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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series No Fear Challenge: #24, Jack Sprague

16 October 1997

 
 #24 Jack Sprague, Quaker State Chevrolet
 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
 The No Fear Challenge Advance
 California Speedway
 
                 QUAKER STATE'S SPRAGUE FEARLESS IN FONTANA
  TRUCK LEADER TAKES TITLE HOPES & 56-POINT LEAD INTO THE NO FEAR CHALLENGE
 
FONTANA, CA - Heading into this Saturday's running of the No Fear Challenge 
at California Speedway in Fontana, Quaker State driver Jack Sprague knows he 
has to improve on last weekend's 10th-place showing in the Dodge/California 
Truckstop 300 to solidify his bid for a 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 
championship. 

Sprague, who began in the 10th position from a difficult outside fifth-row 
start, dropped back to 12th at the mandatory midway break before regaining 
his familiar spot in the top-10. He leads all NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 
drivers with 20 (out of a possible 23) top-10 finishes this season. 

"It's good to finish among the top 10 drivers, but we have to do better than 
that the rest of the way to wrap up this title," Sprague said. "We had good 
experiences at Phoenix and Las Vegas around this time last year. But Fontana 
comes first and we need to get the momentum rolling this weekend."

After contending with the less-than-stellar starting spot and a "tight" truck 
for the first half of the race, Sprague go some valuable assistance from crew 
chief Dennis Connor and the Quaker State Chevrolet crew. "We were lucky to 
come out of here with a top-10 finish and the points lead," Sprague said. 
"Dennis and the guys worked miracles at the break."

The "good experiences" at Phoenix and Las Vegas that Sprague alluded to were 
victories in the final two events of the 1996 season. While history and the 
longer distances might favor Sprague the rest of the way, he doesn't have to 
look far to find runner-up Rich Bickle behind him: 56 points to be exact. 
Bickle, who qualified second and finished fifth at Bakersfield last weekend, 
did what he could to ensure a close race by hacking 21 points off Sprague's 
lead. 

Sprague (3,484 points) was in the same role as Bickle (3,428) last year when 
he was the one stalking eventual champion Ron Hornaday. So he knows what it's 
like to be the hunter and the hunted. 

"Of course it's nice to be out in front as opposed to chasing somebody else. 
And I feel real good about our chances," Sprague said. "But we need to 
remember that there's work left to do. I think we all learned some valuable 
lessons from last season's experience. Finishing second last year was quite 
an accomplishment for our team because it was our first year together. Quaker 
State and Hendrick Motorsports have provided us with everything we need to 
get the job done. Now, we've just gotta go out and do it."

The No Fear Challenge will be the first series race on an oval track of more 
than 1.5 miles in length. Sprague, who has finished among the top five in 
three of four series races held on 1.5 mile tracks, is one of five drivers 
entered in this weekend's race to have won at a superspeedway. The man known 
as "Mile Track Jack" will be looking for the eighth superspeedway victory and 
more importantly, the first championship of his career.


By Muhleman Marketing