08-23-2007 | TruckSeries.com Report
Travis Kvapil had a strong run going at Bristol Motor Speedway and had a win in sight until the very end when it was taken away. Kvapil was in the top five in both practice sessions, qualified on the pole with a 15.840-second lap around the track, lead 91 laps of the 200-lap event and finished 11th due to a late race spin. Right from the start Kvapil let his team know that the No. 6 K&N Ford F-150 was on the free side. Despite being free all the way around the 0.533-mile track he was able to hold onto the lead until lap 26. The second caution of the day came out on lap 33. Kvapil told crew chief Mike Beam that the truck was very free and from the center off he was pretty much sideways. Beam made the call to pit under caution for a track bar adjustment, fuel, four tires and an air pressure adjustment. Everyone had a different idea for pit strategy, some took two tires only, some fuel only and the others did the same as the No. 6 and took four tires. The different pit strategies left the No. 6 sitting ninth for the green-flag restart on lap 45. Kvapil wasted no time heading back towards the front. By lap 63 he was in third, but the truck was still a little on the free side. The third caution came out on lap 69 while Kvapil was running third and trying to run smooth and hit his marks. The green came back out on lap 74 and six laps later Kvapil took over second and had his eyes on the leader. Kvapil got a friendly reminder from spotter Bobby Hudson to "save your stuff, hit your marks and he will come to you." The fourth caution came out on lap 103 and the leader decided to pit which left Kvapil with the lead for the restart on lap 108. From there on the second half of the race was caution filled and Kvapil managed to hang on to the lead. He dominated until lap 179 when the second-place truck of Kyle Busch got loose underneath Kvapil's No. 6 and got just close enough to send them both spinning. Kvapil was able to keep his wheels spinning and not flat spot his tires which left him on the track to try and regain some track position. The field restarted on lap 184 with Kvapil in the 12th position. He was able to pass one truck and earn an 11th-place finish after leading the most laps out of anyone in the field. "My truck was a little loose and I thought we could keep it on the outside and run pretty good up there," said Kvapil. "That was kind of the plan. I was willing to give up the bottom because my truck was just too loose. I needed to just let it roll around the outside. I'm pretty sure I gave him (Kyle Busch) enough room out there, but he just got up into me a little bit and that's all it took."