Jack Sprague No. 2 American Commercial Lines Chevrolet
Team Race Preview NASCAR Truck Series Race 17 of 25 — Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway
RECORD SETTING PACE: Jack Sprague owns the fastest race pace at Gateway (Ill.) International Raceway. In 2000, Sprague cruised to a 7.032 second victory over Jimmy Hensley at an average speed of 113.726 mph. Sprague led 145 of the 160 laps.
NOT THE ONLY VICTOR: Sprague is not the only Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) employee to find victory lane at Gateway. KHI general manager, Rick Carelli visited victory lane for the second time in his Truck Series career at Gateway. Nationwide Series Rookie and driver of the No. 33 Camping World/Rheem Chevrolet, Cale Gale won his first ARCA race in 2006 at Gateway. KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick found victory lane for the first time in the Nationwide Series at Gateway in 2000, the following year Harvick repeated as winner on his way to his first Nationwide Series championship.
Jack Sprague Quotes:
WHAT MAKES GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY UNIQUE?
“Gateway is really two drag strips that someone decided to put corners on. Gateway has two distinct ends. Usually you will be really good through turns one and two but have to give up a little in turns three and four to make your truck work the way you need it to. Gateway is a give-and-take kind of race track. The key to success at Gateway is having a strong motor and really good brakes.”
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 2 ACL team will bring chassis number 025 to Gateway International Raceway. This truck previously competed at the Milwaukee (Wisc.) Mile in June. Sprague brought home a 13th-place finish in Milwaukee, after a mid-race multi-truck crash that collected the No. 2 Chevrolet while running in the third position. Chassis
No. 025 is very similar to the truck the team ran at Martinsville (VA.) Speedway where the No. 2 team recorded their first pole of 2008.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sprague and the No. 2 ACL team survived the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, recording a 14th-place finish. Sprague and the No. 2 ACL team had a strong top-five run until two trucks collided in front of Sprague and KHI teammate Ron Hornaday at lap 179. Both Sprague and Hornaday were hard on the brakes but were unable to miss the incident. The No. 2 truck sustained heavy front-end damage but was able to complete the race, crossing the finish line in 14th position.
ABOUT AMERICAN COMMERCIAL LINES:
American Commercial Lines is a leader in the marine transportation and manufacturing business. Through its subsidiary companies, ACL owns and operates approximately 2,800 barges and 160 towboats; transporting a vast array of cargos such as grain, coal, steel, chemicals, petroleum products, edible oils, fertilizers and construction materials on the U.S. inland waterways. ACL also owns the largest single-site manufacturing facility for vessels in the United States, offering technically advanced marine design and manufacturing capabilities for both inland and ocean service vessels. ACL is publicly traded on NASDAQ under the symbol ACLI. For more information about ACL generally, visit www.aclines.com.
ABOUT KEVIN HARVICK INC.:
Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI), established in 2001, is a 70,000 sq. ft. facility located in Kernersville, N.C. KHI houses two full time Truck Series teams: the No. 33 Camping World/VFW Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday as well as the No. 2 American Commercial Lines (ACL)/RVs.com Chevrolet Silverado driven by three-time Truck Series champion Jack Sprague. KHI is also home to the No. 33 Camping World/RoadLoans.com/ Rheem Chevrolet driven by two-time Nationwide Series champion Kevin Harvick, Ron Hornaday and Cale Gale and the No. 77 Rheem/VFW Chevrolet driven by Cale Gale and Ron Hornaday competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. 2008 marks KHI’s fifth year of full-time competition in NASCAR’s elite divisions. Please visit www.kevinharvickinc.com for more information.