Squaring off

Thursday, Sept. 23, 1999 | 10:41 a.m.

It truly was an astonishing sight.

As Wednesday's unexpected rainstorm washed out a manufacturers test day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rivals Jack Sprague and Ron Hornaday stood in the garage between their trucks, engrossed in conversation and sharing a few laughs.

For anyone who has watched the two do battle -- on the track and off -- the past four years, Sprague and Hornaday are the last two drivers you would expect to see engaged in a civil conversation.

Despite the many tangles these two drivers have had almost since the inception of the truck series, they obviously share a deep respect for one another as racers -- and winners.

Sprague, for one, said he hates to see the rivalry come to an end. Hornaday will leave the truck series at season's end and will compete in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2000.

"We have a lot of fun racing each other," Sprague said. "We've had some bumps in the road, but that's just because we both try to win so hard. I've got an awful lot of respect for him and I think he does for me."

Sprague enters Friday's Orleans 250 second in the truck series points, trailing Greg Biffle by 125 points with four races remaining. But the 35-year-old Sprague said he wishes he was battling Hornaday one last time for the series championship.

"I hate to see him leave, it takes a lot away from it -- for me, anyway," he said. "He's a true champion and he'll be great in the Busch Series, I know that. I just wish we were racing him for the championship right now."

Sprague and Hornaday's careers have been intertwined the past four years as the two have raced for the series championship. And Las Vegas Motor Speedway has played a key role in Sprague's success -- and failures -- since 1996.

In 1996, Sprague won the race at LVMS, but finished second to Hornaday in the championship. The following year, Sprague finished second to Joe Ruttman in the race but won the championship. Last year, Sprague won the race but finished second to Hornaday in the championship by a heartbreaking three points.

Sprague's success in Las Vegas has him feeling good about his chances of getting back into the championship race with Biffle.

"This is a beautiful place," Sprague said. "I loved it from the first time we came here, back in 1996.

"We've always run well here -- of course, we've always run well on the speedways. We've struggled a little bit this year on them, but I'm looking forward to coming back here and hopefully winning this thing and getting back in the damn chase, anyway."

Because of a variety of problems, Sprague squandered a 155-point lead midway through the season, and comes to Las Vegas needing some help if he is to capture the championship.

"The team has done a great job and the GMAC Chevrolet has run great, but we've had things happen to us this year that haven't happened to us in the past four years," Sprague said. "It's just racing luck -- you can't blame anybody for the stuff that has happened.

"You'll have years like that -- and I've been around long enough to know that. We've been in the hunt for four solid years since we've all been together and that's pretty impressive."

While Sprague was struggling, Biffle has been enjoying a banner sophomore season, winning a record-tying eight races and shooting to the top of the points standings.

"But we're not out of it," Sprague said. "If (Biffle) has one bad race, we're right back on him. We're going to try to win every race from here on out -- the same thing we've done for four years.

"We're going to have to have some good races and he's going to have to have some bad ones for this thing to work out in our favor. If it doesn't, we've still had a great year."

While Hornaday has opted to move to the Busch Series next season, Sprague said he will return to the Hendrick Motorsports team in 2000. He said he has turned down several offers to move up to Winston Cup because the situations haven't been right.

"I race for the trophies more than I race for the money," Sprague said. "I can't mentally handle not running to win. I've been approached with several opportunities, but not one I feel is right for me."