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Bickle, Sprague Battle for Craftsman Truck Gatorade Front Runner Award in Louisville Decider

8 July 1997

          BICKLE, SPRAGUE BATTLE FOR NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK'S 
           GATORADE FRONT RUNNER AWARD IN LOUISVILLE DECIDER



DAYTONA BEACH, FL - The mid-season championship leader in the NASCAR 
Craftsman Truck Series, which determines the $10,000 Gatorade Front Runner 
Award, will be determined by the July 12 Link-Belt Construction Equipment 225 
(CBS Television, live 1:30 p.m. EDT) at the 7/16-mile Louisville (KY) Motor 
Speedway.

Current standings leader Rich Bickle, by qualifying for the $322,634 event, 
can make it a two-driver derby: between myself and Jack sprague, who trails 
by just 49 points entering the 13th of 26 events on the 1997 NASCAR Craftsman 
Truck Series schedule.

This marks the first time that a Louisville Motor Speedway race has decided 
the Gatorade Front Runner Award. Joe Ruttman collected the check in 1995, 
while 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday was the winner 
a year ago.

Bickle, who drives the Darrell Waltrip Motorsports-owned Sears DieHard 
Chevrolet, is eager to duplicate Hornaday's double-play of 1996. "Right now, 
the Gatorade Front Runner Award is a big thing to think about," said Bickle, 
a two-time winner in the series and the third-place finisher in the most 
recent event at The Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile. "If you lead at the halfway mark, 
you've got a good shot at the championship."

The Edgerton, Wis. native hasn't gone to victory circle since May 10 at 
Evergreen (Wash.) Speedway but has posted five top-four finishes during the 
six-race period. Still, Bickle isn't taking anything for granted, noting that 
Sprague, of Spring Lake, Mich., won on June 29 at Nazareth, Pa. and has led 
250 of the last 400 laps run.

"You've got to drive smart, but if you sit back and try to run fourth and the 
other guy wins every week, you're out of the hunt," he suggested, Bickle has 
scored 1,838 pints in Sprague's 1,789 during the season's first 12 races.

Now in its third year, the Gatorade Front Runner Award program features 
$503,500 in prize money for NASCAR's 12 divisions. The program also includes 
prize money for the competitor who is the race leader at the halfway point 
for each NASCAR Winston Cup Series ($10,000), NASCAR Busch Series ($2,000) 
and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ($1,000) event.

Gatorade also is an event night sponsor for the NASCAR Winston Racing Series, 
NASCAR's grassroots racing series that features nearly 100 tracks in 10 
regions through the country.

"There's no more appropriate athlete to represent Gatorade than a race car 
driver," said Bill Schmitt, vice president of sports marketing for Gatorade 
Worldwide. "We're proud to sponsor the Gatorade Front Runner Awards to 
recognize NASCAR athletes who perform under extreme conditions of heat and 
stress to reach their ultimate peak."

"The Gatorade Company's involvement (with NASCAR) through the Front Runner 
Award provides competitors in each NASCAR's 12 divisions with an extra 
opportunity for recognition and prize money during the year-long charge to 
the season championship," said Brian France, NASCAR vice president for 
marketing and communications.


By NASCAR Public Relations