No. 0 NetZero to Make Debut in Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL-- (February 13, 2003) Jack Sprague and the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac will make their first appearance of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season in this Sunday's Daytona 500. Sprague will start the race off in the 24th position after qualifying in the second of two Gatorade 125 races today at Daytona International Speedway.

The Haas CNC Racing team had a fast car for the 50-lap race and finished 13th in the 25-car race. Sprague is the second-fastest rookie to qualify for the Daytona 500, finishing only behind Jaime McMurray, who qualified in the 19th position.

"We went out in 14th place and moved up to 10th, but then fell back to 22nd as Jack was just trying to stay out of trouble," said Joe Custer, general manager for Haas CNC Racing.

"The real race was in the pits. We had an awesome pit stop and came out ahead of lot of the other teams. The NetZero pit crew did a great job today," said Custer.

The race was uneventful except for when the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac suffered a flat tire. "We blew out the right front tire coming in to the pits, but it didn't effect us as were planning to change that tire anyway," said Custer.

"We sure are happy to be in the biggest race of the year. It's a hard thing to qualify for, but everyone from Jack to the pit crew did a great job today," said Custer.

Robby Gordon won the first of the qualifying races while Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is the favorite to win Sunday's race, won the second race. The Gatorade 125s are used to set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. Jeff Green won the pole position in qualifying on Monday.

The Daytona 500 begins at 12:00 p.m. EST and will be televised by the FOX television network.