NASCAR Sprint Cup Car Stolen From Hotel Parking Lot

ATLANTA (AP) Travis Kvapil's NASCAR Sprint Cup car was stolen early Friday, forcing him to withdraw from a race this weekend near Atlanta.

A trailer with the red No. 44 car inside was hitched to a black 2004 Ford F-350 pickup truck parked outside a hotel in Morrow, Georgia, about 15 miles south of Atlanta, police said. Surveillance video shows the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot around 5:30 a.m., Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby said.

The trailer is plain white with no markings. The person who stole it likely didn't realize the racecar was inside, and may have thought it was lawn equipment or something else he could easily sell, Oglesby said.

"Hopefully they'll open this one up and say, `Oh no, this isn't what we thought,' and will drop it off at the nearest vacant lot or apartment complex or somewhere," Oglesby said.

The 2015 Chevy NASCAR racecar inside the trailer is valued at $250,000, according to a police report. Also inside the trailer was a spare engine valued at $100,000 and racing equipment valued at $17,500.

A spokesman said the No. 44 team has withdrawn from this weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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