Kvapil finishes 27th at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Travis Kvapil and the No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry team finished 27th at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 1.  Kvapil overcame starting from the rear of the field for an engine change, to race through the pack and bring home another solid top-30 finish. 

 

NASCAR’s unofficial Labor Day classic, one of only two races of the season scheduled on a Sunday evening, moved to the fast Atlanta Motor Speedway a few years ago.  With only one race remaining until the cut-off for the Sprint Cup Series “Race for the Chase,” tempers usually flare throughout the weekend, just like the summer Georgia heat.  Kvapil and the No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper crew had a clean race on Sunday night, surviving an event that many did not, to record a solid 27th-place finish.  

 

The weekend kicked off with a practice session and qualifying on Friday afternoon, followed by two practices on Saturday.  Kvapil’s No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry team found a problem with their motor on Friday, which left the team to switch out the engine before going on track for Saturday’s two practice sessions.  With a new engine in place, the BK Racing team made 40 practice laps on Saturday afternoon to prepare for Sunday’s race. 

 

Kvapil dropped to the rear of the field for the start of the Advocare 500, but didn’t stay there for long.  By lap 40, Kvapil had already broken in to the top 30 and was looking to pick up more positions on the track.  As the race progressed, there were several long green-flag runs, which made the changing track conditions appear even more dramatic as the cars burned off their fresh tires and fuel.  Kvapil’s car became free on exit and while the BK Racing team made adjustments with each stop to improve on the balance of their racecar, they weren’t able to get ahead of the changing track conditions. 

 

Several of the championship point front-runners were involved in accidents throughout the night, but Kvapil was able to keep the nose of his racecar clean and finish the event without incident.  By the time the checkered flag waved, Kvapil was scored in the 27th position.  

 

“Thankfully we had an uneventful night,” commented Kvapil.  “The balance of our No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry got a little bit ahead of us as the night progressed, but the guys did a great job making changes and our car improved with every pit stop.  I’m thankful that we were able to have a clean race and bring the car home in one piece.  We planned to race this racecar in a few weeks at Dover, so we’re happy to not have to make any repairs.  We’re headed back to Richmond (Va.) International Raceway this coming weekend.  We had a broken axel there in the spring race, but I felt like we made a lot of gains throughout that race weekend.  We recently participated in the Richmond test and made some headway, so I’m looking forward to getting there with our No. 93 Burger King / Dr. Pepper Toyota Camry.” 

 

BK Racing PR