Travis Kvapil on Martinsville and what happened during practice with Tony Stewart

Travis Kvapil, driver of the No. 34 A&W Ford Fusion, made his NASCAR
Sprint Cup debut at Martinsville Speedway in 2004, starting 5th and
finishing 24th. Kvapil spoke about why he likes this race track and
what happened in his practice incident yesterday with Tony Stewart.
TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 34 A&W Ford Fusion – LOOKING BACK ON YOUR FIRST
CAREER START BEING HERE AT MARTINSVILLE. WHAT WAS IT LIKE? “For me it
worked out really well. I was very comfortable running the short
tracks. It took all the aerodynamic variables out of it. It was just a
matter of getting the feel of the car on a little half-mile track. We
came here and ran really well. We didn’t upset anybody and finished
all the laps and had a decent finish. For me it was all positive
having Martinsville as my first Cup race.”
DOES IT SEEM TO BE YOU EITHER LOVE OR HATE THIS PLACE AND HOW YOU FEEL
ABOUT IT CAN AFFECT YOUR PERFORMANCE? “Yeah, I think you could
probably say that about any track. If you go to a race track with a
negative attitude and think you won’t do good, you probably won’t.
Even the tracks I struggle at, I try to take a mentality that I can be
successful there. I always have a positive attitude coming here to
Martinsville. It is a place that I really enjoy. I haven’t won any
races here, but I have been very competitive in the trucks and
probably should have won a truck race here, but I got taken out. It is
a place I feel confident going into that I can get a good result for
our team.”
CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED IN PRACTICE YESTERDAY WITH YOU AND TONY
STEWART? “Yeah, I don’t really think it’s a big deal. To me, it was
just Martinsville. I was on new tires trying to get a qualifying run
at the end of practice and the track was really crowded. On new tires
it takes a lap or two until they get going and I was still slipping
and sliding and trying to get my tires to hook up. Tony was on his
last lap, I guess, and had a lot of speed. To cut to the chase, I was
in his way. My plan was to get down the backstretch and move over to
let him go, but I never got good enough traction off the corner to get
going and get out of his way. I am sure he is upset and our guys are
upset that the race car got beat up a little bit. To me, it isn’t a
big deal, its just a product of things that happen when you go
short-track racing.”
DOES NOT HAVING QUALIFYING YESTERDAY EFFECT WHAT YOU WILL DO IN
PRACTICE TODAY? “We were ready. We had worked on a set-up to give it
a shot. I would like to think we would have qualified better than
34th. We have always done well here looking back on my track record.
It’s just like Bristol last week, if you start toward the back it is
hard to stay on the lead lap. For us, I think we just have to race
hard. It would be nice to have a cushion and be up in the front of the
pack. We will work hard on the race car today and try to get it
handling and driving good and move forward.”