, I hope that Travis will be continuing on! He and David Gilliland sure seem to have gotten the short end of the stick with this whole sponsor thing. At least David is seeing some modest success in a start up team. I am hoping, for Travis's sake, that something can be worked out to get him a sponsor! Sadly, the finish at Atlanta won't help that search!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner Boehmert said:
Mar 9, 2009 at 4:24 PMthere's more talent here than with Menard...but then it's about money...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJim Bayliss said:
Mar 9, 2009 at 5:13 PMYes it is ALWAYS about money. Too bad, but that is the way it is. Hopefully they can keep things going like last year.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportCalorchard L said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 2:23 PMFrom Thomas Bowles
Report as AbuseThe worst-performing car that’s competed in all four races this season is the No. 98 Yates Racing Ford driven by Paul Menard? Menard bumped Travis Kvapil to third on the totem pole after infusing the organization with much-needed sponsorship money from his father’s company, Menards. But the expected improvement from the third-year driver after two tough years at DEI hasn’t materialized. Since he started off 2009 with wrecks in both Bud Shootout practice and the exhibition race itself, his season has been filled with a series of poor on-track decisions combined with devastating mechanical failures. With no finish better than 28th, Menard finds himself 38th in driver points, just 55 in front of Kvapil – who’s only run in three of the four Sprint Cup Series events to date with a newly-formed No. 28.
Paul Menard brought much needed sponsorship to Yates Racing, but not the performance boost the organization also needs.
Sadly, the whole scenario reconfirms the old adage, “Money doesn’t buy happiness.”
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJ L said:
Mar 14, 2009 at 2:53 PMFirst David and now Travis. How about those guys at Yates. "Thanks for the points guys -- now take a hike." Yates will lose in the end -- they've made a science out of it!
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