Sprague didn't waste any time wheeling the NetZero Chevy to the front
of the pack after his sub par qualifying effort. The Spring Lake, MI driver
made his way into the eighth spot when the second caution flag waved on Lap
74. Sprague came in for a four-tire stop, but as he rolled off pit road the
No. 24 car's the left front fender made contact with the No. 48 car or Kenny
Wallace. Wallace had checked up for another car exiting the pits in front
of him, causing the event. The altercation damaged Sprague's hot rod, but
not enough for a return trip down pit road leaving Sprague to restart
seventh.
"The guys did an awesome job during that first pit stop. I couldn't
believe it when I got into Kenny (Wallace). It was just one of those
deals. It's nobody's fault, but I thought for sure I'd lose the spots I had
gained if I had to come in for repairs. Thank god we were okay and
continued racing. We really got lucky on that one because it could have cost
us the great finish we ended up with."
Sprague went on to stay in the Top-10 picking up more spots as the race
began to hit half way. The NetZero team made their final performance on Lap
139 as they ripped off a 16.50 second stop, included repairs the front
fender. The impressive display of teamwork maintained Sprague's 8th spot in
the running order. Sprague fought hard to the final caution with two laps
to go. Sprague's impressive day ended with a third-place finish.
"Dover is no Sunday drive. It's a track you want to start at the front
and stay at the front as long as possible because more than likely, things
happen and they happen big. We were lucky today that not too much happened
and the race had long green flag runs. It seemed like we were having one of
our typical days - practice good, qualify awful, end up with a great car,
but then get caught up in a mess. We were lucky today. That's all I can
say."
Sprague earned $25,915 for his strong effort and is fourth in the
points 3508 points. He is 345 markers behind leader Greg Biffle.