Sprague wins truck race, takes series lead

Friday, Sept. 7, 2001 | 11:42 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

RICHMOND, Va. -- Jack Sprague dominated until the end and then held on with all he had Thursday night to win the Kroger 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Richmond International Raceway and retake the points lead.

Sprague was unchallenged almost all night until Kevin Harvick pulled onto his rear bumper with about 10 laps to go, finally sliding underneath him for the lead in turn four on lap 196. Sprague then got aggressive, bumping Harvick in turns one and two to retake the lead.

"We played a little bumper tag," Sprague said. "Great race."

Ted Musgrave, sixth in the points race, then got under Sprague in turns three and four to take the lead with Harvick right behind him, but Sprague repassed Musgrave on the backstretch and held off Harvick.

"We had about 130 laps on the right sides. The last 20 laps, I had no right front left. I couldn't turn the truck and they caught me," Sprague said. "Then Teddy got under me and when I was forced to the outside, it turned better and I thought, 'Maybe I can hold my own out here."'

Sprague won by 0.062 seconds, the third-closest margin in series history. The closest, 0.001 seconds, came in 1995 at Colorado.

"Jack was doing everything he had to do to win," Harvick said. "We were beating and banging and having a heck of a time out there.

"That's the most fun I've had in a race car all year," Harvick said of his first truck race since 1999. "Those last 10 laps, I'm going to have to go back and really watch 'em to see how much fun they really were."

Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, making his third start in the truck series, spun early in the race and fell off the lead lap. The 16-year-old Durango High junior finished 22nd.

"I was coming up on a slower truck and Tom Carey was on the outside and I got into him and didn't want to turn him into the lapped truck and then cause a big pileup," Busch said of the incident. "I thought I had it saved (but) it woke up the polar bear too much in the back trunk; it went around and couldn't get it fired up quick enough, so we went a lap down.

"I had a lot of fun driving it even though we didn't do so well. I think we could have finished in the top 10 easy if we stayed on the lead lap and I didn't have that early spin."

Sprague's victory moved him into the points lead by 27 points over Joe Ruttman, the leader going into the race. Scott Riggs is third, 57 back.

It was Sprague's fourth victory of the season and 23rd in the series.