Kvapil on verge of record, championship

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Travis Kvapil has toiled in anonymity all season, but he's on the verge of breaking a Craftsman Truck Series record that many considered untouchable.

Kvapil has completed every lap except one this year, and if he can finish on the lead lap at Phoenix and Miami, he'll break the record of fewest uncompleted laps in a season.

	Travis Kvapil

Joe Ruttman and Ron Hornaday share the record. Ruttman failed to complete just two laps in 1995, Hornaday matched it in 1996.

But the series raced only 20 times in 1995 and 24 times in 1996. The current series schedule is 25 races.

Records aside, Kvapil just wants to win the championship. And he's almost reveling in the fact that he's toiled in anonymity all season long.

Having just one win will do that to you.

Even when it was known that he was leaving the No. 16 Chevrolet after only one season, it didn't create much of a stir.

"We'd like to have more victories, but we are definitely in the hunt (for the championship) Kvapil said. "I know the competitors haven't taken us for granted."

Kvapil is only 45 points behind leader Brendan Gaughan for the title lead -- a title that Kvapil's team, Xpress Motorsports, won last year with Mike Bliss.

Kvapil qualified eighth for Friday's Silverado 150 at Phoenix -- Gaughan struggled to a 14th-place starting spot. It is Gaughan's worst starting spot of 2003.

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But Kvapil isn't worried about what Gaughan does. He just wants to get his truck dialed in at Phoenix, which he likens to a short track.

"Our team runs better on short tracks," said Kvapil, who had three runner-up finishes on short tracks this year. "Really, (Phoenix is) a short track. Surprisingly, we're close to the setup. The spring package and sway bar package is like a South Boston."

Kvapil won't be back with Xpress Motorsports in 2004 -- the team has already announced it has hired Jack Sprague as its driver.

Kvapil had hoped the team would run two trucks, but finding sponsorship was a problem.

"I hoped to keep the team together with me and Jack Sprague, but sponsorship opportunities didn't work out," Kvapil said.

But he isn't worried about finding work -- Kvapil says he has a couple of Craftsman Truck Series deals in the works.

"I haven't signed nothing yet," Kvapil said. "It's still up in the air, looking at a lot of different options, still trying to figure out what is going to be best for me."

Kvapil said that Silly Season hasn't affected his team's bid to win a second straight title.

"I know the team is going to go in another direction and I am going to go in another direction, but we sat down a couple of weeks ago and we were like, 'Let's focus on what we're doing.'

"The only way we're going to win the championship is if we work together."