Jack Sprague and Crew Chieff Tony Furr. (David M. Vaughn Photo)

No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota Tundra driver Jack Sprague discusses life on and off the track during Daytona Speedweeks.

Jack Sprague has always been known as a hard charger. It's a reputation that comes with a stout record behind it, having earned 29 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series wins, 28 poles, and three series championships. It's even earned him some nicknames, some complimentary and some not so much.

The Michigan native's career was boosted by a ride offered by NASCAR powerhouse team owner Rick Hendrick in 1995, and from there Sprague soon became the dominant force in NASCAR's newest series. In 2002, following his third Truck championship, Sprague's team moved to the NASCAR Busch Series. Two wins later, the sponsor wanted to move to the Cup Series, and Sprague grudgingly went along.

A frustrating year in Cup followed. In 2004, Sprague made the move back to the Truck Series and things started to change. Competitive once again, Sprague's life at the track was on an upswing. After a full season in Dave Fuge's potent Chevrolets, Sprague made the move to the Toyota camp with a handful of races left in the 2005 season. At the time of the move, it was the first time Sprague had raced anything other than a General Motors product in his career, dating back to its short track origins in Michigan.

In 2006, Sprague picked up two wins for the Wyler Racing team. His driving style has always meshed with the short tracks, where beating and banging plays a larger role, and Sprague went to victory lane at Memphis and Martinsville after starting from the pole. Still a relatively new combination, the Sprague/Wyler combination built strength as the season progressed.

Jack Sprague in the No. 60 Con-way Toyota Tundra en-route to winning the Chevy Silverado HD 250 at Daytona. (David M. Vaughn Photo)

With crew chief Tony Furr calling the shots and the entire team back in place after the off-season, Sprague is on many short lists as a possible championship contender in 2007. He did nothing to change anyone's mind in Daytona, kicking off the season with his first win, again from the pole, at the World Center of Speed and starting the season off in the championship points lead.

When it's time to climb aboard the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota, Sprague still has that familiar "game face" that fans of the Truck Series have come to recognize and competitors have come to fear. But away from the truck, Sprague has started doing something many fans and competitors haven't seen much throughout the years.

He's smiling.

Jack Sprague with the winning trophy from the Chevy Silverado HD 250 at Daytona. (VPS Motorimages Photo)

Always known for his "I'm not here to make friends" attitude in his early years as a Truck Series competitor, Sprague has softened somewhat. While the competitive drive is still there on the track, once off of it, Sprague is now more willing to socialize with his fellow drivers. Better yet, he's having fun in all aspects of his life.

"We're back racing with the Wylers, and that's pretty cool," Sprague said. "This is a great race team. We didn't lose a single person in the off season. That's unheard of. I've never been with a race team when that happened. Everybody is pumped up and we're going to see if we can't go get that fourth championship."

The racing side of the equation is one cause for joy in Sprague's life. But personally, things have been happening at a rapid pace and they came to a head just before the season kicked off at Daytona. He popped the question to Amy Schellenbach just three weeks before the season opener, giving him a wave of momentum and joy as he kicked off his 19th year of NASCAR racing.

Jack Sprague and fiance' Amy Schellenbach. (Ronda Greer Photo)

"It's been a pretty busy winter," Sprague said. "Amy is Jeff and Linda's niece, and I met her in June of last year at a Cincinnati Reds game. I threw out the first pitch and Jeff and Linda brought her along. We didn't communicate much until much later on and she came to the banquet, but after we did things have been escalating pretty fast. She is a wonderful woman and is the love of my life. I knew as soon as I met her that she was the one. My daughter Paige thinks the world of her, and she has a five-year-old daughter Jacquelyn that is a wonderful young lady."

The engagement is just one reason why Sprague comes to the racetrack with a smile on his face. While some would say you can't teach old dog new tricks, Sprague admits there are many things that have changed in his life since returning to the Truck Series in 2004.

"I think as you get older you go through things in your life you don't expect to go through," Sprague said, "such as divorce and losing friends. Losing Bobby Hamilton rocked my world, and so did losing Ricky Hendrick. Things happen in your life, and you learn very quickly that racing is just a part of your life, not your whole life. For a long time, racing was my entire life and I sacrificed a lot because of it. Then my daughter was born, and I learned right quick that she was my entire life. And that's really when I started doing good in racing.

"As I get older, I have started to see this as my job and my career. I am still very passionate about it and I love it, but my family and my friends have come to be more important than just racing. As long as I keep that perspective, I seem to do pretty well. I do have a lot of friends here at the racetrack. I didn't come here to make friends, but Hornaday, Skinner, Musgrave, and Setzer, we have a lot of respect for each other and we get mad at each other on the racetrack, but as soon as the race is over, it's over. We leave it on the track and go to the next one."

Sprague has seen the ups and downs in NASCAR, celebrating championships in the Truck Series and facing the ultimate frustration floundering at the back of the pack in a start-up Cup program in 2003. After struggling in the Cup Series, it has given him cause to celebrate his return to the Truck Series in 2004 and his ride with the Wyler team.

"That was a bad situation and I knew it going in," Sprague said. "They still aren't running good. I knew I shouldn't have done it. I felt it in my gut then, just like I felt it in my gut with this deal. I've known Tony (Furr) for 20 years. It's a lot harder to win these races and championships now than it was back in 1997 and 1999 and 2001. To win two races last year and finish fifth in the points was a good year. If we can get out Tundras to handle as well this year with the new nose, I think we can do even better. There's nothing I'd like more than to give the Wylers and Con-way their first championship."

After a dominant weekend in Daytona that saw Sprague win the race from the pole, he has already shown he will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the 2007 season. If consistency comes along with the wins, there could very well be a fourth championship trophy on his mantle.

And not that he needs any other reason to, but that surely would give him another reason to smile.