Although Travis Kvapil is scheduled to run the full 2008 Sprint Cup Series for Yates Racing, he is also driving the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford F-150 for Roush Fenway Racing in 11 Craftsman Truck Series races this season.  In only three starts in the truck series so far, Kvapil has two top-10 finishes.  Next Friday he will compete in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

IN THREE STARTS AT LOWE’S IN THE TRUCKS YOU HAVE ONE TOP-FIVE AND TWO TOP-10 FINISHES.  WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO WIN THERE?  “To win at Lowe’s you’ve got to have a good handling package and good downforce in the corners, and with the new engine package these trucks have you really have to get down the straightaway good.  Fortunately we have great Roush/Yates horsepower.  It takes the whole package to win at Lowe’s and you can’t make any mistakes.  All these truck races are relatively short so you only get one, or two chances to make adjustments.  Starting up front will be important, but more than anything the handling and the horsepower will make the difference.

“We’re taking a new truck that we shook down at Darlington a few weeks ago.  We worked the bugs out of it and got comfortable with it, and it had really good speed so we’re excited about taking it to the track.  It had really good wind tunnel numbers and all the data we have on this truck shows it’s going to be strong.  I feel like we can go to Charlotte and win.”

ARE YOU HAPPY TO BE BACK IN THE NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES FOR 11 RACES?  “I enjoy running in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.  It’s the stepping stone that gave me this opportunity to go Sprint Cup racing.  To me the truck series is still kind of like home.  I have a lot of friends and people that I’ve worked with for a number of years so I enjoy going back racing there.  It’s good racing.  It’s ultra competitive, and a good mix of younger drivers and veteran drivers.  It seems like you never know who’s going to win those races so I’m thankful to have the opportunity.”

DOES THE EXTRA TRACK TIME IN THE TRUCK HELP YOU IN THE SPRINT CUP CAR AT COMPANION EVENTS?  “I think anytime you get laps on a track it’s going to help you.  There are not a lot of similarities in the set-ups or anything that we can really take from the truck over to the Sprint Cup car, but just learning the groove on the track and seeing how the tires wear and fall off helps.  If after 10-15 laps on the track I can move around on the track and find a different line that I learned in the truck race then that’s something I can apply to the Cup car on Sundays.”