Kvapil forced to change focus after Pocono penalty

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- As it continued to sprinkle over a soggy Michigan International Speedway on Friday afternoon, Travis Kvapil had decidedly mixed feelings.

A washout of Sprint Cup qualifying would guarantee him a spot in Sunday's Heluva Good! 400. At the same time, Kvapil was willing to go out and gamble.

Front Row to appeal

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Front Row Motorsports owner Bob Jenkins says he plans to appeal some of the stiff penalties NASCAR handed out to his No. 38 team for a violation during last week's race at Pocono.

Crew chief Steve Lane was fined $100,000 and suspended for 12 weeks, along with car chief Richard Bourgeois and tire specialist Michael Harrold. Travis Kvapil and car owner Doug Yates were both docked 150 points each.

Jenkins called the infraction "unintentional" and says the suspensions and the point deductions are "excessive."

"It was obvious to me, and I think to others, that there was no intent," Jenkins said. "Obviously it is a big fine and it is a lot of points. ... I understand there should be a fine, but I felt that 12-week suspensions and that level of points are pretty high.”

The violation was found following a rain delay in last Sunday's race. Kvapil's rear tires were almost flat, and NASCAR discovered that the valve-stem caps on the tires had been altered to allow air to gradually leak out -- an act that would help the car with its speed during a long run.

-- The Associated Press

Heluva Good! 400

Practice 1

Pos.	Driver	Speed
1.	Juan Montoya	188.917
2.	Jimmie Johnson	188.516
3.	Kurt Busch	188.482
4.	Greg Biffle	188.176
5.	Jeff Gordon	188.088
26.	Travis Kvapil	185.362

• Practice 1 speeds

Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Speed
1.	Kurt Busch	189.984
2.	Jamie McMurray	189.788
3.	Jimmie Johnson	189.668
4.	Kasey Kahne	189.623
5.	Jeff Burton	189.474
34.	Travis Kvapil	186.191

• Race Lineup

"I guess you'd take the guaranteed spot," Kvapil said. "If it rains out, that's money in the bank. But I feel like we could probably qualify better than starting 36th or 37th in the points. If it does get rained out, you take it. But I wouldn't be afraid to qualify, either. We were one of the top two or three go-or-go-home cars there in practice, so I feel pretty confident we wouldn't have any trouble getting in the race, but you never know if something goes wrong."

This has been an eventful week for Kvapil and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford team, particularly when it comes to rain.

NASCAR officials found illegal valve caps on the car before the field took the green flag after a rain delay at Pocono last weekend. That resulted in a $100,000 fine, a 12-week suspension for crew chief Steve Lane, car chief Richard Bourgeois and tire specialist Michael Harrold, and perhaps, most importantly, a 150-point driver and owners' points deduction.

That means Kvapil is now in 36th place in owners' points, 66 behind Robby Gordon for the final guaranteed starting spot. And that means having to qualify for the race on speed. In a 70-minute practice session ended prematurely by a heavy shower, Kvapil admitted the team had a clear focus.

"One hundred percent just making qualifying runs and trying to get all the speed out of the car," Kvapil said. "Obviously, we're having to qualify for the race on Sunday and kind of having to worry about race setups [Saturday]. It went pretty well. We had decent speed and the car drove OK. Depending on what the weather does here, if we have a chance, we might try to make a couple of adjustments to the car before qualifying.

"We're solely focused on getting qualified here."

Team general manager Jerry Freeze has the utmost confidence in Kvapil's ability under pressure.

"We had the same situation at Texas this year where he had to qualify," Freeze said. "He had to do it at Homestead last year on a similar type track to Michigan. Michigan has been a great track for Travis in the past. I think he has two Truck Series wins, so he has a lot of confidence here."

Kvapil did qualify on time, posting a speed of 186.191 mph to cover the 2-mile oval in 38.670 seconds. He'll roll off in the 34th starting position.

Kvapil completed a total of seven laps in Friday's practice, with a quick lap of 185.362 mph. That was good enough to place him 26th on the leaderboard, trailing only Joe Nemechek and Bill Elliott of those cars in the same position of having to qualify on speed. Still, Kvapil said rain Friday isn't nearly as critical as losing Saturday's practice sessions to Mother Nature. Getting back on the track to work on a race setup is imperative.

"It's very important," Kvapil said. "That's kind of what hurts the guys outside of the top 35, is a day like [Friday]. If we were in the top 35, we'd spend most of practice working on race trim, maybe the entire practice, just getting a leg up for Saturday and Sunday. When you're outside of the top 35, you're not even thinking about the race setup until 5 p.m. [Friday]."

A Saturday washout would put Kvapil's team in a bind. The forecast right now calls for scattered thunderstorms and warmer temperatures.

"If practice got rained out [Saturday], it would be a pretty big setback for us," Kvapil said. "We'd have to really rely on our teammates and just kind of look back at races earlier in the year, how much the changes we made from practice and qualifying to the race, and look at that differential and use that information."

If he doesn't get any more practice time, would Kvapil consider putting a Fontana setup on the car for Sunday's race?

"That's probably the closest," Kvapil said. "But even for our team, it's a different race car and so much has changed from two or three weeks into the season until now. We kind of have a trend of how much you change the car from qualifying to the race, so we would probably go along those lines and try and start there. Hopefully a couple of cautions would come early, if we needed to work on it."

Related:
• No. 38 Cup Series team penalized for infractions