David Vaughn Photo

There’s something to be said for teamwork in this industry and sticking together during hard times. It’s what our sport is all about. And my team showed that more than ever this year at Bristol. They never gave up from the start of the race to the very end, and because of that, we fought back and ended up with a pretty decent finish. We may not have ended up on top, but everyone was proud of the effort they put in to help me get another top-10 after it was all said and done.

Bristol has always been one of my favorite tracks even though I had only run there once before going into the race weekend. It doesn’t hurt that I picked up my one and only win at the track last year, too. Bristol’s one of those tracks on the schedule that’s similar to Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, Charlotte…there’s a lot of history behind the track, and a lot of great drivers have gotten their names in the record books for winning races there. It’s one of those races on the schedule that every driver wants to win.

So, I was really excited to get back there and optimistic about how good my truck was going into the race. In practice, I was a top-five truck for most of the day. My No. 24 Nutzz.com Tundra was handling and responding to changes really well. Since Bristol was a one-day show again, our team focused on race setup and everyone was really happy with the progress we made. I ran fast, consistent laps every time I went out. Mike was running good in practice, too, so everything for our team was right where we wanted it to be before qualifying.

But I didn’t qualify as well as I thought I would. I ended up in the 14th spot - pretty close to where I started the race the year before. We were all thinking we’d be in the top-five instead since my truck was so good earlier in the day. I don’t know if going out early in the sun hurt us a little bit. Shortly after I went out, the track was overshadowed by clouds and started to cool down a little bit, and everyone after that that went out was a lot faster than they had been in practice.

Come race time, I was just focused on making sure we were there at the end of the race - keep our nose clean, stay out of trouble and put ourselves in a position to get a good finish was all I was thinking about. That’s kind of how the night turned out. We didn’t have the best truck during the race. I was loose in from the drop of the green flag, and I was so loose getting down in the corner that I wasn’t able to be aggressive and race hard with the other competitors.

David Vaughn Photo

But Eric and my Bang Racing crew did a great job working on the truck and never gave up. We pitted three or four times just to keep making adjustments and try to get the truck close enough to where I had something ‘racey’ to work with. Midway through the race, I pitted a second and third time and by the last 50 to 75 laps of the race, I had a truck that was pretty decent and could run some really good laps.

Basically, at the end of the night, it came down to digging hard and getting the best possible finish I could get. Drivers in front of me were wrecking or blowing motors and bumping each other around. I just kept my nose clean and avoided all the accidents and all the skirmishes and got out of there with a top-10 finish.

Eighth place isn’t what I expected to come out of Bristol with after running in 15th and 20th for part of the night. But after I thought about coming back from being in 28th at one point to where I did, eighth place wasn’t so bad.

So our team is still going strong, and I moved up two more spots in the points and am now in fifth in the championship standings. That’s where our Line-X team belongs and where I belong. We’re 230 points out of the lead, and even though that’s a tall order to fill, I still think that my team can rally to the front. They proved that at Bristol.

Some of the guys up top may have a bad race, and our team could swing a couple of hundred points very easily. I’m still closing in on fourth and third, but my main goal has never waivered all year – I want to win the championship again this year. All we can do is stay focused on Richmond and getting some more wins and grab as many points as we can along the way.

I had a lot of friends and family cheering me on at Bristol – namely my daughter, Kelsey. It was her first time at the track, and it was so neat to watch her so interested in what her dad does at work. We were all sitting in the hauler before the race, and I’ll never forget what she said, “Dad, it’d be good if you could win this race tonight.” Everyone laughed at her straightforward statement. I’m sometimes amazed by the things she says. Kids can teach you a lot in the simple things that come out of their mouths. I hope her dad and my team taught her a lesson she’ll remember, too. Never give up. Even though you may not win, you can be proud if you give it your all.

Our team has a lot to be proud of this year.

- Travis Kvapil, Diary of a Champion

2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion
2001 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year