Travis Kvapil, Driver, Long John Silver’s Ford

Birth Date: March 1, 1976
Birthplace: Janesville, Wisc.
Resides: Mooresville, N.C.
Wife: Jennifer
Children: Kelsey, Carson and Caden

One word can best be associated with Travis Kvapil’s 2011 racing season:  opportunity.

Entering his second season with Front Row Motorsports, the NASCAR veteran is in
a position to build off his 2010 full-time effort with the team and take his Sprint Cup
Series effort to the next level. At the same time, the 2003 Camping World Truck Series
champion will return to a race truck to run a parallel schedule in that series as well.

A native of Wisconsin, Kvapil cut his teeth racing throughout the Midwest during his
childhood. His resume around the asphalt ovals near his hometown rank him with the
legends and one of the most successful short-track racers to make it onto the national
scene. Starting at a nearby track, Rockford Speedway, in Rockford, Ill., Kvapil began
racing seriously at the age of 14 and by 18 was a track champion and multiple-feature
winner at the track.

His next challenge was the Madison International Speedway, the premier track in the
state of Wisconsin for up-and-coming talent. In the 1995 and ’96 seasons, Kvapil earned rookie of the year and claimed the track championship respectively. The championship made him the youngest to ever capture the title at the storied track. Kvapil was now becoming a household name and his next steps landed him on a Midwest touring series for super late models, the ARTGO Series. The next two seasons Kvapil had more  success, finishing in the top-10 in points each season.

As success breeds new opportunities, Kvapil finally got the call that every young driver
covets. In 2001 Kvapil made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut with
Addington Racing and found much success, highlighted by his first win at the Texas
Motor Speedway. He earned an incredible 18 top-10 finishes and won Rookie of the
Year honors.

The next three seasons Kvapil raced again for Addington Racing, Xpress Motorsports
and Bang! Racing in the Camping World Truck Series. As he did in the super late model
ranks, Kvapil was building his reputation as one of the most consistent frontrunners in
the truck series. He earned an impressive record of 46 top-10 and 29 top-five finishes
with four wins in that three-year span at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, Bristol
(Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Michigan International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor
Speedway. The 2003 season with Xpress Motorsports was one for Kvapil to cherish. He captured a win, but also posted 22 top-10 results, enough to capture the championship that season.

The championship in 2003 and two more wins in 2004 helped propel him to the
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Penske Racing in 2005. Kvapil managed two top-10
finishes in his rookie season in the series, and then moved to PPI Racing the following season. Both Sprint Cup opportunities provided Kvapil with experience, but never the right combination to showcase his talents at that level.

In 2007, Kvapil moved back to the truck series, but this time for Jack Roush and the  elite Roush Racing truck operation. That season he won four more races and three poles to a sixth-place finish in the championship. His talents were once again recognized by Roush, who helped him move over to the newly formed Yates Racing in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008. His most successful Sprint Cup year, Kvapil finished 23rd in points with four top-10 finishes.

The following season was an abbreviated one for Kvapil. He was sidelined after the first five races of the 2009 season when funding for his Yates Racing ride fizzled out. He did get back behind the wheel for two races at the tail end of the season, driving for a young team named Front Row Motorsports.

Front Row owner Bob Jenkins liked what he saw in Kvapil and pursued him in the off-
season to become a full-time member of the team. The following spring, Kvapil was
reunited with some old friends – Ford, Roush/Yates Racing Engines and former Yates
teammate David Gilliland – when he signed on to drive the Long John Silver’s Ford for
Jenkins. Despite limited funding, Front Row came into the season with an aggressively expanded team, growing its stable from one full-time car to three. As a part of the “little team that could,” Kvapil qualified for 34 of 36 races, and earned one top-20 and eight top-25 finishes.

He returns to the yellow-and-blue No. 34 Long John Silver’s machine in 2011, with a
season’s worth of experience and familiarity with his equipment and team, ready to take advantage of all the opportunity the year presents.