Trouble Finds Sprague at Martinsville

"Driver Endures Disappointing Finish With New Team”

MARTINSVILLE, VA (October 24, 2005) – A week of high anticipation and excitement ended prematurely for Jack Sprague and his Wyler Racing team on Saturday afternoon. The debut for the three-time series champion with his new team and Toyota Motorsports came to a halt when the No. 60 Toyota Tundra got caught up in a lap 164 pile-up on the front stretch which relegated Jack and his new machine to a spot behind the wall. The end result was a frustrating 29th place finish in the running of the Kroger 200 at the Martinsville Speedway.

“Geez, what a crazy day we had out there,” said Jack. “We unloaded here and were fast all day on Friday. We made a small change and it really caused us to be tight in qualifying and during the race. But Tony Furr (crew chief) and the guys on this team were working hard to make the handling better but we were hampered by some freaky things happening to us today. I got together with the No. 75 truck coming off pit road on one of our pits stops and we had to come back in to pull some sheet metal away – so instead of restarting in the top-ten where we had been running we ended up at the back of the pack – and that is never good at a place like Martinsville. That really proved to be fatal when we got caught behind a big wreck coming off turn four and we just had no where to go.”

Sprague and his new team showed their muscle early and often on Friday during the only practice session before qualifying. Jack would sit atop the speed charts for the majority of the practice session and end it there with lap times that consistently broke the existing track record. With high hopes for a great qualifying run, the No. 60 Toyota would click off a lap of 19.977 seconds which was good enough for the tenth starting position.

The drop of the green flag on race day would see Sprague and his No. 60 Tundra slowly move forward in the field and work their way inside the top-five by lap 24. Although Jack reported that the truck was pretty tight in the center and off the corner he continued to post some of the fastest laps in the early portion of the 200 lap event. Jack would come down pit road for the first time under caution on lap 55 to the attention of his Wyler Racing crew for four fresh tires with an air pressure adjustment, a track bar adjustment and fuel. The No. 60 Toyota would return to green flag racing on lap 59 in the 11th position.

Once again Jack would methodically work his way through the field and was running in the sixth position at the halfway mark in the race. On lap 105, Sprague would come down pit road for the second time for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. However, disaster would strike as the No. 60 truck was exiting its pit box in the tight confines of the Martinsville pit road. Jack and the No. 75 truck would collide with another trip down pit road needed for Sprague to repair some sheet metal damage on the right front. Unfortunately, the extra trip down pit road would have Jack re-starting from the rear of the field and that would prove to be disastrous.

The field would return to green flag racing on lap 110 with Sprague in the 26th position. He would continue to battle the tight condition on his Toyota Tundra while at the same time battling traffic as he attempted to move forward through the field. Sprague would make another trip down pit road under caution on lap 117 for the Wyler Racing crew to insert a spring rubber in the right rear of the No. 60 Toyota. Back to green, the field would see one of its longest green flags run and Sprague would move from the back up into the 19th position when on lap-164 a pile-up off of turn four collected the No. 60 Tundra. Jack would bring his truck down pit road to the attention of his crew but the on track contact had knocked a whole in the radiator and this ended the debut of Sprague with his Wyler Racing team.

“Things just didn’t go our way out there today and that happens so often at a place like Martinsville,” stated Sprague. “The guys on this team gave me an awesome truck and it was really refreshing to work with Tony Furr again. We had a strong truck this weekend and I think people noticed that. We got four more of these races to go and I am really excited about racing with this Wyler Racing team and Toyota Motorsports. I think we can make some exciting and fun things happen here the last month of the season. All we can do is put Martinsville behind us and move on to the next race.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series next heads to the fastest track on the circuit – the Atlanta Motor Speedway – for the running of the Easy Care Vehicle Service Contracts 200 on Saturday, October 28th. For more information on Jack and the team, please visit them at www.wylerracing.com and www.jacksprague.com