Sprague / HAAS CNC Racing Chevy Have a Day of Learning at Rockingham

       ROCKINGHAM, NC (November 3, 2002) - Jack Sprague and the Haas CNC Racing team had a rough day at 'The Rock' as they finished 35th in the Pop Secret Microwave 400 NASCAR Winston Cup event Sunday.  It was the Busch Series regular's second race of the season in the No. 60 Chevy as he prepares for his full-time stint in 2003.

       "Today's race wasn't the best for us, but the positive side of it is we learned a lot out there today," said Sprague, who is currently fifth in the Busch Series point standings.  "We were really happy how we qualified and the car seemed to be better after the last practice. The scoring monitor didn't do the car I had before today any justice.  We really thought we had a Top-20 car, but it was just too loose in the beginning that I couldn't keep up with it and fell back."

      According to Sprague, his Haas ride was extremely loose from the start, never giving him the opportunity to get comfortable for the 393 lap event.  Throughout the day Sprague's crew performed flawlessly, making a number of adjustments so he could drive the car.  Major air pressure and track bar adjustments, as well as spring rubbers were added and pulled, but nothing helped.  By time the event came to a close, the No 60 car went in the opposite direction, this time it was extremely tight getting into the corners. Sprague managed to finish the race, but was seven laps down in the 35th position.

     "We didn't have the best day as far as racing goes, but we have some notes to put away in our files for next year and that's good.  We've got to keep our chins up and go on to Phoenix.  I've had some really great runs there and I think everyone's confidence is up about next weekend's races.  If things go in the direction we're hoping for, we should have a couple of good finishes."

        Next up for Sprague and the Haas CNC Racing team will be the Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Penzoil at Phoenix International Raceway. The field will take the green flag on Sunday, November 10 at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  Race 33 of the 34 scheduled events will be telecast live on NBC.  MRN Radio will also broadcast the race live on more than 300 affiliated stations worldwide.

ABOUT HAAS AUTOMATION
Haas Automation, Inc. is located in Oxnard, California and is the largest, most modern machine tool manufacturing operations in the United States, manufacturing four major product lines with nearly 900 employees.  Haas Automation, Inc. builds a full line of CNC vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, CNC lathes, rotary tables and 5C indexers. President Gene Haas founded the company in 1983 and in 1987 began developing its first vertical machining center (VMC) to perform machining operations, such as milling, drilling, tapping and boring and cost competitive with offshore manufacturers.  Today, Haas Corporate Headquarters are located in Oxnard, California. It is the largest, most modern machine tool manufacturing operation in the United States, manufacturing four major product lines with nearly 900 employees.