May 9, 2010
ON NASCAR: Kvapil's Tenacity Mirrors Darlington's Toughness
By Cathy Elliott
It seems oddly appropriate to be standing in a hauler with Travis Kvapil in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage at Darlington Raceway because in a way, both are testaments to the tenacity of “the little guy.”
Kvapil, driver of the No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford for Front Row Motorsports has, to paraphrase the old Joni Mitchell song, looked at racing “from both sides now.”
The Wisconsin native got off to a great early start after securing a deal in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2001, where he was named Rookie of the Year that same season. He won the Series title in 2003.
Darlington made an early career splash, too. The big track in the little town created a major sensation back in 1950. Just as great drivers assume the mantle of those who have gone before them and move the sport forward – from Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, for example – Darlington Raceway moved NASCAR off the beach and the dirt and onto the pavement for good. It was over 60 years ago, but she was definitely the Rookie of the Year.
Kvapil quickly moved up through the ranks of racing, competing in the Cup Series part-time in 2003 for Penske Racing and full-time in 2005 for PPI Motorsports before joining forces with Jack Roush to return to the Truck Series in 2007. He won four races that year, and in 2008 moved to Yates Racing, where he stayed for the entire season and the first five races of the following year, before the team was forced to shut down due to lack of funding.
When NASCAR was in the very early stages of its mainstream explosion a couple of decades ago, there was perhaps no better-known speedway in America than Darlington Raceway. RJR, sponsor of the Cup Series at the time, gave the track the designation of one of NASCAR’s “crown jewels” by naming it part of the Winston Million bonus promotion, along with Daytona, Talladega and Charlotte.
But Darlington eventually fell victim to NASCAR’s geographic expansion, losing one of its two Sprint Cup Series weekends entirely. And, in what was considered by many to be even worse, after more than five decades of racing on Labor Day weekend, it was announced that Darlington’s one Cup race would move to May, on Mother’s Day weekend.
Last year, John Andretti piloted the No. 34 for still-young Front Row Motorsports. During the summer, when Andretti headed out to compete in the Indianapolis 500, the team’s manager approached Kvapil about driving the car while he was gone.
“That didn’t work out, but we kind of stayed in touch throughout the summer and I felt like we were all heading in the direction of putting this team together for this year,” Kvapil says. “We did a few races together — at Charlotte, Homestead, Martinsville – and everyone got to know one another, and we put a deal together.
“The thing that I really liked was the direction of the team – Yates motors under the hood, plans to expand to more than one car, then Ford coming on board. There are some challenges and disadvantages, but there are a lot of things I really like. I’ve been around the sport for a long time, and I feel like I have a lot to bring to the table, and with this being a smaller team, I feel like my voice is heard.”
As for Darlington Raceway, she made her voice heard, as well. With a Saturday night event, tremendous fan support and the added benefit of being, well, Darlington, the track “Too Tough To Tame” proved she was exactly that. The Showtime Southern 500 weekend in May has quickly become one of the most popular and highly anticipated annual stops on the Sprint Cup Series circuit.
Over at Front Row Motorsports, the building process continues. It isn’t easy, but as we see so often in NASCAR, steady can win the race.
“I feel like nobody really expects much out of this team,” Kvapil says. “All the guys have been with bigger teams, teams with budgets and hundreds of people on staff. We’re very small. We don’t have all the resources of everyone else, and I feel like nobody really expects much out of us, but we’re working very hard and we feel like when we make it through and the economy turns around and sponsors want to start spending money in the sport, they will look at us.
“Then, we can really elevate this team.”
The story of that famous train that simply refused to quit has become a classic for a reason. It is a tale not of adversity, but of triumph. Because lest we forget, the Little Engine That Could … did.
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ON NASCAR: Kvapil's Tenacity Mirrors Darlington's Toughness
By Cathy Elliott
It seems oddly appropriate to be standing in a hauler with Travis Kvapil in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage at Darlington Raceway because in a way, both are testaments to the tenacity of “the little guy.”
Kvapil, driver of the No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford for Front Row Motorsports has, to paraphrase the old Joni Mitchell song, looked at racing “from both sides now.”
The Wisconsin native got off to a great early start after securing a deal in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2001, where he was named Rookie of the Year that same season. He won the Series title in 2003.
Darlington made an early career splash, too. The big track in the little town created a major sensation back in 1950. Just as great drivers assume the mantle of those who have gone before them and move the sport forward – from Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, for example – Darlington Raceway moved NASCAR off the beach and the dirt and onto the pavement for good. It was over 60 years ago, but she was definitely the Rookie of the Year.
Kvapil quickly moved up through the ranks of racing, competing in the Cup Series part-time in 2003 for Penske Racing and full-time in 2005 for PPI Motorsports before joining forces with Jack Roush to return to the Truck Series in 2007. He won four races that year, and in 2008 moved to Yates Racing, where he stayed for the entire season and the first five races of the following year, before the team was forced to shut down due to lack of funding.
When NASCAR was in the very early stages of its mainstream explosion a couple of decades ago, there was perhaps no better-known speedway in America than Darlington Raceway. RJR, sponsor of the Cup Series at the time, gave the track the designation of one of NASCAR’s “crown jewels” by naming it part of the Winston Million bonus promotion, along with Daytona, Talladega and Charlotte.
But Darlington eventually fell victim to NASCAR’s geographic expansion, losing one of its two Sprint Cup Series weekends entirely. And, in what was considered by many to be even worse, after more than five decades of racing on Labor Day weekend, it was announced that Darlington’s one Cup race would move to May, on Mother’s Day weekend.
Last year, John Andretti piloted the No. 34 for still-young Front Row Motorsports. During the summer, when Andretti headed out to compete in the Indianapolis 500, the team’s manager approached Kvapil about driving the car while he was gone.
“That didn’t work out, but we kind of stayed in touch throughout the summer and I felt like we were all heading in the direction of putting this team together for this year,” Kvapil says. “We did a few races together — at Charlotte, Homestead, Martinsville – and everyone got to know one another, and we put a deal together.
“The thing that I really liked was the direction of the team – Yates motors under the hood, plans to expand to more than one car, then Ford coming on board. There are some challenges and disadvantages, but there are a lot of things I really like. I’ve been around the sport for a long time, and I feel like I have a lot to bring to the table, and with this being a smaller team, I feel like my voice is heard.”
As for Darlington Raceway, she made her voice heard, as well. With a Saturday night event, tremendous fan support and the added benefit of being, well, Darlington, the track “Too Tough To Tame” proved she was exactly that. The Showtime Southern 500 weekend in May has quickly become one of the most popular and highly anticipated annual stops on the Sprint Cup Series circuit.
Over at Front Row Motorsports, the building process continues. It isn’t easy, but as we see so often in NASCAR, steady can win the race.
“I feel like nobody really expects much out of this team,” Kvapil says. “All the guys have been with bigger teams, teams with budgets and hundreds of people on staff. We’re very small. We don’t have all the resources of everyone else, and I feel like nobody really expects much out of us, but we’re working very hard and we feel like when we make it through and the economy turns around and sponsors want to start spending money in the sport, they will look at us.
“Then, we can really elevate this team.”
The story of that famous train that simply refused to quit has become a classic for a reason. It is a tale not of adversity, but of triumph. Because lest we forget, the Little Engine That Could … did.
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