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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 300 Preview: #24, Jack Sprague

30 October 1997

 
 #24 Jack Sprague, Quaker State Chevrolet
 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
 GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 300K Advance
 Phoenix International Raceway
 
            SPRAGUE STORMS DESERT IN SEARCH OF A LITTLE HISTORY 
   Quaker State Driver Bids For Fourth-Straight PIR Win & '97 Track Title

PHOENIX, AZ - If past performance is any indication, Jack Sprague has little 
to worry about as he takes a commanding 121-point lead into the final two 
events of the 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season at Phoenix and Las 
Vegas. 

In addition to a stranglehold on the top spot, Sprague (3,634 points) also 
owns victories his last time out at both tracks. In fact, the Quaker State 
frontrunner will be looking for his fourth-straight win at Phoenix 
International Raceway entering Saturday's GM Goodwrench/Delco Battery 300. 
Sprague set the truck series record by claiming his third consecutive Phoenix 
win in the Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic (April 20) with the largest 
margin of victory in truck series history at an eye-popping 13.186 seconds. 

With a victory Saturday, Sprague would join the likes of Bill Elliott and 
Dale Earnhardt as the only drivers to win four straight times at the same 
venue. Elliott and Earnhardt accomplished the feat at Michigan Speedway and 
Daytona International Speedway, respectively, on the Winston Cup Circuit. So 
Sprague has reason to feel good about his situation. But, don't tell him that 
just yet. 

"All of that stuff doesn't mean a thing unless we get it done, and by that I 
mean taking home the championship," said Sprague, who needs to finish 14th or 
better in the last two races or net 60 more points than Rich Bickle (3,513 
points) at Phoenix to secure the title. "I just can't take any chances. If I 
do something stupid, chances are I'm going to wreck. And there's too many 
people involved for me to do something on my own to compromise our chances. 
I'm looking forward to giving Quaker State and Hendrick Motorsports the title 
they deserve."

Sprague refers to PIR as his "home track" and with good reason. After Mike 
Skinner won both Phoenix events en route to the 1995 NCTS title, it's been 
all Sprague since then. The potent pair has combined to win all five truck 
races on the 1-mile paved oval in the desert. "I don't know if it is or it 
isn't our best track but it certainly has worked out well for us," Sprague 
said. 

Only three other drivers still have a mathematical chance to win the '97 
title. Bickle, Joe Ruttman and Mike Bliss have to hope that Sprague somehow 
sputters to have any hope of supplanting him as the circuit's top driver. And 
given his proven prowess on tracks 1-mile or longer (seven career wins), 
"Mile Track Jack" isn't ready for a fall. 

"The way I see it is I'd have felt good even if we were trailing by 50 points 
heading into these last two races," Sprague said. "But now that we have the 
lead, it's time to go for the throat. We're here to win both races. That's 
the approach that got us here and that's the mentality it'll take to finish 
this thing off. The Phoenix track and the distance in general have been kind 
to us in the past, that's for sure."

With so much history working in his favor, Quaker State's Sprague is poised 
to make some more in the desert on Saturday. 


By Muhleman Marketing