Sprague garners sixth NCTS pole of season

No. 16 truck sets third track record of 2004 campaign

Jack Sprague got his series-leading sixth Craftsman Truck Series pole of the season Wednesday, garnering the top starting spot for Friday's Chevy Silverado 150 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Jack Sprague set another track record Wednesday at Phoenix. Credit: Nate Mecha/HSP

Sprague set a track record when he toured the 1-mile oval in 27.442 seconds at an average speed of 131.186 mph.

"We came off the hauler today just awesome," Sprague said. "We tweaked on it and did a few goofy things to see what it would do and some of it worked and some of it didn't."

Sprague has completed every lap -- 1,707 -- of the 11 events in which he's competed at PIR.

"I love this place," Sprague said. "This is where I got my first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win (1996) and then I won three in a row ('96-97). This place has just been special to me, it is like a bigger Concord racetrack that I raced late models in North Carolina. I just love this place."

Ken Schrader qualified second at 27.477/131.019. In all, Schrader has 13 PIR wins in a variety of series. Still, he was hoping for a bit more Wednesday.

CHEVY SILVERADO 150 •   Lineup •   1st Practice Speeds

"Darn, I just didn't go quite fast enough," he said. "We probably should have gone out on scuffs but we chose to go out on stickers so we didn't get the pole. But I will take the outside of the front row. It is a good place to start."

Carl Edwards, Steve Park and David Starr rounded out the top five.

Series leader Bobby Hamilton qualified eighth. Strangely, Hamilton seemed relieved to be starting Friday's race from a few rows back.

Sprague has always performed well at PIR. Credit: Nate Mecha/HSP

"All year long everybody's been chasing us. Everyone's been chasing us, and our strong suit is when we're out there chasing other people," Hamilton said. "That's when we've been at our best. So I think (the guys on the race team) are actually relieved that we're behind now.

"What we had to do before was to sit back and say, 'Well, we've got to finish 10th. Or, we've got to finish 13th.' Now, we're out here and we know we've got to win every race to stay in it."