Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Sprague happy to be back in ‘peaceful’ truck racing

Schedule for this weekend's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Champ Car World Series races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

FRIDAY

11 a.m. -- Spectator gates open

12:15-2 p.m. -- Champ Car practice

4:30-6 p.m. -- Champ Car qualifying

8-9:30 p.m. -- Champ Car practice

SATURDAY

10:30 a.m. -- Spectator gates open

10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. -- NCTS practice

3:30 p.m. -- NCTS qualifying

5:15-5:45 p.m. -- Champ Car warmup

6:30 p.m. -- NCTS driver introductions

7:29 p.m. -- NCTS Las Vegas 350 (146 laps, 219 miles)

8:45 p.m. -- Grid Champ Cars

10 p.m. -- CCWS Bridgestone 400 Presented by Corona (166 laps, 249 miles)

He may not be competing for a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship for the first time in nine full seasons in the series, but Jack Sprague couldn't be happier with his lot in life.

Sprague, a three-time Truck Series champion, is back in the series after an ill-fated move to the NASCAR Cup Series last year. Although he is 10th in points and has been plagued my motor problems this season which robbed him of at least a couple of victories, Sprague said driving the No. 16 Chevrolet for Xpress Motorsports is a slice of heaven compared to his experience last year in the Cup Series.

"It's peaceful, civilized," Sprague said of the Craftsman Truck Series. "Last year was rough. I made a bad decision and that's all there was to it. I put myself in a position I shouldn't have been in and for that I paid the price. I'm real happy where I'm at now."

After winning his third Truck Series championship in 2001, Sprague moved on the NASCAR Busch Series, where he won a race and finished fifth in the final points standings. He accepted a ride in the Cup Series with Haas CNC Racing but lasted only 18 races in the No. 0 NetZero Chevrolet.

Sprague ran two Truck Series races at the end of last season for Xpress Motorsports and signed to drive the No. 16 IWX Racing truck on a full-time basis this season.

"This is probably where I want to finish (my career)," Sprague said of the Truck Series. "I guarantee I'll never run Cup again.

"I'm just not even going to put myself in that aggravation again. I have a lot of fun here doing this.

"(Returning to the Cup Series) is just not going to happen and I'm not even going to put myself in another position like I did last year; I'll sit home and watch grass grow first. It's not even worth the hassle, not worth the money, not worth nothing -- not to me. I'm a racer and I want to win."

As the Craftsman Truck Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend for Saturday night's Las Vegas 350, Sprague said he likes his chances to add to his career Truck Series victory total of 24. In his first five truck races at LVMS, Sprague posted two victories, three runner-up finishes and three poles.

He also clinched his first series championship here in 1997 and has led more laps -- 317 -- than any other Truck Series driver at LVMS.

"I have a pretty good record there in Vegas and I love the racetrack; I love being out there and the Chevy Silverado's running really good and staying together lately so hopefully we can come out there and win another one," Sprague said.

"I'd love to win that race (Saturday night)."

Sprague, 40, almost had a fourth second-place finish at LVMS last season. He was running second to eventual race winner Brendan Gaughan late in the race when he pulled over to allow then teammate Travis Kvapil to improve his position in the race.

Kvapil, who was embroiled in a tight points battle, finished fourth and went on to capture the championship.

Sprague said he and the 1.5-mile speedway have been a perfect fit from the first time he raced here -- and won -- in 1996.

"I seem to run really well on the big, flatter racetracks," Sprague said. "It's just one of those places that I really enjoy. There are several (tracks) -- Kansas and Kentucky -- that are a lot like Vegas and I always seem to run well at them, too.

"From the first time we went there, it just fit into my style really quick and really easy and it's been successful ever since."

Sprague, who has one victory this season and is coming off a second-place finish last Saturday at New Hampshire International Speedway, may be out of the championship hunt but said he has two goals in the final seven races of the season.

"At this point, we're just trying to win races and gain momentum for next year, to try and make another run on a championship," Sprague said. "I'd (also) like to get back to fifth in points -- I've never finished worse than fifth in this series.

"It's doable ... so we need to keep running in the top three, top four and we can get back to fifth."

Sprague said he is convinced by the way the team has performed this season that he is capable of winning another Truck Series championship.

"We just added up the points -- what we would have for points if we finished where we were running when we broke the motors -- and we'd be leading by like 80 points," he said. "There's not a doubt in my mind that we can win a championship.

"We're sitting here with one win and we had four or five races won, hands down, (when we broke). There's not any doubt in my mind that this team, along with myself, can get it done -- we've just got to have a championship year.

"We can't have failures. We can't have DNFs."

It also would help if Sprague could race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway more than once a year.

Jack Sprague's performance history at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

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