Sprague Emerges from Lightning and Smoke to Score 13th-Place Finish
WEST ALLIS, Wisc. (June 23, 2008) --- Jack Sprague and the No. 2 RVs.com Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) Chevrolet team started the Camping World RV Sales 200 from the fifth position, but contact from another truck resulted in a spin on lap 99, which led Sprague to a 13th-place finish.
“We are going to get us a win one of these days, once those boys stop running into us,” Sprague said. “There really was nothing we could do. For the second week in a row we were victims of other people’s poor driving. The No. 2 RVs.com Chevrolet was really good the last clean run we had. I feel like week in and week out we are contenders to win but are taken out by circumstances beyond our control. I hate it for these guys and all of KHI, but we will battle back and see what we can get next week at Memphis.”
As the Camping World RV Sales 200 began, Sprague started to move toward the front of the field from his fifth-place starting position. On lap 73, Sprague and the No. 2 RVs.com team brought the truck down pit road for the first scheduled green-flag pit stop of the evening. The team changed four tires, added fuel and made an air pressure adjustment to help Sprague, who complained that his truck was tight through the center of the corners. As green-flag pit stops cycled through, an untimely caution at lap 77 resulted in the majority of the field being caught a lap down. Sprague was scored the first truck one lap down to the leader in seventh place and received the “lucky dog” award. Sprague regained a lap, but was required to restart the race at the tail end of the longest line.
The fourth caution of the night flew at lap 94, allowing Sprague to catch-up to the lead pack. With only eight trucks on the lead lap, the team decided to make a fuel-only stop on lap 96. Following the stop, Sprague resumed competition in the third position. On the restart at lap 98, Sprague was forced to the bottom of the racetrack by leader Johnny Benson. Sprague checked up and was hit from behind causing his No. 2 RVs.com Chevrolet to spin in front of the field. The team decided to bring the truck to pit road on lap 101 to repair left-front and left-rear fender damage. Sprague restarted on lap 104 in the sixteenth position. Fighting an extremely loose-handling truck, Sprague continued to fight to stay on the lead lap.
On lap 150, NASCAR red flagged the race to evacuate fans from the stands due to a lightning storm. After a 25 minute red flag, the race resumed and the No. 2 team brought the truck back down pit road to apply a newly fabricated left-front fender to help the truck’s downforce and ability to turn through the center of the corner. Sprague crossed the finish line in the 13th-position.
