Jack Sprague / HAAS CNC Racing Part Ways

HARRISBURG, N.C. (July 16, 2003) – Haas CNC Racing, which fields the No. 0 NetZero HiSpeed Pontiac in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and Jack Sprague announced today a mutual decision to part ways effective immediately.

“Gene Haas gave me a great opportunity to move into the Winston Cup Series this season,” said Sprague, who has driven the NetZero Pontiac since the start of the season. “Unfortunately, being a rookie team with a rookie owner, rookie crew chief and a rookie driver, and not having a great deal of Winston Cup knowledge, we started off behind the eight ball. Haas CNC Racing made changes along the way to try to make the team more competitive, but we never really got a handle on it. After eight years of winning races and championships, this year’s been very frustrating for me, and I’m sure it has been equally as frustrating for them. That said, we decided to part ways and try to find success apart.”

The Haas CNC Racing team posted its best qualifying effort of the season when the NetZero Pontiac lined up in fifth place at Lowe’s (Concord, N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. The team’s highest finish of the season was a 14th-place effort in the season opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February.

“The Haas CNC Racing team hasn’t achieved the goals we set for ourselves prior to the start of the season,” stated Joe Custer, General Manager. “Everyone involved with this organization has high expectations for success. Jack Sprague is a talented race car driver, but we thought it would be in everybody’s best interest to make a change at this stage of the game. We feel confident we can continue to build this race team into a winning organization.”

“We appreciate all that Jack Sprague has done for the NetZero Racing Program,” commented Brian Woods, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for NetZero. During our three years together in this sport we have experienced the kind of success that most only dream about. We understand that it’s the team’s prerogative to do what it thinks will enhance the success of its organization. We wish Jack and his family success in all their future endeavors and look forward to future accomplishments with Haas CNC Racing.”