NASCAR Trucks: Silverado finishes second for the sixth time in 2001

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

June 3, 2001

For the sixth time in eight races, Chevrolet Silverado finishes second to Dodge. Dodge has now tied Chevrolet's record win streak of eight victories in a row, set in the first eight races of the inaugural season for the series in 1995. Dodges have won each race of 2001 so far.

JACK SPRAGUE, driving the No. 24 NETZERO PLATINUM SILVERADO, led 69 of the 200 laps, but for the second time in 2001 had to settle for second, as Dodge driver Scott Riggs drove past Sprague on lap 162 to win his second event of the season. Sprague took over the lead from Ford driver Rick Crawford on lap 90, led until lap 111, then led again from lap 115 to 161.

Sprague's Hendrick Motorsports teammate RICKY HENDRICK, in the No. 17 GMAC SILVERADO, finished third. Hendrick moved back into the lead of the Raybestos Rookie of the Year chase. He's just three points ahead of Travis Kvapil. Matt Crafton is third.

The race was held over until today because of rain yesterday. The race began under a mist, but was completed in two hours and 54 seconds. As the checkered flag flew, raindrops fell again.

There were eight caution-flag periods for 42 laps, and five lead changes among four drivers. The margin of victory was .694 of a second.

SPRAGUE: COULD YOU HAVE WON? "I think we could have. That NetZero Platinum Silverado was awesome; the guys did a great job, the pit stops were great all day long. At the start I thought everything was going smooth, maybe this one was it. We let three or four slip away in the last five or six races. The Silverado was near perfect. The last set of rights got miserably tight and I couldn't carry the corner speed to get ahead of him (Riggs). We made some points, not on him, but the rest of them. Once again Dennis (Connor, crew chief) and the guys gave me a great truck. I couldn't ask for a better truck. It was a little tight early, I lost radio contact, got it back, they loosened it up a bit in the last series of pit stops. It was awesome, I was running as fast as I qualified. But in the last pit stop we put right side tires on it. When I came off the caution in turn one, I knew I was in trouble. It got extremely tight and got tighter in the last 50 laps. I knew I was in trouble. I could stay with him, but I couldn't catch him. Second is first loser. I don't mean to sound like a bad loser, but I'm getting tired of losing. The guys didn't give it away, we didn't give it away, our truck didn't agree with the last set of right tires. That's the way it goes."

HENDRICK: "The guys did a great job. Once again the GMAC Silverado was up front all day. We qualified third and finished third. I guess the truck was a third-place truck, or I was a third-place driver; one of the two. We have had our share of bad luck. I figured we were second quick all day. When I was behind Jack I couldn't catch him. After the last pit stop I got him on the start and he came by me like I was standing still. I was tight and loose all day, mainly tight. We made a lot of changes to help the truck out, we just didn't have it at the end."

* RICK HENDRICK (senior, team owner): "We're getting closer. Close, but no cigar. It looks like whenever they (the Dodges) have to go they can go. We just have to keep working and showing up. It kind of seems like whenever they need to have it, they get it."

* COY GIBBS, NO. 20 MBNA SILVERADO (fifth, his best finish so far): "We got one of our motors in it. I knew she would be a lot better. It's all the technology they got. I'm really proud it finished good at MBNA's home track (MBNA is the sponsor of the Craftsman Truck race here). I didn't get to the front until the end, so I was racing most of the guys in the middle of the pack in the beginning. I'm excited. Gary (Showalter, crew chief) and the guys did a great job. I'm sure some of the veterans driving this Silverado would have smoked the field. For me a top-five (finish) is great."

* KEN SCHRADER, NO. 52 FEDERATED AUTO PARTS SILVERADO (seventh): "It was too loose in the beginning and it got tight at the end. I thought I could get fourth place out of this, but at the end I was just trying to hold on and not let anymore trucks get by me. The crew did a great job. The track was very unpredictable. We made changes, but they didn't seem to do anything."

* MATT CRAFTON, NO. 88 FAST TRACK DRIVEWAY SEALER SILVERADO (ninth, led three laps): "We made a lot of adjustments on the Silverado. We started out with a decent truck in the beginning, but it ended up getting real tight coming off the corner. We tried making adjustments. Some of the adjustments weren't making any progress. Right at the end we made some real big adjustments and it got better at the end. I fought it all day. As tired as I was I would have liked another 50 laps to make another adjustment and we probably could have been a top-five truck."

* TRAVIS KVAPIL, NO. 60 CAT RENTAL STORES SILVERADO (10th): "We don't know what happened to the Silverado overnight. When we started the race it was real dancy, I couldn't get hold of the race track. It felt like we had a flat tire. We got to the back of the pack, nearly got a lap down, pitted, the crew worked hard and made it a little better. It seemed like the only thing that made it respond was to put left side tires on it. We could run as fast as the leaders could, but you've got to put rights on sometime. The last stop we had to put on the rights, and the truck just fell off. To fall back as far as we did at the start and to come out here in 10th, we're pretty pleased." YOU SCRAPED THE WALL IN TURN FOUR EARLY: "Just once early in the race and once down the back stretch. I misjudged it. We did bend the left side trailing arm."

* LANCE NORICK, NO. 90 AVENTIS BEHRING CHOICE SILVERADO (17th): "The truck was awesome. We just got into the wall on the restart. We probably had a third-place truck. I was running behind Coy (Gibbs) half throttle (at the end of the race, several laps down). His spotter asked my spotter if I could stay behind him and I did. I was on him and I could have gone by him. I knew he was running good. I didn't want to mess up his finish. They asked my spotter if I could back off a few truck lengths from him and just ride, and I did. I got into the wall early, then we put a wrong right front tire on it, we changed the tires again and that hurt us. We had a miscommunication on tires, so we put a left on a right. I had to come back in on the next lap and change tires. We probably would have been two laps down, but we ended up five laps down. Overall, we ran one hundred percent better than we have been, so we're looking forward to going to Texas and finishing in the top three. That's where we should have been today."

POINT STANDINGS:

1. Scott Riggs, Dodge 1370
2. Joe Ruttman, Dodge 1252
3. Jack Sprague, Chevy 1204
4. Terry Cook, Ford 1171
5. Travis Kvapil, Chevy 1158
6. Ricky Hendrick, Chevy 1146
7. Ted Musgrave, Dodge 1144
8. Rick Crawford, Ford 1132
9. Randy Tolsma, Chevy 1016
10. Matt Crafton, Chevy 976

Text provided by Judy Stropus

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