An untimely caution flag that caught a number of competitive trucks a lap down mid-race threw a damper on Travis Kvapil's attempts at claiming another top-five at Dover International Speedway during the MBNA 200 on Friday.

Battling tight conditions throughout initial practices and qualifying, Kvapil captured the 11th starting position in his No. 24 Nutzz.com Tundra. But during the first laps at the ultra-fast track, the reigning champion struggled with a loose ride and was forced to pit after the first caution flag on lap 8 for track bar, wedge and spring rubber adjustments.  

"My Nutzz.com team started the race off, and the truck was just way too loose," Kvapil said. "Thankfully, the caution came out early within the first 10 laps of the race, so we agreed it'd be a good idea to start working on the truck right away. I had already fallen back from 11th to about 15th or so, and I knew we weren't going to go forward with what we had. I came in to pit and Eric made some good adjustments on the truck, dropping the track bar down, putting some wedge in it, and pulling the spring rubber out the right rear."

An additional pit stop to free up his ill handling truck on lap 48 helped Kvapil pick up speed and eclipse the top-10. After bringing the No. 24 Nutzz.com Tundra down pit road for a green flag stop for fresh tires and fuel, Kvapil continued to work his way back into the top-10 when disaster struck and he, along with 31 other competitors, were caught one or two laps down after the caution was thrown for a spin on the frontstretch. Despite gaining one lap and laying down lightning fast laps which, at times, mirrored the leaders, Kvapil ended the day in 15th place and one lap down to the field.

"My Bang Racing crew did a great job," Kvapil said. "But when we pitted under green, we just got trapped in the pits. Obviously I'm disappointed. That's no where near what me and my Bang Racing team should be running or what we're capable of. At the same time, it's just a part of racing. There were top-five and top-10 drivers that weren't really up in the front of the field most of the day, but with their pit strategy and the way the race played out, they were able to get good finishes. There were 10 guys in front of me that we had passed earlier in the race and a handful of them that we had a lap down. It's disappointing, but it's just a part of racing. Our 16th place finish doesn't show the type of truck we had. We had a top-10 truck, but the wins are right around the corner."

"It wasn't a bad day, but we had a good truck, good communication on pit road, and everything in general went really well," Kvapil said. "Knowing that, I'm looking forward to going to Texas, the track that gave me my first career NASCAR win. Based on our tests there earlier this year, I know we have a truck that's capable of bringing home the first victory for Bang Racing and Toyota."

The 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion returns to racing action at Texas Motor Speedway in sixth place in the point standings, trailing leader Dennis Setzer by 136 points. The seventh race of the 2004 season, the O'Reilly 400K, will be broadcast LIVE on June 11 at 9 p.m. EST on SPEED Channel with radio coverage on MRN affiliates nationwide at 8:30 p.m. EST. For more information on Bang Racing and Travis Kvapil, please visit www.bangracing.com and www.traviskvapil.com.