Catching up with ... TravisKVAPIL

Travis Kvapil, who drives the No. 32 Tide/Downy Chevrolet, is 40th in the standings. His average finish is 33.4 in five starts. (He failed to qualify at Atlanta and California.) NASCAR

Travis Kvapil, a second-year driver in Nextel Cup, drives the No. 32 PPI Motorsports Chevrolet for a single-car team owned by Cal Wells and based in Hickory, N.C. Kvapil finished 33rd in the 2005 Nextel Cup championship standings while driving the No. 77 Dodge owned by Doug Bawel.

The 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, Kvapil is 40th in points entering Saturday night's Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. He took a few moments to answer some questions from Cox News Service writer Rick Minter.

Q: How do you feel about racing at Phoenix?

A: "I'm looking forward to it. It's a mile racetrack, but it's kind of back to short-track racing. It takes a lot of the aero and horsepower out of the equation. It's back to just getting our car to handle and having the right springs and shocks under the car and the driver doing a good job. I had a decent run there last fall. I'm looking forward to getting back to it."

Q: How do you feel about Talladega and restrictor-plate racing, in general?

A: "I haven't had the greatest success, but I haven't been that bad. A lot of it is how you approach the day. For me, in the past I've been one of those guys that goes into the back and just sort of rides it out. And when it's time to go at the end, I try to make a run.

"It has been successful for me in the fact that I haven't got torn up too much and have been able to stay out of the big wrecks. It's definitely a lot less stressful. A lot of times there's a big wreck and it's out of control, and you can get caught up in someone else's doing. But at the same time, maybe you don't need to be putting yourself in a situation where you're in the middle of a 20-car pack. It's up to you how you want to race there."

Q: What's the biggest difference in single vs. multi-car teams?

A: "Probably the biggest thing is there's not a big chain of command. There's one or two people in management, and if you want to make changes or get the real scoop on the story, you know who to go to. In the multi-car teams, it just seems like there's a lot of managers and lot of people running the show."

Q: How is it working with new crew chief Gary Putnam?

A: "I'm excited about it. James [Ince] did a great job for us getting us to this point. But we just didn't have speed and we had struggled on Fridays. So we had to make a change. I think Gary is going to be a good guy to plug in there. He's been with the team since January. The guys all really like him. He's a calm, level-headed guy. And he's done it before. I think it's going to be a good change."

Q: What do you like on TV? A: "The only show that I religiously watch is "24" Monday nights on Fox. That's the only one I really like."