Late-Race Crash Sidelines Sprague, NetZero Chevy at Daytona

    DAYTONA BEACH, FL (July 8, 2002) - Jack Sprague and his NetZero Chevrolet appeared to be headed for another Top-10 finish only to be caught up in a late race wreck and finish 28th in the Stacker2/GNC Live Well 250 NASCAR Busch Series race at Daytona International Speedway Friday. The disappointing finish dropped Sprague from first to third in the 2002 NBS championship chase, 45 markers behind new leader Greg Biffle.

       "Some people must have thought this race was at Martinsville Speedway and not Daytona," said Sprague. "I was drafting Johnny Sauter and working with him all night and five laps to go and Todd Bodine is beating the crap out of the side of his car and about wrecked him..  So, I help Johnny get past him going down the front stretch and we get to the dogleg and then Todd started beating me all up.  He got me good going into Turn 1 and I wasn't able to gather it up coming off Turn 2 and we wrecked hard."

       Sprague's inaugural Daytona NBS race under the lights got off to a solid start when his No. 24 NetZero Chevrolet Monte Carlo posted the ninth quickest time in qualifying rolling to a lap of 183.887 miles per hour. At the start of the 100-lap event, Sprague had trouble keeping his NetZero Chevy on the bottom of the track, but with a minor adjustment and fresh tires, the Spring Lake, MI driver managed to stay with the lead draft throughout the race.

       Sprague barely avoided the first big wreck of the night when Randy LaJoie, Kerry Earnhardt and Bobby Hamilton, Jr. crashed hard on the front stretch. His luck would run out, however, on Lap 95 when contact with Bodine's car sent Sprague's Chevy hard into the Turn 2 wall. A total of 14 cars were involved in the ensuing wreck, including one car that completely drove over the top of Sprague's red, black and silver NetZero Monte Carlo.

       Sprague was transported to and later released from the Infield Care Center with a clean bill of health, but wasn't feeling the best as he watched his destroyed racecar loaded on to the team's transporter.

       "We wrecked at Talladega, rebuilt the car and brought it back here and now we're going home with it wrecked again," said Sprague. "I just can't figure it out.  We have a total mess of a racecar and with only five laps to go. I try like hell to race everyone clean every week and each week there's always the same guys acting like idiots."

       Sprague earned $17,885 for his 28th-place finish.

       Next up for Sprague and the NetZero Chevy will be the Tropicana Twister 300 Presented by Sam's Club at Chicagoland Speedway. The event will take the green flag Saturday, July 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  The 19th of 34 NASCAR Busch Series races this season will be telecast live on NBC. MRN Radio will also broadcast the race live worldwide on more than 400 stations including the American Armed Forces Network.

ABOUT NETZERO.
       NetZero is a United Online company.  United Online is a leading value-priced Internet service provider that commenced operations in September 2001 as the result of its acquisition of NetZero and Juno Online Services -- two of the most recognized Internet access brands in the United States and Canada. Through its subsidiaries, United Online offers both free and value-priced Internet access services in more than 5,000 cities. The company is headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., with offices in New York City and Hyderabad, India. United Online's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol "UNTD."   For more information about NetZero and United Online, visit http://www.unitedonline.net.  To obtain a NetZero CD, please call 1-800-DEFENDER.