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Press Release

For Immediate Release


Front Row Motorsports 
Good Sam Club 500 Race Report

  

Talladega Superspeedway, 2.66-mile oval, Talladega, Alabama

David Gilliland, No. 34 World Hunger Relief Ford

Starting Position: 40

Finishing Position: 22

 

Travis Kvapil, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford

Starting Position: 17

Finishing Position: 21

 

Front Row Motorsports teammates David Gilliland and Travis Kvapil successfully worked together all day Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, spending much of the day in the top 15, including a lap in the lead, and finished strong enough to put the No. 38 back in the top 35. 

Kvapil started 17th in the Long John Silver's Ford and Gilliland started 40th in the World Hunger Relief Ford with immediate plans to hook up in the two-car draft.  It only took a lap for the pair to connect, and they stayed together for virtually the entire 188-lap event.  

As a tandem, they soon found that they worked better with Gilliland pushing Kvapil.  They also learned their two Ford Fusions were fast.  By Lap 19, they had pushed their way to the lead, earning the No. 38 team a bonus point for leading a lap.  They stayed in or around the top 15 for much of the race.  The only handling issue was Kvapil's No. 38 Ford was loose when he was being pushed -- an issue the pit crew worked on with every pit stop.

The pair lost some positions when they had to pit after a Lap-162 caution under NASCAR orders.  Officials wanted the No. 38 team to put Bear Bond on the right rear corner of the car's bumper, which had loosened from being pushed.  Kvapil and Gilliland restarted 23rd and 27th. The team got into a little more trouble on Lap 173, when Kvapil scraped the wall while dodging a spinning Bobby Labonte.  He pitted under the ensuing caution so the team could pull out the right front fender.

With Gilliland pitting each time Kvapil pitted, these last two events put the pair back in 26th (Kvapil) and 27th (Gilliland) for a Lap-178 restart.  They had pushed their way back into the top 20 when the final caution flag flew at Lap 180.  The teammates restarted with Kvapil in 17th and Gilliland in 18th with three laps to go.  Those final three laps weren't enough to break the pack apart and the two Front Row cars had no room to advance.  After barreling toward the checkers in a four-wide pack and almost wrecking, the pair crossed the line in 21st (Kvapil) and 22nd (Gilliland).

Kvapil's finish, combined with a 39th-place finish by the No. 71 TRG Motorsports car, puts the No. 38 team back in the top 35 in ownership points and locks them into the starting line-up for next week's race at Martinsville Speedway.

 David Gilliland
David Gilliland

Comments from World Hunger Relief Ford driver David Gilliland after the Talladega race:

 

"Our World Hunger Relief Ford Fusion was really fast paired up with Travis today.  And we found out that we worked better when I was doing the pushing.  I didn't really have any temperature issues so we didn't have to break apart all that often for clean air or anything.

"I was hoping for a better finish than 22nd.  We certainly had the cars for it, but we got shuffled back at the end there and we just didn't have enough time to advance as much as we could've if there were a few more laps in the race.  I'm happy the No. 38 is back in the top 35, though.  That's good for our organization as a whole.  And I hope running up front got some good attention for World Hunger Relief, too."

 Travis Kvapil
Travis Kvapil

Comments from Long John Silver's Ford team driver Travis Kvapil after the Talladega race:

 

"David and I worked really well as drafting partners and our Fords were really fast together.  We were able to shoot right up to the front pretty quickly early in the race.  We had some issues with me getting loose for a while, but it got better as we got into the second half of the race.  I think as a pair, we actually had a shot at winning this thing, but we got pushed to the back toward the final laps of the race because we had to make some sheet metal repairs, and then there was just nowhere to go.  We almost wrecked at the end, so I'm happy we got what we got.

"I've really got to thank our teammates for working with us and helping us get back into the top 35.  It's going to feel great going to Martinsville knowing we're locked in."

About Front Row Motorsports:

Front Row Motorsports is a Statesville, N.C.-based race team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Formed in 2005 by restaurant entrepreneur Bob Jenkins, the team has competed in NASCAR racing in each year since its inception, expanding full-time to the premier Sprint Cup Series in 2009.  The team partners with Ford Racing and Roush-Yates Racing Engines to field the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford driven by David Gilliland, the No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford driven by Travis Kvapil and the No. 55 Front Row Motorsports Ford driven by J.J. Yeley.
 

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Contact:

Shari Spiewak

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403 Gilead Road, Suite A
Huntersville, NC  28078
Cell:  704-200-1779

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