Sprint Cup driver Travis Kvapil and his No. 44 team lost 15 minutes of practice time on Friday in preparation for Sunday's race at Phoenix. It could lose something even more important: its car.
In fallout from Thursday's report of an arrest warrant issued for team owner John Cohen, reports said a lien could be placed against Team Xtreme that could lead to seizure of Cohen's assets. Chief among them is the car Kvapil is driving.
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A bench warrant in New Jersey seeks Cohen's arrest for failure to pay an $85,000 court-ordered settlement last August. A lawyer for the two debtors in the case told USA Today that he has begun the lien process.
As of 1 p.m. ET Friday, Kvapil's car remained on the entry list for the Campingworld.com 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.
In the wake of the reported theft of Team Xtreme's rig used to haul a car to February's Atlanta race, attorney Elliott Malone cited Cohen's claim the car inside the trailer at the time was valued at $250,000.
The car was found hours later in a wooded area near Morrow, Ga. Although the trailer was not recovered, the truck used to haul it was found two days later. The trailer used instead of the team's tractor-trailer rig that week contained parts including an engine valued at $100,000 and other parts. It's the car value Malone could cite in his lien application.
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Cohen has said he was unaware of the bench warrant for his arrest. However, representatives said in news reports from NJ.com and other outlets that they attempted to contact him via phone, certified mail and email.
Cohen's team is based in North Carolina, and the New Jersey address he gave the court was never changed.
Cohen owes his creditors in a 2012 civil suit over a failed Manhattan nightclub. According to USA Today, plaintiffs Anthony Santucci and Jeffrey Reznik should receive $55,000 plus accrued interest in an Oct. 10, 2014, agreement in Essex County (N.J) Superior Court. The arrest warrant was issued Feb. 27 — the day two men were seen in surveillance video driving away from a Georgia motel in the rig carrying the No. 44 car.
Team Xtreme owns three cars, two of which were damaged at Daytona while Reed Sorenson was driving. Kvapil failed to qualify the No. 44 car used at Las Vegas. The team prepared for Friday's qualifications for the race to be run Sunday at Phoenix.
Cohen bought a car from Swan Racing when that operation folded last year.
NASCAR has yet to comment on the warrant against Cohen but reportedly could take disciplinary action.