Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Sprague’s content to stay in truck series

Friday, Dec. 22, 2000 | 10:19 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand's motor sports notebook appears Friday. Reach him at bh@lasvegassun.com or 259-4089.

It wasn't the most pleasant of days, with the temperature dipping into the low 40s and strong winds making it feel even cooler, but Jack Sprague had a huge smile as he emerged from his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet truck during a break in testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this week.

While most drivers view such off-season tests as a necessary evil, the 36-year-old Sprague seemed to be having the time of his life. In truth, he is.

Sprague has found a home in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for the past six years and he is in no hurry to leave it for the fame and riches of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

"I had a lot of offers," Sprague said of the possibility of moving up to stock-car racing's premier division next season. "If I could race Winston Cup with Hendrick Motorsports, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But the offers I've had, I just don't think would benefit me; I know I would struggle but I don't want to struggle any more than I have to and I'm comfortable here.

"This is a great organization to work for and it would take a really killer deal to leave this (team). I enjoy this series, I have a lot of fun in this series and it has worked out great for me and I still get to have a lot of fun. I still think the racing in this series is more fun than the other two (Winston cup and Busch) because it's like it used to be; people don't get mad at you if you bump them a little bit -- that's just racing."

Not even the prospect of a million-dollar contract was enough to lure Sprague from his cozy relationship with team owner Rick Hendrick.

"If I was doing this for the money, I'd be doing it (in Winston Cup) and running in the back of the pack or getting what I could get to make a million dollars or more a year," he said. "I would rather make a lot less money and enjoy what I'm doing and be successful.

"I've never done this for the money ... I've done it because I love the sport and I love to win. There are a lot of racers who are in it for the money and I'm not going to fall into that category."

Sprague enters the 2001 season second in career NCTS wins with 19 and is the winningest active driver. He has enjoyed particular success at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he has won twice and finished second twice in four career starts -- which also helped explain the smile on his face this week.

After a year's absence from the truck series schedule, the 1.5-mile Las Vegas superspeedway once again will host the trucks in 2001.

"I love this place -- this is my track," Sprague said. "I don't know what it is but it has been great to us. The funny part is, we've run four different setups here and we've won twice and finished second twice.

"It just ripped my heart out when we lost Vegas. It's a blast to race here and when we lost it from the schedule, it was just terrible but we were fortunate enough to get it back. We have been fortunate here ... I lose a lot of money here gambling so I guess I have to win (races) to recuperate. I've just had a lot of fun here and now it's great to come back."

Jeff Burton, who has won the past two Winston Cup races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has accepted an invitation to compete in the International Race of Champions all-star series next season. ...

Sports car driver David Donohue, the son of the late racing legend Mark Donohue, was one of a handful of drivers who participated in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series test this week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Donohue was testing with Team Rensi as a teammate to truck series veteran Randy Tolsma. ...

Hank Parker Jr., who won the pole for the Busch Series race at LVMS this March, will join driver Tim Fedewa and David Green as the third driver for Cicci-Welliver Racing's Busch team next season.

The test primarily was to help CART determine what rules package needs to be implemented for the April 29th race on the high-banked oval. Brack, the 1998 Indy Racing League champion and 2000 CART Rookie of the Year, logged more than 100 laps on the 1.5-mile superspeedway at speeds ranging between 215 and 221 mph.

A rescue helicopter dropped a diver to assist Simon. But just at that time, Simon managed to roll over and, using his feet, push himself away. The life jacket carried him to the surface.

Simon suffered two cracked ribs and a bruised right knee in the incident. The boat, however, was a total loss.

Grubnic was penalized 17 times for fouling the track during the 23-race season and was fined a whopping $10,500 and lost 40 championship points.

Top Fuel drivers Doug Herbert and Bob Vandergriff and Funny Car driver Ron Capps suffered the most point reductions as the result of oil-downs with 50 points each.

Funny Car driver Jerry Toliver was the only competitor to finish in the top 10 in points and have no penalties for oil-downs.

The American Le Mans Series will conclude its 12-event season with the Race of a Thousand Years on Dec. 31 at Adelaide, Australia.

Dodge Viper Team ORECA, which has been the dominant force in the GTS class of the ALMS for the better part of 1999 and 2000, will be eligible for a $425,000 bonus if it wins the Adelaide race with drivers Olivier Beretta and Karl Wendlinger. The Adelaide race is the final event of the "Three out of Four" bonus award program posted by ALMS founder Don Panoz for a team that can win three of the four biggest races in Le Mans competition: Sebring, Le Mans, the Petit Le Mans and Adelaide.