Sprague, NetZero
Chevy Ready for Final Season Showdown and Last Run for Hendrick Motorsports
HOMESTEAD, FL (November
11, 2002) - As Jack Sprague prepares for Saturday's Ford 300 NASCAR Busch
Series event at Homestead Miami Speedway he has a few things on his mind.
Not only will the three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion pilot
his No. 24 NetZero Chevy for the last time, but it marks his final run as a
Hendrick Motorsports driver. When the checkered flag waves on Saturday,
Sprague's impressive eight year career driving for Rick Hendrick will come
to an end as he prepares for his new roll as the driver for Gene Haas and
Haas CNC Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
"It really doesn't feel
like it's been eight years," said Sprague. "Rick (Hendrick) took a chance on
me a long time ago when it seemed like no one else would. I'm a lucky guy
to have had the amount of success I've earned and I owe a great of that
success to Rick and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. I'm moving on, but
the decision to leave and drive for Gene Haas was definitely a tough one.
Rick never pressured me to leave or stay. It was something we talked about
for a long time and in the end, it seemed the thing to do at this stage of
my career.. Gene Haas and Rick Hendrick have been friends for a long time.
Haas Automation has been an associate sponsor on all the Hendrick cars for
years, so the relationship was already there and that made things much
easier on all of us."
Everything going on isn't going to cloud their judgment as the team
gets ready for this weekend. Sprague and the NetZero team only have notes
from their Truck Series days to act on, but considering the success achieved
at the 1.5-mile oval, things should go smooth. In his six NCTS starts at
Homestead, Sprague has never won, but grabbed the runner-up spot on two
occasions. He holds an average finish of sixth and has started and finished
outside the top 10 only once. In addition, Sprague won the Bud Pole Award in
the 1998 Florida Dodge Dealers 400 NCTS event. Things are much different
for the Spring Lake, MI driver as he prepares to strap into the No.24 Chevy
on Saturday, but everyone involved is confident they'll get a handle on it
and give Hendrick Motorsports a run for the win.
"Homestead isn't my best track, but it's been pretty good to me over
the years. I've never raced anything other than a truck there, so both
races this weekend will be a first for my team and me. We brought a brand
new car down a few weeks ago to test and it wasn't that great of a car
handling wise, so we're bringing back one of my favorites - 'Chassis 245'.
It's performed well everywhere it has been, so since we weren't sure how the
new car would be in the race, we decided to just go with one we know we can
rely on. We should be okay. We don't have any notes to go on other than
what we got from the test, but Hendrick Motorsports has great engineers that
work with us and help out with what we need to get a good race car. I would
like nothing more than to give Rick (Hendrick) and the team a win to finish
out our time together."
In addition to Saturday's NBS event, Sprague will attempt to qualify
for the Ford 400 Winston Cup event. Sprague will pilot the No. 60 NetZero
Chevy. NetZero has stepped up and will be the primary sponsor on the Haas
CNC Racing Chevrolet for the 2003 season.
"I'm really happy that
NetZero decided to make the jump to Winston Cup with Gene Haas," said
Sprague. "It took a lot of the weight off our shoulders when the decision
was made and we were able to announce it last weekend at Phoenix. Brian
Woods and everyone at NetZero are great to work with and I'm proud to have
such great people stand behind me the last two years. Next year is going to
be a learning experience for all of us, but I think we'll give them
something to be proud of."
"Homestead is pretty nice and it's been good to me over the years,"
said Sprague who is also attempting to make his third Winston Cup race of
the season in. "It's flat and fairly smooth with flat, sweeping corners.
It's fast and you can run in the second and third groove, so it's easy to
pass, so qualifying really isn't that much of an issue. If you start at the
back you can get to the front easy enough."
The Ford 300 will take the green flag Saturday, November 16,
2002 at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The event will be the 33rd of 34
NASCAR Busch Series races this season and will be telecast live on NBC. MRN
Radio will also broadcast the race live on more than 300 affiliated stations
worldwide.
ABOUT NETZERO.
Originally launched in 1998, NetZero is a United Online company. United
Online is a leading value-priced Internet service provider that offers both
free and value-priced Internet access services through its subsidiaries
NetZero and Juno in more than 5,000 cities in the United States and Canada.
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 1-877-NETZERO.
