Travis Kvapil and the No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry team finished 26th at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Competing at the speedway nicknamed “The Tricky Triangle,” Kvapil was poised to have his best finish of the season when a late-race accident left his team fighting for a lead-lap finish.
Rain washed out practice on Saturday afternoon leaving many Sprint Cup Series teams to start the race with less than 15 laps of practice. Kvapil completed just 13 practice laps during Friday’s sole practice session to prepare for qualifying and Sunday’s 400-mile event. The No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper team picked up nearly a full second from practice to record a 50.678-second qualifying lap and secure the 23rd starting position.
When the green flag waved for Sunday’s GoBowling.com 400, Kvapil’s No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry was just a bit free, but the driver asked for no chassis adjustments during the day’s pit stops. Crew chief Dale Ferguson and the team worked to fine-tune the handling of their Camry through air pressure adjustments, and were able to utilize pit strategy to gain additional track position.
Racing solidly inside the top 20 throughout most of the day, Kvapil was en route to one of his best finishes of the season. Working lap 110, with just 50 laps remaining in the event, Kvapil was battling side-by-side with Danica Patrick for the 17th position. Contact was made sending both cars spinning across the track in turn 2, and resulted in several other competitors being collected in the accident.
With moderate damage to the body of his car, Kvapil made a series of pit stops during the ensuing caution period allowing his team to make repairs to his Toyota Camry. The team carefully planned the length of their stops to ensure that Kvapil would remain on the lead lap of competition. With a little BearBond on the No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry, Kvapil was able to make it to the finish line of the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway and was scored with a 26th-place finish.
“We had another great No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry today,” commented Kvapil. “We had a solid race all day, and were in position for a great finish. Unfortunately we got caught up in an accident in the tunnel turn with about 50 laps to go. My BK Racing team did a great job making quick repairs to keep us on the lead lap. We raced in the top 20 for most of the afternoon, but the damage we sustained in the wreck removed us from contention for that top 20 finish. I’m excited to get to Watkins Glen next week. We had a good road course car at Sonoma [Calif.] Raceway last month, so I’m looking forward to another competitive race.”
BK Racing PR
