Travis Kvapil, Driver No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford

Birth Date: March 1, 1976
Birthplace: Janesville, Wisc.
Resides: Mooresville, N.C.
Wife: Jennifer
Children: Kelsey, Carson and Caden

One word can best be associated with Travis Kvapil’s 2011 racing season: opportunity. Entering his second season with Front Row Motorsports, the NASCAR veteran is in a position to build off his 2010 full-time effort with the team and take his Sprint Cup Series effort to the next level. At the same time, the 2003 Camping World Truck Series champion will return to a race truck to run a parallel schedule in that series as well.

A native of Wisconsin, Kvapil cut his teeth racing throughout the Midwest during his childhood. His resume around the asphalt ovals near his hometown rank him with the legends and one of the most successful short-track racers to make it onto the national scene. Starting at a nearby track, Rockford Speedway, in Rockford, Ill., Kvapil began racing seriously at the age of 14 and by 18 was a track champion and multiple-feature winner at the track.

His next challenge was the Madison International Speedway, the premier track in the state of Wisconsin for up-and-coming talent. In the 1995 and ’96 seasons, Kvapil earned rookie of the year and claimed the track championship respectively. The championship made him the youngest to ever capture the title at the storied track. Kvapil was now becoming a household name and his next steps landed him on a Midwest touring series for super late models, the ARTGO Series. The next two seasons Kvapil had more success, finishing in the top-10 in points each season.

As success breeds new opportunities, Kvapil finally got the call that every young driver covets. In 2001 Kvapil made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut with Addington Racing and found much success, highlighted by his first win at the Texas Motor Speedway. He earned an incredible 18 top-10 finishes and won Rookie of the Year honors.

The next three seasons Kvapil raced again for Addington Racing, Xpress Motorsports and Bang! Racing in the Camping World Truck Series. As he did in the super late model ranks, Kvapil was building his reputation as one of the most consistent frontrunners in the truck series. He earned an impressive record of 46 top-10 and 29 top-five finishes with four wins in that three-year span at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Michigan International Raceway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The 2003 season with Xpress Motorsports was one for Kvapil to cherish. He captured a win, but also posted 22 top-10 results, enough to capture the championship that season.

The championship in 2003 and two more wins in 2004 helped propel him to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Penske Racing in 2005. Kvapil managed two top-10 finishes in his rookie season in the series, and then moved to PPI Racing the following season. Both Sprint Cup opportunities provided Kvapil with experience, but never the right combination to showcase his talents at that level.

In 2007, Kvapil moved back to the truck series, but this time for Jack Roush and the elite Roush Racing truck operation. That season he won four more races and three poles to a sixth-place finish in the championship. His talents were once again recognized by Roush, who helped him move over to the newly formed Yates Racing in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008. His most successful Sprint Cup year, Kvapil finished 23rd in points with four top- 10 finishes.

The following season was an abbreviated one for Kvapil. He was sidelined after the first five races of the 2009 season when funding for his Yates Racing ride fizzled out. He did get back behind the wheel for two races at the tail end of the season, driving for a young team named Front Row Motorsports.

Front Row owner Bob Jenkins liked what he saw in Kvapil and pursued him in the off- season to become a full-time member of the team. The following spring, Kvapil was reunited with some old friends – Ford, Roush-Yates Racing Engines and former Yates teammate David Gilliland – when he signed on to drive the Long John Silver’s Ford for Jenkins. Despite limited funding, Front Row came into the season with an aggressively expanded team, growing its stable from one full-time car to three. As a part of the “little team that could,” Kvapil qualified for 34 of 36 races, and earned one top-20 and eight top-25 finishes.

He returns to the No. 38 Long John Silver’s machine in 2011, with a season’s worth of experience and familiarity with his equipment and team, ready to take advantage of all the opportunity the year presents.
   

David Gilliland, Driver No. 34 Taco Bell Ford

Birth Date: April 1, 1976
Birthplace: Riverside, Calif.
Resides: Mooresville, N.C.
Wife: Michelle
Children: Todd and Taylor

Growing up in a race shop as the son of a stock-car driver, David Gilliland was destined for a career in racing. He spent his early years working on cars in the California shop of his father, NASCAR Winston West Series driver Butch Gilliland. Already an experienced mechanic by his high-school years, Gilliland was named crew chief of his father’s team at the young age of 19. When the team won the 1997 NASCAR Winston West Series Championship the following year, Gilliland added Champion Crew Chief of the Year to his already impressive young résumé.

After spending all that time under the hood, Gilliland soon got the itch to get behind the wheel. He began competing in 1998 on the dirt track of Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway and, in seven starts, the rookie stock-car driver took the checkered flag twice. Once he got to experience driving a car into Victory Lane, there was no turning back. Gilliland drove a full schedule at Perris Auto Speedway the following year, winning 14 of 15 heat races and nine of the 15 main-event races in the stock car division.

In 2000, Gilliland added the title of team owner to his bio. He put together a late-model team and ran full-time at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway, earning two wins. A year later, he joined the NASCAR Southwest Tour and continued his winning ways, claiming his first regional touring race victory in only his fourth start in the series. He continued to turn heads the following season, earning five wins and finishing in the top 10 of the Southwest Tour standings.

With his impressive abilities, Gilliland never stayed at the same level for very long. He was always looking ahead for the next challenge. In 2004, while continuing to run in the Southwest Series, he also tried his hand at the NASCAR West Series. It didn’t long for his talents to show through at that level. Before a hometown crowd at Mesa Marin Raceway, Gilliland drove to Victory Lane in only his second West Series start. He also captured Rookie of the Year honors with his one win, seven top-5s and nine top-10s. The following year, he won the East/West Series’ Toyota All-Star Showdown – his biggest victory to date. But that win was just a precursor to what would happen the following year.

After 10 years of showcasing his crew chief and driver skills on the West Coast, Gilliland now had his sights set on top-tier NASCAR racing. So in 2006, he took his family and his dreams across the country to Charlotte, N.C. The risky move paid off, as he was soon hired to drive for Clay Andrews’ NASCAR Nationwide team. The car was unsponsored and underfunded, so the team only drove a partial schedule. But that didn’t stop Gilliland from making the biggest splash of the 2006 Nationwide season on June 17 at Kentucky Speedway. That night, the racing world stood up and took notice of the rookie Gilliland when he took the checkered flag and became the first non-Sprint Cup regular to win a Nationwide race that year.

Thrust into the racing limelight after just seven starts, Gilliland quickly got his chance to compete at the highest level, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The very week after the dramatic Kentucky win, owner Bryan Mullet put the red-hot rookie in a Cup ride at Infineon (Calif.) Raceway, where the team finished 32nd. Gilliland then landed a ride for the rest of the Sprint Cup season with Robert Yates Racing, where he drove the final 14 races in the No. 38 Ford. Just as he had at every other level of racing, he proved he belonged, capturing one pole and two top-15 finishes.

Gilliland returned to Yates for his first full-time season in 2007, and started off the year with a bang when he captured the pole for the Daytona 500. He went on to earn one top-five and two top-10 finishes for the year. He matched that record in his second full-time season for Yates in 2008 with another top-five and two top-10s.

The 2009 season brought a move to TRG Motorsports, a race team with a history of success on the sports car circuit but relatively new to the NASCAR garage. Gilliland made 25 starts for the young team, some of which were cut short by mechanical issues. During the final nine races of the season, Gilliland split time in TRG’s No. 71 Chevrolet with former Sprint Cup Champion Bobby Labonte. When Gilliland wasn’t in the 71, he picked up rides with Robby Gordon Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Phoenix Racing.

The accomplished driver heads into the 2010 season ready to build on his impressive career with Front Row Motorsports – a new team for Gilliland but one that brings familiarity. He returns to the No. 38 Ford Fusion and reconnects with former Yates teammate Travis Kvapil. As a vital member of this newly expanded three-car team, Gilliland is looking to further make his mark at racing’s premier level.

Despite the fact that the team was assembled just a few weeks before the season-opening Daytona 500, Gilliland and his crew regularly put a fast car on the track and produced strong results in their first year together. He earned three top-20 finishes and laid a good foundation with crew chief Peter Sospenzo for his return to the Taco Bell Fusion in 2011.

Kicking off his second season with Front Row, Gilliland started off the 2011 campaign with a stunning third-place finish at the Daytona 500 – a feat he said was just as big as his Kentucky Nationwide win. A vital member of this still-growing team, he looks to further make his mark for the rest of the 2011 season and beyond.