Sprague / NetZero HiSpeed Racing Team
Finish 31st in Daytona
HUNTERSVILLE, NC (July 7, 2003) – Jack Sprague and the NetZero HiSpeed
Racing team returned to the site of their first NASCAR Winston Cup race together
this weekend and finished 31st at Daytona International Speedway Saturday night.
Sprague posted a speed of 182.437 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile oval during
his qualifying run on Thursday evening and lined up 35th on the starting grid
for the Pepsi 400, the third of four restrictor plate races held this season.
Hot and humid conditions prevailed all weekend and Saturday evening was no
exception. The green flag flew to start the race, and though Sprague lost
several positions on the first lap, he remained patient in the 43-car draft
and by
Lap 20, was running in 30th. Sprague radioed to crew chief Tony Furr that
the car was a little tight, but otherwise not bad. Furr made plans to make
an air
pressure adjustment to the right front tire during the first pit stop, which
came on Lap 35 of the 160-lap race. Following the stop, Sprague drove the
NetZero HiSpeed Pontiac Grand Prix back out onto the track and into a pack
of seven
drafting cars.
Slight contact between Sprague and the No. 77 driven by Dave Blaney brought
out the first yellow flag of the evening. A series of pit stops during the
caution period enabled the team to make minor repairs to the right front
of the car as well as bolt on fresh Goodyear tires and fill the gas tank
with
76 fuel. There is an old NASCAR saying that cautions breed cautions, and
the Pepsi 400 was no exception. Five laps after the restart on Lap 69,
two cars
made contact, which resulted in a multi-car accident.
Luckily, Sprague was
able to maneuver through the melee unscathed. The first sign of trouble came
for the team following a pit stop on lap 113. While many teams opted to take
on only two new tires, the NetZero HiSpeed team opted for four, which left
Sprague behind the lead pack on the racetrack and in only a two car draft.
A final pit stop on Lap 142 ended with almost the same result and Sprague
took the checkered flag in 31st. Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Greg
Biffle
won the event, his first NASCAR Winston Cup victory. “We had a decent
car,” commented Sprague. “We struggled with the NetZero HiSpeed
Pontiac in practice and Tony (Furr) and the guys put their heads together
to come up with something for the race, and it worked. We were a little tight
throughout the race, but it wasn’t bad. Somehow we got behind after
a pit stop and pretty much lost the draft. I don’t know what happened,
but I know we lost our drafting partners, and after that all we could do
was ride around pretty much by ourselves. It was unfortunate, we had a good
car.”
This weekend the NetZero HiSpeed Racing team heads to Chicagoland Speedway
for the running of the Tropicana 400. Qualifying for the event will take
place Friday, July 11, with the drop of the green flag scheduled for Sunday
at 3
p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The event will be telecast live on NBC and will
be broadcast worldwide by MRN Radio.
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