Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a man accused of stealing a Sprint Cup race car bearing a big No. 44, a theft that forced NASCAR driver Travis Kvapil to withdraw from an Atlanta Motor Speedway race.
Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby said Monday afternoon that he was waiting for the man, a "person of interest" in the case since the Feb. 26 theft, to come to headquarters with a lawyer.
If he doesn’t surrender, sheriff’s deputies will go to get him, said Oglesby, who has spoken to the man.
The man is wanted on a charge of theft by taking motor vehicle.
The unlikely caper has drawn widespread interest and media attention.
The car, along with the trailer housing it and the pickup pulling it, was stolen from outside a Morrow hotel where it was parked prior to the race. Surveillance video showed the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot about 5:30 a.m. Feb. 26.
Morrow police recovered the car after a motorist saw it on the side of Lenora Road in Snellville early Feb. 28, but that was too late for Kvapil to qualify.
Kvapil, a one-time Sprint Cup regular who had only five starts in the top NASCAR series last season and was looking to make his first appearance of 2015, was forced to withdraw from the race.
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