KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Police say Travis Kvapil’s NASCAR Sprint Cup car has been stolen ahead of a race this weekend near Atlanta.

Police say a trailer with the racecar inside was hitched to a pickup truck parked outside a Morrow hotel, about 15 miles south of Atlanta.

Morrow police Detective Sgt. Larry Oglesby says surveillance video shows the truck and trailer being driven out of the parking lot around 5:30 a.m. Friday.

The car was inside the plain white trailer. Oglesby says the person who stole it likely didn’t realize the car was inside. He says thieves often assume it’s lawn equipment or something else they can easily sell.

Oglesby says he hopes the trailer will be abandoned once the thief realizes what’s inside.

A team spokesman reported late Friday morning the car has been withdrawn from this weekend’s race.