NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge California Truckstop 300 Preview: Rich Bickle
9 October 1997
MESA MARIN'S DODGE CALIFORNIA TRUCKSTOP 300 IS RICH BICKLE'S LAST CHANCE
TO WIELD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SHORT TRACK ADVANTAGE
DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Time, as well as distance, are the enemies as Rich
Bickle attempts to overhaul Jack Sprague in pursuit of the 1997 NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series championship.
There are only four races left on the schedule and just one of those,
Sunday's (October12) Dodge California Truck Stop 300 (TNN, 4:30
p.m. EDT live) at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., will be
run on Bickle's layout of choice - a short track.
Bickle has nothing against venues of more than a mile in length. "I
really like the (super) speedways better," he says, "but our strong
suit has been the short track. A lot of it probably has to do with me
having run 150 different tracks and 115 of them were short
tracks. Jack's strength - his engine - helps him on the larger ones."
Statistics prove Bickle's point: all of his Sears DieHard Chevrolet's
three victories have come on short tracks, most recently at
Martinsville, Va., while Sprague's Quaker State Chevrolet team counts
two of three 1997 wins on superspeedways. In fact, Sprague - an
eight-time series winner - has won just once on a track of under a
mile in length, in August at Nashville, TN.
Thus, Bickle figures he has to gain some ground in Bakersfield, before
the $7.1 million series moves to the 2.0-mile California Speedway in
Fontana, Calif., followed by season-closing superspeedway events at
Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway and the Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor
Speedway.
Sprague leads by 77 points, adding 28 to his lead with a fifth-place
finish in the Oct. 5 Kragen/Exide 151 at Sears Point Raceway in
Sonoma, CA Bickle finished 12th in the season's final road race.
Just beating Sprague at Bakersfield would be a confidence-builder to
Bickle, who battled his current rival fender-to-fender in the closing
laps of last year's Dodge California Truckstop 300. The pair caught
race leader Ron Hornaday with fewer than 10 laps remaining, then
slammed together and handed the victory to a shadowing Mike Skinner.
Bickle still smarts over the defeat - and will use it as a
motivational tool this week.
"If it hadn't been for that crash, I would have won the first race for
Dodge and (then team owner) Richard Petty," recalls Bickle. "I owe him
(Sprague) one, I guess the track still owes me one."
Whoever wins the Dodge California Truck Stop 300 will be a superb
tactician. Mesa Marin Raceway's slick, 1/2-mile surface punishes
tires and quickly can turn the fastest truck into just another lapped
competitor. Skinner, who drives Richard Childress Racing's Lowe's
Chevrolet in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition, won both of the
track's previous fall races. He saved his Goodyears, then let the
leaders back into his clutches.
"You almost have to run pace car speed to save your stuff," agrees
Bickle, whose 1997 short track finish average is 3.7. "I've seen every
surface type, everything you can see. You learn patience and
smoothness. It really makes a difference. Last year, I waited 280
laps, then we were able to pass people on the outside."
Sprague and Bickle aren't the only title contenders looking for a
victory at Mesa Marin Raceway. Joe Ruttman is just 156 points out of
the lead, following his Oct. 6 victory at Sears Point
Raceway. Ruttman, who owns 1995 series short track victories at
Martinsville and Bristol, Tenn., finished third in last year's Dodge
California Truck Stop 300 and fifth the previous year
The 52-year-old Ruttman, a three-time 1997 winner, never has finished
off the lead lap in three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at Mesa
Marin Raceway.
Busch Pole qualifying for the $310,1l9 event will be held Saturday,
prior to the companion NASCAR Winston West Series Spears Manufacturing
250 (FOX Sports, 11 p,m. EDT, live), to set the 36-truck starting
field.
By NASCAR Public Relations
