Late Contact Spoils Sprague’s Top-10 Run in Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisc. (June 25, 2007) - After a rough and tumble month, three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Jack Sprague and the Wyler Racing team were hoping to come out of The Milwaukee Mile with a strong finish and a good points day and they did just that after running among the top-5 on Friday night, bringing the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota Tundra home in one piece, and picking up one spot in the 2007 Championship Point Standings to solidify themselves within the top-10 in the Championship title chase.
Sprague, who has qualified within the top-10 in all of his 11 starts at The Milwaukee Mile, kept his streak alive by posting his eighth top-10 start of the season after qualifying the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota in third position with a lap of 29.537 seconds at a speed of 121.881 miles per hour. Sprague’s fast lap was just seven one-hundredths off the pole speed set by fellow Toyota Tundra driver, Mike Skinner.
At the drop of the green flag for the start of the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200, Sprague was a “little tight in the center” but knew that the Crew Chief Tony Furr would fix him up on his first pit stop. Sprague’s first opportunity to hit pit road came on lap 68 after the caution was displayed for debris.
Sprague brought the Con-way Freight Toyota to the attention of the crew where they outfitted him with four fresh tires, fuel, and significant chassis and air pressure adjustments returning him to the track in fourth position.
When the green flag waved for the restart, Sprague “started off a lot better” but he slid to fifth as the handling began to go away on the Con-way Freight Toyota. When the next caution fell for a wreck in turn four on lap 159, Sprague hit pit road for a second time. Furr called for a four-tire stop, with fuel, and another round of track bar and air pressure adjustments, but Sprague fell to 9th on the restart as a few other teams elected to take two-tires for track position.
When the race returned to green flag racing, Sprague wasted no time working into seventh position, but his shot at a top-five was wrecked after the No. 4 truck punted Sprague in turn two, sending him into a spin just six laps short of the checkered flag. Although Sprague spun, he showed great talent by gathering up his Toyota and remaining on the lead lap. The incident forced Sprague to pit road for right side tires and he fell to the tail end of the lead lap, restarting in 11th position on lap 196. Without time to work his way back through the field, Sprague finished 11th in the Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200.
“The Con-way Freight crew did a great job today preparing a truck that was strong all night,” said Sprague. “We had a shot at a top-five finish until we got wrecked toward the end of the race. We have been strong at every race this year but a series of misfortunes have jumped up and bitten us here lately.”
Sprague and the Wyler Racing team will take the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota Tundra to Memphis Motorsports Park for the running of the O’Reilly 200, under the lights, on Saturday, June 30th, 2007. Live television coverage will be provided by SPEED at 8:30 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live from MRN Radio.
