Sprague's Silverado on pole in Darlington; Hendrick 2nd

SILVERADO RACING NOTES AND QUOTES
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES -- ROUND 6
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
DARLINGTON, S.C.
FRIDAY, MAY 11, 2001

FIRST POLE FOR SILVERADO AND SPRAGUE IN 2001; FIRST FOR SPRAGUE SINCE 1999;
ALL-HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS FRONT ROW

JACK SPRAGUE, #24 NETZERO PLATINUM SILVERADO, claimed his and the Chevy
Silverado's first pole position of the year today, sharing the top row with
his teammate RICKY HENDRICK, #17 GMAC SILVERADO, who snagged the outside
pole -- making it an all-Hendrick Motorsports front row.  Sprague's last No.
1 qualifying effort was in Phoenix in March, 1999.  Third out to qualify,
Hendrick held the top spot until his teammate Sprague, approximately the
24th truck on the track, knocked him off the pole.  Sprague's 30.192-second
lap at 162.878 mph is the "new" track record.  Hendrick posted a
30.273/162.442 qualifying lap.

SPRAGUE:  YOU KNOCKED YOUR TEAMMATE OFF THE POLE.  ARE YOU SURPRISED?  "Very
much so.  When Ricky ran that lap I thought I had nothing for him.  I ran
30.37 in practice and I was pretty much out of control then.  That was the
down part of the deal.  I had to knock him out to do it.  If I could go down
the front straight into (turn) one, not brake, not lift and stick, I had a
chance for it.  It stuck.  I was carrying a lot of rpm in (turn) three, it
bottomed out, jumped a couple of lanes, I put the pedal back down, got a
little loose, and kept it off the fence.  I haven't had a pole in two years;
I wanted it bad.  If I gave it away I wouldn't be a racer."  ON RACE
STRATEGY:  "If you have a decent truck, the cream is going to rise to the
top.  You are going to run decent and do well.  We will run as fast and as
long as we can and try to keep the tires on it."  ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT YOU
HAVEN'T WON A POLE IN SO LONG?  "We don't concentrate heavily on winning
poles.  When you only have 30 minutes or an hour to practice -- not like
here where we had a test day -- we concentrate on the race setup, and I
think it shows.  I will race the Silverado basically the same as it is
(right now).  We might change rear shocks, that's about it, and maybe a few
things after Happy Hour to make it a little better and see if it works."  ON
DARLINGTON:  "It's a tough place.  To beat Bobby (Hamilton), who's a master
here, is pretty awesome.  Ricky has nothing to hang his head down about,
coming here for the first time and getting second.  We knocked the Dodge off
the pole, maybe we can knock them off the podium tomorrow."

HENDRICK:  YOU HAD THE POLE FOR A WHILE.  ARE YOU DISAPPOINTED?  "Yes, it's
one of those deals.  Darlington is a tough place to drive.  We were happy to
sit on the pole, yada, yada, yada, have the track record, all that fun
stuff.  I told the guys, 'you have the hard guys behind you.'  We got a
shot.  I know how Jack is, especially when I'm out there.  Jack is going to
step it up to the next level.  I had a feeling Jack was going to do it.  It
really wasn't a surprise to me.  My guys have worked hard all week long.
Many people remember the pole, but they always remember who won."  HAVE YOU
RACED HERE BEFORE?  "We have been here testing twice in a Busch car, made
one race, missed one race, had a tough race in the Busch Series last year.
We qualified 30 or 31; we didn't do very well.  It's about the same as the
truck.  I thought I drove my butt off in the Busch car and didn't do so
well."

*  TRAVIS KVAPIL, #60 CAT RENTAL STORES SILVERADO (30.407, seventh, the next
Silverado behind Sprague and Hendrick):  SHOULDN'T YOU BE HIGHER ON THE
LIST?  "We should be.  We are a little disappointed.  Seventh is a pretty
good starting spot; we went a little bit faster in practice than what we did
in qualifying.  Obviously, we were a little disappointed with the qualifying
effort.  We didn't miss it by much, just a little bit.  We should have a
pretty good truck for tomorrow.  The whole race tomorrow is going to be
about tire management, who's got the better handling race package. I think
that's what we will have."  ON DARLINGTON:  "I like it, it's challenging.
Both ends of the race track are different.  You have to drive both ends
different.  There's no relax time, you have to be consistently up on the
wheel driving hard.  You have to be careful, it will jump out and bite you,
that's for sure.  I got a stripe yesterday.  The best advice I heard is to
race the race track and not the competitors.  That's definitely my plan for
tomorrow."

*  RANDY TOLSMA, #61 TEAM RENSI MOTORSPORTS SILVERADO (30.513, 10th):  "I am
real happy with qualifying.  That's the best qualifying effort of the year
for the Team Rensi Silverado.  We continue to improve, we ran a little
better than we practiced.  Anytime we make improvement like that we are
happy.  The race is what we look forward to.  I think this track plays into
my hand as a driver.  I like tire conservation races.  This is definitely
that kind of race track and more.  We will run a few laps in Happy Hour,
make adjustments and prepare for the race."  ON DARLINGTON:  "It's just a
real abrasive place on tires.  You have to drive within your limits, not
abuse the tire.  They're certainly going to fall off and go slower and the
guy who falls off the least amount is the truck to beat.  It's yet to be
seen who that is.  There are a lot of variables -- new track for the series,
drivers who have experience here, the weather, pit strategy, tire wear --
which is what I like."

*  DENNIS SETZER, #46 ACXIOM/COMPUTER ASSOCIATES SILVERADO (11th, 30.640):
"By far qualifying was the best we have been all weekend long.  We were
pretty far off yesterday during the optional test session but the
Acxiom/Computer Associates Silverado team has really worked hard to get us
to this point.  I think we will have something for them in the race.
Darlington is the type of track that you really have to concentrate on
racing the track and not the people around you.  I have some experience here
and I hope that will help our chances come tomorrow afternoon.  We'll just
keep digging at it.  I know these guys are building some great trucks and
it's only a matter of time until we reach victory lane!"

*  RONNIE HORNADAY, #94 LUCAS OIL SILVERADO (12th, 30.749):  "I am very
happy.  I was hoping for a top-20.  I got more than I wanted; I'm happy as
heck.  We were 20th in practice, we went out there a little loose in (turn)
four.  I moved the anti-dive up on the right front, leveled the track bar a
little bit, and went out there and my dad and I had talked about not lifting
in (turn) one, which I hadn't tried yet.  I worked up enough courage to do
it.  I was lifting off about two car lengths before getting on the throttle.
I barely lifted (in qualifying).  I was quarter throttle instead of lifting
all the way off, scared myself and qualified good."  ON TOMORROW'S RACE:
"My goal is to keep all my fenders on it.  Not to overdrive it.  Of course,
you are going to scratch the right side.  But if I keep all the fenders on
it, and finish in the top 15, I'll be ecstatic."

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