Jack Sprague Clinches Three Awards and Near Win at Martinsville’s Paperclip
Martinsville, Va. (October 22, 2007) – Three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Jack Sprague came close to scoring his second win of the season on Saturday at the half-mile oval of Martinsville Speedway after sitting on the pole and leading 26 laps in the Kroger 200. But his shot for the win was killed when his Con-way Freight Toyota was nearly wrecked with two laps to go. Sprague used his driving talent to hold onto the No. 60 truck and take runner-up honors in the event that he won last year.
“I was definitely faster,” said Sprague of the final few laps. “It just took my truck a little longer to get going and I just wasn’t willing to wreck Mike (Skinner) for the win, but (Matt) Crafton was willing to wreck me for second. That cost me a shot at Skinner when he turned me sideways with two to go -- really with no reason.”
Sprague had reason to be proud after his Con-way Freight Toyota took the Bud Pole award for the second time this year after laying down a fast lap of 19.796 seconds at a speed of 95.656 miles per hour. Sprague’s lap was nearly two-tenths of a second faster than the second-place qualifier and marked the 31st pole of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. Sprague’s last pole came at Daytona International Speedway in February where he went on to win the race.
“The guys on this Wyler Racing team brought a great truck,” said Sprague prior to the race. “It was the same one we won with here last fall. The Con-way Freight Toyota was really good in qualifying. I was really happy with our lap. Hopefully we can get a good race out this race and if not win it, we need to finish good.”
When Sprague led the field to the green flag for the start of the Kroger 200, he set a personal milestone by making his 400th career start in NASCAR. It also marked Sprague’s third Bud Pole and 13th top-10 start in his 15 career races at Martinsville Speedway.
At the drop of the green flag, Sprague was “just cruisin’” around the 0.526-mile paperclip-shaped oval and he led the field until the first caution flag on lap 26. Sprague was a “little free off” and hit pit road under caution for fuel only. With other teams on different pit strategies, Sprague returned to the track in third but he didn’t remain there long after NASCAR threw the green flag on lap 30. By lap 35, Sprague worked his way into second spot behind fellow Toyota driver, Terry Cook.
Sprague, who was the fastest driver early in a run, kept the Con-way Freight Toyota in second spot until lap 132 when Cook got onto his brakes earlier than Sprague expected and the nose of the Con-way Freight Toyota tapped the back of Cook’s machine. Cook’s tail-end wiggled as he drifted up a lane. In the exchange, the third-place truck of Mike Skinner slid by, keeping Sprague in second spot. Sprague was able to avoid the event’s 13 cautions but they clearly put a damper on his bid for the win since it took his truck a little longer to “get going”.
“It was a good race and our truck was really good,” said Sprague after the race. “We didn’t want to take a chance of gambling on fuel and I don’t know how many caution flags there were, but I don’t think we would have made it if we tried. I got into Terry (Cook) a little bit and I didn’t mean to. He didn’t pit for fuel and he was losing his handle on the truck and holding us up. He got on his brakes getting into the corner a lot earlier than I thought he was going to and I guess he thought I meant to wreck him. He tried killing me getting into the corner and that allowed (Mike) Skinner to get by me and that was pretty much the end of it. After that we really didn’t have anything other than five-lap runs and I needed about 10 laps to be able to get him.”
Sprague picked up the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award for his performance in the Kroger 200 and the Con-way Freight pit crew grabbed the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive Through Award for spending the least overall time on pit road (36.454 seconds).
Sprague and the Wyler Racing team will take the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota Tundra to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the running of the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 on Saturday, October 27th. Live television coverage from the 1.54-mile paved oval will be provided by SPEED at 12:30 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live from MRN Radio.