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Warning: Objects in this post may be the only way to successfully live through the NASCAR off-season. For best results, read rearview mirror early and often.
Driver: Travis Kvapil
Team: No. 28 Yates Racing Ford
'08 Final Standing: 23rd (-3300)
Best Race: Aaron's 499 at Talladega (6th-place)
Worst Race: Bank of America 500 at Charlotte (42nd-place)
Season in a box: Aside from a few Top-10s, Kvapil's (that's Kwah-pil) first season with Yates Racing showed signs of potential amid plenty of signs of driving for an underfunded team.
Kvapil, the 2003 Craftsman Truck Series champ, won his first career pole at Talladega Superspeedway in October but failed to finish after getting taken out in a wreck caused by teammate-by-affiliation Carl Edwards. Both Kvapil and his real teammate at Yates Racing, David Gilliland, didn't have the near the season they would like to have had, but taking into account that both cars lacked full-season sponsorship makes the good finishes that much more impressive.
The team stayed in the Top-35 in points all season and racked up 4 Top-10s, but managed 8 finishes in the Top-20.
Through the crystal windshield: In a normal economic climate, I could easily see Yates Racing securing decent sponsorship for both of its race teams in 2009 thanks to the impressive efforts that each team turned in 2009. Sure, they weren't in Chase contention, but for a team that lacked the funding of the top organizations in 2008, the results were impressive.
Paul Menard will join the Yates organization in 2009 to make it a three-car operation and the resources he's bringing from his father's home improvement company -- Menard's -- should make the financial situation a little better for the team.
Neither Kvapil or Gilliland have secured full-time sponsorship.
Next up: David Reutimann
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