Top Finish Denied For Three-Time Champ

Kansas Speedway had not been especially kind to Jack Sprague in four past NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races. With solid performing and even race-leading trucks, something had always bitten Sprague. The bad luck continued this weekend in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway for Sprague and the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota.

"Today was really a shame for us," Sprague said. "The No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota was easily a top-three truck, but we just had some freak oil line failure that put us several laps down early in the race. I really hope that we can change our luck next week at Kentucky because that is the home track for the Wylers, and I would like for us to do well there."

Sprague and the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota started seventh and after quick times during two practices were looking forward to a good race and a solid finish at Kansas Speedway.  At Lap four, Sprague had moved into sixth place. He told the crew that the truck was loose early on, but he thought that it would improve and come to him as more laps clicked off the board.

Sprague reported to the crew at Lap 10 that the truck was now tight in the middle and loose off. The loose off condition was preventing Sprague from moving through the field the way he wanted to. The Wyler Racing team told Sprague that they would pit at the first caution to help his handling problems.

By Lap 20, Sprague had moved into the top five, but another problem was developing on the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota -the truck began smoking and not running the way it should be. Sprague continued on the race track, while his truck was smoking as he and the crew tried to determine what was wrong with the No. 60 Toyota.

As Sprague started to come down pit road to the attention of his crew at Lap 29, the caution flag waved. So as not to go a lap down, Sprague continued down pit road and back onto the race track.

He returned to pit road to the attention of his crew at Lap 31. As he entered pit road, he reported to the crew that oil was coming up through his shifter boot. The team went to work feverishly to determine the cause of the smoking. While changing four tires and adding fuel, the team discovered that an oil line was leaking. Sprague went three laps down to the leader while the crew made the necessary repairs on pit road.

Sprague returned to the track at Lap34 - three laps down and in 36th place. Sprague complained of being loose off on the restart. So under the next caution at Lap 39, Sprague brought the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota back down pit road for a track bar adjustment and to pull a rubber out of the right rear. The team also completed an oil line change.

Sprague returned to the track, now four laps down and still in 36th place. He continued to complain of being too loose. The team pitted again under the caution on Lap 82 in hopes of improving the handling on Sprague's truck. The team pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Sprague returned to the track in 33rd place.

Being so many laps down, Sprague could not make much forward progress on the race track. The team continued to work on the truck to help the handling throughout the course of the race. The Wyler Racing team again pitted at Lap 106 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. After a brief red flag at Lap 107, Sprague restarted in 30th place at Lap 111.

At the restart, the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota truck was posted as one of the fastest trucks on the race track despite being four laps down. Sprague was racing with the leaders, and at Lap 124, he passed the leaders and got one of his laps back the hard way.

After Sprague got back one of his laps, the team pitted under caution at Lap 128 for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Sprague radioed his crew after the restart that this truck was "the best it's been by far."

Three laps down and in 29th place, Sprague was unable to make up anymore positions on the race track and finished the race there. Sprague fell to ninth place in the point's standings following the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 - 331 points behind leader Todd Bodine and 79 points out of fifth place.

"It was a disappointing day for us," Sprague said. "I feel like we had one of the trucks to beat out there today when the race started, but we had some bad luck. Hopefully, our luck will turn next weekend."