Jack
Sprague
No. 2 RVs.com Chevy Silverado
Kroger 250 Post-Race Report
 MARTINSVILLE, Va.
(March 31, 2008) --- Jack Sprague and the Kevin Harvick Inc.
(KHI) No. 2 RVs.com team entered the Kroger 250 at Martinsville
(Va.) with high hopes. Those hopes rose even higher after
Sprague set a track record in qualifying on the pole with a lap
of 19.65 seconds. It is the 33rd pole of Sprague’s Truck Series
career.
As the green flag flew on the 250-lap race, KHI teammates
Sprague and Hornaday led the field. On lap 32, Sprague radioed
the crew he was beginning to have brake issues. However, Sprague
continued to lead for the next 28 laps.
Sprague’s first pit stop came during a caution period on lap 78.
The stop was a long one after Sprague over-shot his pit stall
and the crew had to push him back into the stall before
completing the stop. The lengthy stop dropped them back to 23rd
place for the restart. With new positioning on the track, the
team turned to fuel strategy to get them back to the front.
As caution waived for the fifth time on lap 101 the decision was
made to come down pit road for a fuel-only stop making it
possible for Sprague to go to the end of the race.
The strategy was for naught, as less than 15 laps later Sprague
was unable to avoid a multi-truck crash in front of him and
sustained heavy front-end damage. The team was able to fix the
mostly cosmetic damage after multiple pit stops and restarted in
the 30th position. Despite the damage Sprague climbed to 15th
within the next 100 laps.
A flat left front tire on lap 236 sent Sprague into a spin on
the backstretch, where he was hit by another competitor, causing
heavy damage to the left-front fender. “What a day,” a
frustrated Sprague said over the radio. The No. 2 RVs.com team
finished the day in the 24th position.
“I really hate it for all these guys,” Sprague said following
the race. “We worked so hard on this truck. We tested here and
were really optimistic about our chances. I messed up on the
first stop, but this team is determined and we would have gotten
it back had we not been involved in that incident. It stinks
because we are really starting to turn things around with this
truck, but we can’t get this monkey off our back. I’m really
proud of this team and everyone at KHI for putting good
equipment under me each and every week. One of these weeks we
are going to get some luck along with these fast trucks we’ve
had and end up in victory lane. I’m just really disappointed.”
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