NSCS: Travis Kvapil’s Racecar Stolen From Hotel on Friday Morning

Team Xtreme Racing has found themselves in an unexpected, serious situation after their trailer and racecar was stolen early Friday morning from a hotel in Morrow, Georgia. Per the team statement, they were behind working on their car after the adventures of Daytona and sent the No. 44 hauler ahead on Wednesday night; it was parked at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Team Xtreme Racing ran into problems at Daytona after Reed Sorenson wrecked during group qualifying on Sunday. Not having a back-up, the team prepared another car and entered it into the Budweiser Duel, qualifying for the Daytona 500. As a result, though, they didn’t get the time they needed to work on their Atlanta car.

The car was sent in an enclosed 26-foot trailer pulled by a pickup, arriving at the team hotel on Thursday night at 11 pm EST. At approximately 5:32 am, a hotel surveillance video showed the theft occurring. Sgt. Larry Oglesby of the Morrow Police Department told ESPN.com that Team Xtreme Racing reported the theft at 5:50 a.m. and “they are treating the car’s disappearance as a stolen vehicle”.

“We have no idea where it is,” Oglesby also said. “(The video) shows one male walking up to the vehicle between 5:30 and 5:32 [a.m.], you see him get out of the vehicle and then you see him walk up to that vehicle about 5:34 and the vehicle is driving out of the location.”

The police report stated that a silver or grey Jeep Cherokee was spotted leaving the hotel at the time of the theft. They are asking for help in locating the vehicles – a black 2004 Ford F-350 pulling a white trailer. Both had New Jersey tags. He estimated the overall value of all vehicles — including the $250,000 race car, engine, parts, etc. — was between $350,000 and $400,000.

Here it is……New Jersey plates pic.twitter.com/YayDb2Ya6u

— Travis Kvapil (@TravisKvapil) February 27, 2015

With this inside! @Teamxtreme44 pic.twitter.com/H5p1Boc9Cm

— Travis Kvapil (@TravisKvapil) February 27, 2015

The theft resulted in Team Xtreme Racing and Travis Kvapil withdrawing from this weekend’s race.

“While this is obviously a setback for this weekend, our plans remain to compete in the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season,” said team owner John Cohen. “We are working closely with the Morrow police in hopes that our truck, trailer and race car are safely returned.”