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Travis Kvapil's Sprint Cup car stolen; driver withdraws from Sunday's race

Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Travis Kvapil's race car for the Sprint Cup Series race this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway was stolen from a hotel parking lot in Morrow, Ga., the driver tweeted Friday.

The car was in a black dually with an enclosed trailer, both of which were stolen, along with the Tram Xtreme No. 44 car.

Team owner John Cohen ESPN.com that the team will be forced to withdraw from Sunday's race, Bob Pockrass reports.

The first practice is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday and teams usually present a car for inspection an hour or two before the start of practice.

"Sometimes what happens when thieves see trailers, they might just assume there's something in the trailer they can go off and sell," Morrow Police Sgt. Larry Oglesby told Jeff Gluck of USA Today Sports. "Sometimes when things like this occur, they will drop off the items in a parking lot somewhere – like a Walmart parking lot – once they realize what they have.

"They'll open it up and say, 'Oh my God, this is not what we thought it was. Let's get out of here.' And they'll take off and leave it sitting there. We're hoping that will be the situation so he can get back to his races this weekend, because they drove quite a distance to participate."

According to the police report, obtained by USA Today, the car is valued at $250,000. A backup engine which is also inside the trailer is valued at $100,000, along with another $17,500 worth of other equipment inside the trailer.

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