Sprague Loudon qualifying notes

LOUDON, NH (July 20, 2001) - Jack Sprague drove the NetZero Platinum Chevy to his fifth pole position of the season rolling to a lap of 29.735 seconds (128.091 miles per hour) in qualifying for the New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway. The time and speed were new NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series track records for this event.

The fifth pole of the season equals Sprague's career best of five in a single year (1997). The pole was the 18th of Sprague's career (a series record) and his fourth in the last six races.

In those six races, Sprague has qualified no worse than third giving him a 1.66 qualifying average over those half dozen events. Additionally, Sprague has not qualified out of the Top-10 this season and has a 3.92 qualifying average for the year.

For the season, Sprague has one win (20 career, second all time).

Jack Sprague:
On winning the pole -
"I know I sound like a broken record, but the guys on the NetZero Platinum Chevy have done a great job. It came off the hauler fast and it was exceptionally good in practice. I was a little tight qualifying in the first practice, but it was still pretty decent. We've gotten pretty good finishing these two lap runs. Now we've just got to finish the race."

On only winning one race despite dominating several others -
"The guys are working extremely hard, the motor room is working extremely hard. We've just been having uncharacteristic problems. My crew chief, Dennis Connor, assures me he has it figured out and if he does, that will be great. We can put a period on some of these sentences we've been unable to finish."

On the NHIS race track -
They did a great job sealing this place. It's smooth as silk. I think the sealer parallels the sealer at Richmond (VA). It's got a lot of grip. It's unbelievable. These tires are harder than anything we've ever run her before and it still feels pretty grippy."

HM