I want to start off by saying thanks to TruckSeries.com for giving me this opportunity to share my experiences throughout the season with my fans. I’m really looking forward to giving you an insider’s view of my new team, Bang Racing, my new manufacturer, Toyota, and a behind the scenes look at what really goes on…on and off the track. So let’s get rolling!

David Vaughn Photo

Many people have asked me why Toyota? Why did I take the risk of going with not only a new manufacturer but a new team coming off of a championship season? There were so many unknowns. And my answer has been time and time again. I knew this was an opportunity that would propel my career. Being involved with Toyota is great. I think if you look at their history in all other forms of racing, you’ll see that it’s only a matter of time before they win here in the truck series. And if you look at my team owner, Alex Meshkin, he’s been extremely successful in business at such a young age and was able to bring together an excellent group of people. I have only known Larry McReynolds for a few months now and I have enjoyed every minute of it. He has a lot of knowledge, experience and a lot of good stories, too! He definitely wants performance like all of us. When you add our crew chiefs’ knowledge to the mix, I think we’ve got an unbeatable combination. I like how Eric runs our race team. He’s tactical and very organized. We definitely have similar personalities. We’re both laid back but very focused on running strong and being successful, and I think we proved that at Daytona.
 
It’s hard to begin to describe my experiences leading up to our first race...historic, exciting, fun and very busy. After testing at Homestead, pulling all-nighters in the wind tunnel and at the shop, and testing again at Lakeland and Talladega, it was frustrating to see that we were down on horsepower. But TRD definitely stepped up and everyone really dug in over the weeks leading up to Daytona to improve our trucks. 
 
So we were on our way…ready to see how all that hard work would play out on the track. I left for the race early in the week for interviews with Benny Parsons and MRN. I guess we had a good omen when our team found some speed early before we even got on the track. Definitely the funniest moment of my week was seeing my PR girl, Jen, getting pulled over for going 21 mph over the speed limit. I don’t think she found it as amusing, because we were running very late for Benny’s show. We barely made it there with about 10 minutes to spare. She was throwing shirts at me in the parking lot to change into as we ran into the building. I’m sure that was a sight for the fans. Both interviews went well, and it was great to see such a large turnout at both events. It was good to be back in the swing of things. Greeting all the fans got me excited about coming back to the race track.

Sam Ashworth Photo

The next couple of days were filled with tech inspection, running back and forth between getting my first laps in my IROC car and the No. 24 Line-X, and many media commitments and fan appearances. A number of teams, ourselves included, had a tough time getting through inspection, and there were several teams still trying to get through tech around midnight on Tuesday. The highlight of my day was getting some seat time in the IROC Pontiac Firebird although it definitely took a little bit to get used to something other than a truck at Daytona. 
 
I was happy that were finally able to get our truck on track for the first practice on Wednesday. We were very pleased with our first laps of the season and faster than what was anticipated. During our second session an hour later, we mysteriously slowed down about a half a second, and spent the entire session confused and concerned. To everyone’s relief, we discovered that we had a bent throttle linkage which wasn’t allowing me to run wide-open. Then it was off to the IROC draw and MRN studios at Daytona USA for an interview with my owner, Alex, who talked about our announcement to run several Nextel Cup races later in the season with eBay. After returning to the track and talking to Eric, I was pretty optimistic about qualifying. 
 
Qualifying was extremely exciting just knowing that I was about to be a part of history with Toyota. There were so many people taking pictures and a lot of attention to our new team. As one of the late trucks to go out, I think timing definitely worked in our favor because the wind had died down. Even during my warm up lap, I could tell that the truck was fast, because I was turning more rpm than in practice and the truck was bottoming out. When sparks started coming inside the truck on Turn 2, I knew I had laid down an impressive lap. That was a first for me. Everyone was excited that we were able to hold onto the third starting position, the highest of all Toyota teams out there, and the run definitely gave us the boost of momentum that we needed going into Friday. 

David Vaughn Photo

Race day started off pretty relaxed, and I enjoyed being able to spend some down time with my team at lunch before the day got hectic. I think I did more racing off the track speeding to and from meetings and juggling the IROC and truck schedules! After the IROC driver’s meeting and a private meeting with Toyota’s executives who flew in from Japan to experience their first NASCAR event, I immediately changed and got ready for the IROC race. The race was a blast. It was a lot of fun to race with the best driver’s in the world, and I’m so proud to be involved with such a great series. One of the highlight for me was meeting Helio Castroneves. He’s definitely a character and likes to have a good time. 
 
The IROC race had an exciting ending with the late wreck and an even more exciting finish for me since I had to jump out of my car and run from pit road through the garages to get to the driver’s meeting on time. I made it with a minute to spare. Following the meeting, the team grabbed a quick meal, talked strategy and got ready for the race. Walking to drivers’ introduction was a new experience for me with all the media attention and photographers. It was definitely flattering. My Line-X truck handled really well throughout the race like it did in happy hour. We weren’t able to make it just perfect, but we were easily one of the top two or three trucks for the entire race. Everybody on the Line-X team did a wonderful job with pit stops and communication. Everything went really smooth and we were able to stay out of trouble like we had planned which helped us to be able to go for the win at the end. I was disappointed and happy at the same time with my second place finish. Don’t get me wrong, it’s disappointing not to win when you have a truck that was as fast as ours, but at the same time with a new team, new manufacturer and a new sponsor, finishing second was an amazing start for our year. I stayed with the team during the post-race tech inspection until after midnight. 
 
I’m happy to have an excellent Daytona finish under my belt and to have come out of the box strong. I didn’t realize our team had broken so many records until I got back home…including the best finish for a new team at Daytona. It’s definitely a testimony to the dedication and long hours that everyone at Bang puts in day in and day out. It’s going to be a challenge repeating as champion with a new team, but it’s a pretty good time to do it with the similar templates, because I don't think any of the makes will have a big advantage. It will come down just to us.
 
Less than six months ago, my team didn’t have any employees or even a race shop. I still can’t believe how much we’ve accomplished in a very short time. Despite being down on horsepower, Bang Racing and Toyota proved that they’re the real deal at Daytona. Looking at the whole year, I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself and my ability. I feel like a leader of this team…not just a driver driving for a team…and I’m looking forward to leading Bang Racing and Toyota to their first NASCAR championship. I feel like Toyota’s just scratched the surface of their potential in the Craftsman Truck Series. They’ve done an excellent job supplying us with engineering support, great engines and very competitive race trucks. It also gives me confidence as a driver when you’ve got great manufacturer support like that…when you know that they’re 100 percent behind you. 
 
Now after too much time off, I’m looking forward to getting back on the track with the inaugural event at Atlanta this weekend. We just tested at Texas, and I’m very confident that we’ve got a competitive truck. Knowing that Eric’s most recent win was with Greg Biffle at that track last fall, I’m hoping that we’ll again bring home another strong finish to keep us in the championship mix.

- Travis Kvapil, 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion