Dude, where's my car?

HAMPTON, Ga. – Travis Kvapil woke up to a text from his Team Xtreme crew that something was amiss with his car and to "stay tuned".

By 8:00 a.m., his phone rang with the news that the No. 44 team’s truck with his race car and engine for the Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend had been stolen from the parking lot of the Drury Inn parking lot in Morrow, Ga.

“The car wasn’t finished in time for the test yesterday,” Kvapil told Motorsport.com. “The team stayed back in North Carolina to work on the car. The guys arrived last night around 10:30- 11 o’clock with the car and the engine inside of the dually. Then they noticed around six it was gone.

“The good news is the motel has video surveillance, so hopefully that will help.”

Kvapil, 38, put the deal together with Team Xtreme last week and plans to drive for the team next week at Las Vegas.

Although Team Xtreme went through a primary car and a backup last week at Daytona International Speedway with Reed Sorenson, Kvapil said this was a completely new car. However, many of the parts and pieces in the car – along with the only seat that Kvapil owns – was in the stolen car.

“It’s such a huge blow to this small team,” Kvapil said. “I think NASCAR has a deadline for when we would have to withdrawal. I haven’t heard from the team what we’re going to do but it’s just a bummer. What a crazy situation. It’s a week out until Las Vegas, we’ll just have to wait and see.”