Disappointing Weekend in Atlanta Fuels Determination for Sprague and #16
Chevy Trucks Team
HAMPTON, GA – March 13, 2004 – It was a tough couple of days at
the office for Jack Sprague and the members of the #16 Chevy Trucks Silverado
IWX Racing Team. After qualifying a disappointing 19th for the EasyCare Vehicle
Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, things didn’t improve
for the three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion.
“We struggled finding the handle to get speed all weekend,” said
Sprague. “We made change after change during happy hour to see what we
could find to improve our Chevy Trucks Silverado but just couldn’t seem
to get where we knew we should be.”
Saturday morning, the crew put their heads together going through notes from
testing as well as previous races to search for the answers they needed to
move the Chevy Trucks Silverado to the front of the field.
From virtually the drop of the green flag of Saturday’s 130 lap race,
the two-time NCTS team lead by Dave Fuge (team manager) and Chris Showalter
(crew chief) fought adversity. On lap eight, Sprague keyed his radio to relay
the truck was “wicked bad loose” as he slipped backward in the
standings.
On lap 16, another major setback hit the team when Sprague was black-flagged
by NASCAR officials for his driver’s side window net falling down. The
team decided to make major adjustments to the handling components of the truck
during the unscheduled pit stop to fix the window net. When Sprague rejoined
the field, he was in 34th position, two-laps down from the leader.
But despite the major adjustments, the handling didn’t improve and on
lap 40, Sprague came down pit road to make additional repairs to the window
net and further major adjustments to try and improve the handling of the truck.
When the yellow flag flew on lap 44, Sprague was in 33rd position, four laps
down to the leader.
The crew never gave up and continued to make changes to the truck as the race
progressed with air pressure, track bar adjustments, spring rubbers and wedge.
On lap 94, Sprague returned to the pits with the window net loose again. At
that time, the team made the final adjustments to the #16 Chevy Trucks Silverado.
When racing resumed, Sprague was 28th.
As the laps wound down to the finish, Sprague turned the best lap times of
the event.
“I don't know what to say,” Sprague continued. “We struggled
all weekend with our Chevy Trucks Silverado. It just didn't seem like we could
get a handle under us. Dave (Fuge, team manager), Chris (Showalter, crew chief)
and everyone on the IWX Chevy Trucks crew worked and worked to try to get us
better before the race started.
“They went through our test notes from Charlotte to see if we could
find something since we got rained out here at the test. We started out and
by the 2nd lap we were just wicked loose. Then we got black flagged for the
window net coming down so I brought it in and the guys made major changes to
see if we could get any better. Again, nothing seemed to really help us that
much.
“The window net kept coming down, so we came in again under yellow and
taped it up made more major changes, but by that point we were so far down,
it made more sense to take care of the truck and finish the race.”
Sprague concluded, “I am disappointed for our team, Chevrolet Silverado
and all our sponsors. We will be back and win races for them, but this just
wasn't our weekend. This team knows how to win races and championships, we
won’t quit until we get it right."
