Jack Sprague with the winning trophy at the O'Reilly 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2006. (David M. Vaughn Photo)

Only two O'Reilly 200 winners - Dennis Setzer in the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet and Brandon Whitt - aren't NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champions.

And, according to defending winner Jack Sprague who flies the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota colors, there are ample reasons why the .75-mile track favors the best the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has to offer.

"I don't know that Memphis is any tougher than anywhere else," he said. "It's just Memphis is just a little different track.

"One and two is certainly a different corner than three and four. You have to compromise so you can get around both corners well and that's hard to do."

Then there's the track surface itself.

"It's just a hard track to get ahold of," the three-time series champion said. "It eats tires. And it gets slippery and you've just got to be handling well."

Sprague adds, "I think it favors drivers that have been there a few times and know what to expect."

Sprague, the track's only two-time winner - he visited Victory Lane in 2000 as well - hopes the return to MMP will give Wyler Racing the opportunity to regain some momentum.

The team won the season-opening race at Daytona but has four finishes of 26th or worse in its last six starts. In the process, Sprague has fallen from fifth to eighth in the championship chase.

"We've been fast every week except for Texas," said Sprague, who has been beset by a litany of woes including inopportune flat tires. "I don't know about turning the season around. I just need the bad luck to quit.

"I don't necessarily want good luck; I just don't want the bad."