Sprague Comes Up Fifth Again

“3-Time Champion Recovers From Loose Lug Nut”

FONTANA, CA (February 27, 2006) – Jack Sprague once again showed the strength of his No. 60 Con-Way Toyota Tundra as he scored his second fifth place finish in a row on Friday night in the running of the Racetickets.com 200 at the California Speedway.

“I had a lot of fun out there tonight – especially when Mark (Martin) and I ran together out front,” said Jack Sprague.  “Unfortunately we had a loose lug nut during our last pit stop and had to come back down pit road again which put us at the end of the field on the restart.  But my truck was real strong and we were able to rally and work ourselves back up into fifth.  We had a top-three truck tonight and for the second week in a row we led some laps and showed how strong this team is going to be this season.”

The No. 60 Con-Way Toyota was strong right off the trailer and was near the top of the speed charts after the two practice sessions.  Sprague and the Wyler Racing team did not get in the qualifying run that they would have liked but their eighth place effort was solid.  With a strong race truck under him, Jack made the most of the drop of the green flag and sprinted towards the front while picking up four positions on the field on the first lap.  By the fourth lap Sprague was running in the second position and breathing down the neck of the race leader despite fighting a little “tight in – loose off” condition on his truck.

Sprague and most of the field would come down pit road under caution on lap 19 for the first time.  A little air pressure adjustment and four fresh tires would help the No. 60 Con-Way Toyota sprint to the lead on lap 25.  Jack would stay out front until overtaken by Mark Martin as the tight condition re-surfaced on his Tundra.  He would ride in the second position until pitting for the second and final time on lap 59.  A strong stop by the Wyler Racing crew was denied as an additional trip down pit road was required for a lug nut left loose on the left front of the Con-Way machine.  This unfortunate miscue would find Jack restarting towards the rear of the field in the 28th position.

Sprague and his Wyler Racing crew rallied together to overcome the mistake and the No. 60 Con-Way Tundra aggressively worked its way through the field and back towards the front.  In less than ten laps, Jack moved up to the 14th spot when caution flew again on lap 71.  Back to green flag racing, Sprague would quickly move inside the top-10 and set his sights on passing one truck at a time.  A late race caution would set up a green-white-checkered finish for the second week in a row and Jack would fight for each precious position and bring home the Con-Way machine safely with a solid fifth place finish.

“Mark Martin was the cream of the crop out there tonight and I have more respect for him than anyone else,” stated Sprague.  “But our Tundra ran great out there and if we keep running like this all season we will visit victory lane quite a few times and contend for this championship – and that is our plan.  In the end I think we lost a few positions with that loose lug nut but we recovered from that to post another strong finish.  We get a few weeks off here and then we go to Atlanta and we dominated there last fall so we look for another strong run in our Con-Way Toyota Tundra.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes the next two weeks off before heading to the Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 17th.   For more information on Jack and the team, please visit them at www.wylerracing.com and www.jacksprague.com