Sprague Once Again Strong at Milwaukee Mile

"Three Time Champ Keeps Knocking On Door To Victory Lane"

WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN (JUNE 26, 2006)- The Milwaukee Mile is one of Jack Sprague’s favorite stops on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule. Having finished outside of the Top 10 just once in nine starts at Milwaukee prior to this weekend, Sprague was confident that another trip to Wisconsin would produce another solid finish for the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota. And he was right - after starting on the outside pole for the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200, Sprague would drive the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota to a fourth-place finish – his fifth Top Five of the 2006 season.

"We got tight at the end of the race, and that really prevented us from making a charge for the win which I thought we might be able to do," Sprague said. "The No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota was really good today, and the guys were just perfect in the pits. I’m confident that if we can keep racing like we are, the Con-way Freight team is going to be in Victory Lane soon."

Sprague would start the 200-mile race from the outside pole.  Although Sprague hoped to move into the lead right off the start, that would not be the case. Instead Sprague fell to third-place on the first lap. Immediately, Sprague radioed to the crew that the No. 60 was tight off.  Despite the tight handling condition, Sprague held onto his third place spot over the next 25 laps. At Lap 29, Sprague told the crew that the truck was getting tighter in the center. Sprague was sitting in fourth place.

When the caution flag waved at Lap 36, it was the break that Sprague needed to alleviate some of the handling problems. The No. 60 Con-way Freight team pitted for four tires, fuel, an air pressure adjustment and a track bar adjustment. The crew returned Sprague to the track in fourth spot.  By Lap 46, Sprague moved up one spot into third-place. He told the team that the truck was getting better. Twenty laps later, Sprague took over the second-place spot at Lap 62.

The caution flag waved again at Lap 76. Sprague complained to the crew that the truck's front end was bouncing. The Con-way Freight pit crew changed two right side tires, added fuel and took two rounds of bite out of the left rear. As Sprague left his pits, he hit a NASCAR official – the official thought the team was doing a four tire stop instead of a two tire stop and didn’t move quickly enough from pit road. The official was ok and Sprague returned to the track in third place.

Again, Sprague began trying to make his move through the field. By Lap 89, Sprague had moved into second place. At the halfway point of the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200, Sprague took over the lead for the first time in the race. The No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota would lead the pack of trucks until the caution waved at Lap 113. Sprague told the team that his truck was still tight in the center. Sprague brought the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota down pit road for service. The crew changed four tires, added fuel and made another track bar adjustment to aid the handling condition.

Sprague returned to the track in sixth-place at Lap 118. Just two laps later, Sprague was part of an on-track altercation when the No. 12 got into the side of Sprague. The No. 12 truck spun, but the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota only sustained cosmetic damage.

"We should be ok," crew chief Tony Furr told the team.

Sprague moved up to the fourth place at Lap 124. He would not fall out of the Top 5 again during the remaining laps of the race. Sprague ran the final 90 laps of the race on the same set of tires.

The No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota finished fourth – the fifth top-five finish and seventh top-10 finish this season for the team. Sprague and the Wyler Racing team sit fifth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship points standings, 256 points behind leader Todd Bodine.

Sprague and the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota return to the track on Saturday, July 1 at Kansas Speedway at 3:15 p.m. ET. The race can be viewed on SPEED and heard on MRN/XM Satellite Radio.