Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200
Gateway International Raceway
Race 12 of 25
Qualifying: July 16, 3:30 p.m. CST
Start: July 17, 7 p.m. CST

Point Standings: 10th
Kvapil is in 10th place in the points after finishing 15th at the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

Kvapil Looking to Break into Victory Lane at Gateway

• Looking back at Kentucky: Travis Kvapil fought a weekend of rain, a loose race truck and a failed transmission during the Built Ford Tough 225 weekend. Driving to as high as fourth on the speed charts, Kvapil managed to wheel his Tundra into 15th despite no third gear on the last two restarts of the 150-lap event.
• Kvapil has seen more than just NASCAR racing action at Gateway. As a competitor in the former ARTGO and NASCAR Re/Max Challenge series (now the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series), he finished in fourth position in both races at the track on May 7, 2000 and July 29, 2000. Kvapil holds one pole, two top-fives and two-top tens in NASCAR competition at the track.
• The Line-X team will be taking BR010 to Gateway. BR010 has only one race to its name at Milwaukee where Kvapil finished fifth, his most recent top-five.
• Kvapil has three top-fives and five top-tens in 11 races this season. He currently sits in 10th place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver’s point’s race. Kvapil is only 81 points out of the fifth position and is 244 points out of Dennis Setzer’s lead.

Travis Kvapil on Gateway

With two top-fives and one pole under your belt at the raceway, how are you feeling about your chances this weekend?
St. Louis is one my favorite race tracks. I’ve gained a lot of experience from running there in what’s now the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series and other series and have been fortunate to have done well there in the past with the exception of breaking a gear in 2002. Gateway’s a unique race track because of its two different turns. Turns one and two are a lot different than turns three and four, so you have to compromise on your set up. And it’s unique because you’re shifting - turns one and two are real tight and there is a long back stretch where shifting comes into play. Even though it’s just a bit shorter than Kansas and Kentucky, it drives like a short track and is a lot of fun.

How do the two different types of corners affect your preparation for the race?
It’s tough, and it’s hard to make the truck work well on both ends of the race track. You can be racing really well on one end of the track and at the same time, you could be running terribly on the other end. When setting up the truck, your team definitely needs patience and an ability to be able to compromise between the two ends of the track.

Crew Chief Eric Phillips on Gateway
The truck that we’re taking to Gateway is the same truck that Travis raced at Milwaukee giving him a fifth-place finish. So I feel good heading into this week at St. Louis. Gateway is definitely a handling race track where the driver has to get up on the wheel in the tight corners of turns one and two. The track’s all about compromise between horsepower and aerodynamics on the long straightaways and handling through the tight corners. I believe the horsepower that Toyota has gained over the recent weeks will definitely help our program this weekend. Since turns one and two are real tight like the corners at Milwaukee, we can compare set up notes from that race for that end of the track.

Will the team treat Gateway International Raceway as a short track?
Gateway is a very unique, egg-shaped track. The mile-and-a-quarter length is in between a speedway and a short track, but it’s definitely more like a short track with long straightaways.

What’s the most important aspect of set-up prior to the race?
I think that turns one and two are more important to work on because those two are tighter and harder to get through than turns three and four. We have to make sure we don’t have to slow down too much getting through that corner in order to have a lot of speed down the long backstretch. Turns three and four are a little easier to get through because they aren’t as tight.

Travis Kvapil Appearances at Gateway
Travis Kvapil will participate in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series autograph session on Saturday, July 17 from 3:45 pm to 4:40 p.m. on pit road at Gateway International Raceway.

No. 24 Line-X Tundra Team Members
Driver: Travis Kvapil
Crew Chief: Eric Phillips
Truck Chief/Jackman: Rodney McGehee
Front Tire Changer: Mark Presnell
Rear Tire Changer: Hunter Sullivan
Front Tire Carrier: Jeremy Williamson
Rear Tire Carrier: Herman Reiss
Gasman/Hauler Driver: David “Cowboy” Burrow
Catchcan: Buddy Hall
2nd Can/Runner: TBA
Spotter: Doug Sigmon
Engineer: Brad Whaley
Shock Specialist: Colby Crooks