Kvapil to fill in for Wood at Dover Busch race
DOVER, Del. -- Jon Wood's already tough season has gotten a little bit worse at Dover International Speedway.
According to his team, he has left the track and returned home to North Carolina after consulting a doctor for a severe headache he experienced after Friday's practice session.
Wood drove his Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford in Friday morning's practice session for Saturday afternoon's Dover 200 Busch Series race, finishing 24th out of 38 cars that turned laps.
When the afternoon practice began, Wood had left the track to see a doctor, who said Wood shouldn't race on Saturday, according to Travis Kvapil, who will fill in for Wood on Saurday. Mark Martin practiced the car and was 12th, but Kvapil will qualify and race the car.
Wood has returned home to North Carolina, according to Scott Zipadelli, the team's crew chief.
"They sent him to the doctor to make sure he's OK," Zipadelli said. "I talked to him late [Friday] afternoon and he's doing OK. He just needs to rest."
"We respect Jon's decision to step aside while he's not feeling well and look forward to having him back as soon as possible," team owner Tad Geschickter said in a release announcing Kvapil would drive.
Kvapil, who has made just two Busch Series starts in his career, spent the last two years in Nextel Cup, but is driving full time for Roush Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series this season. He finished third in Friday's AAA Insurance 200 at Dover.
He was approached about filling in for Wood shortly before the start of the truck series race.
"I was getting ready for driver intros and was told Tad and Scott wanted to talk to me about driving the car," Kvapil said. "I said as long as I fit [in the seat] and Jack Roush says it's OK, let's do it."
"I'll feel the car out for a couple of laps and just work on [the setup] all day during the race. I've got the truck race under my belt. I know the truck is a different animal, but I've run Cup cars here in the past," Kvapil said of the adjustment from trucks to Busch cars. "I jumped in ... a Busch car at the Charlotte test a few weeks ago, so I have somewhat of a feel of what a Busch car feels like compared to what I'm used to in a truck."
Zipadelli is used to dealing with adversity this season. Wood finished 15th in points in 2005 and 14th last year, but sits 22nd in points this season with just one top 10. He's been involved in a number of wrecks this season and has just four lead-lap finishes.
Zipadelli said Wood hadn't been feeling well on and off prior to Friday. The team didn't practice much in the opening session, but that was because Zipadelli wanted to save a set of tires for the rest of the weekend. Soon, though, his driver's health was also a concern.
"He didn't feel any better after lying down for a little while," Zipadelli said. "It's not a place where you want to be under the weather. It will make you feel [bad] even after a decent day. So you don't want to start [feeling bad]."
Zipadelli said the car ran well from the outset and the team plans on making the best of it in the race.
"We've experienced some adversity this year, so we'll just keep plugging away and try to turn it around," said Zipadelli, adding his team hasn't let circumstances get it down. "Every time we build a new car, it runs better and better."
"We've just got to where we finish races and we're fine. When we finish a race we're fine. It's just a matter of getting to that point."
Mark Ashenfelter is an associate editor at ESPN.
