Silverados Top Optional Testing in Kansas
SILVERADO RACING NOTES AND QUOTES O'REILLY AUTO PARTS 250 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES -- ROUND 12 KANSAS SPEEDWAY KANSAS CITY, KAN. THURSDAY, JULY 5, 2001 OPTIONAL TEST DAY RICKY HENDRICK, NO. 17 GMAC SILVERADO (top rookie, quickest of the day, 32.943/163.919 mph): "The rumor is that I came and tested a Busch car here. As far as I know it's my first time here. The only time I was 'at' this track was the ARCA race. I was watching the race in my lounge." ON THE TRACK: "It's awesome. I compare it to a mini-Talladega. It's smooth. Talladega is rough; this is a smooth Talladega." YOU'RE RUNNING AT THE TOP THIS WEEKEND: "We figured some stuff out that we needed to figure out as a team. And it's really helped us. One of the things we learned is that we can't run Jack's (teammate Sprague) setup. I was kind of brought up in racing different than Jack was and my idea of handling and his idea of handling are different from each other. We have different feels. It's very common in a lot of drivers. I need the Silverado to work a different way. We finally figured it out, I think, so we're back on top again. This will be a truck I would hope we could win with. I think we will continue to be fast. Sometimes you get a truck that you can't really mess up. So far it's been pretty good. Hopefully it will continue." CHASSIS NOTE: This is T-Rex4. JACK SPRAGUE, NO. 24 NETZERO PLATINUM SILVERADO (second quickest, 32.977/163.750): "These guys have done a great job building this race track. The track is beautiful, the facilities are beautiful. I still think Las Vegas is a beautiful place, but this place is actually smoother than Las Vegas. I had no idea what we were coming to. I had a feeling it would be nice, but not this nice." ON TODAY'S TEST: "The Silverado is good, but then it has been good. It doesn't always mean it's going to win. It's good, it came off the hauler good. We've gotten it better. I still feel we have room for improvement. I can't go wide open with it yet. I think I will be able to once I get it right. Ricky (teammate Hendrick) is running good. We have two Silverados that are the class of the field at this point in time. If we can keep them there is another story. I'm happy with what we've got." TRAVIS KVAPIL, NO. 60 CAT RENTAL STORES SILVERADO (second in rookie points, fifth in afternoon session, 33.509/161.151): "This is a beautiful race track. It's really smooth, it's got a lot of grip. The facilities are superior. It's really nice, it's set up well. Our Silverado is running pretty good. We are in the top 10 right now and we just keep tuning on it, tuning on it with old tires, and we just keep getting faster. It reminds me a lot of Kentucky as far as how you drive the race track. It's got a little more banking than Kentucky. So far we are just kind of taking our time creeping up on it trying to get going. We are going to make a sticker run shortly and I think that will put us up in the top three in (lap) time." YOU HAVE TWO SILVERADOS HERE: "We ran both of them. The truck that we are going to race has got a little different setup in it. We just seem to feel more comfortable with that setup. We're just trying to concentrate on this truck as a primary. The Silverado we have here is the road course truck from last year. We put new front and rear clips on it, and a new body. It's the first time we are racing this truck this year since it won its last road race in Portland. It's basically brand new. Everything that was on it was road course stuff so it's completely stripped down and made into a speedway truck now." CHASSIS NOTE: No. 6. DENNIS SETZER, NO. 46 ACXIOM/COMPUTER ASSOCIATES SILVERADO (sixth in afternoon session, 33.514/161.127): "This is a great speedway. The track surface is great, its design is great, a good facility to race at. It's a little like Vegas, a little bit like Kentucky. It's like a few tracks, a standard 1.5-mile track with a sweeping front straightway, which gives the fans a good view." ON TODAY'S TEST: "We're running pretty good. We're decent on the (time) sheet. It looks like we're chasing Ricky (Hendrick) and Jack (Sprague). We just have a few things to try yet." CHASSIS NOTE: This is "Cartman," another character from South Park. It's run Texas and Dover. MATT CRAFTON, NO. 88 FASTTRACK DRIVEWAY SEALER SILVERADO (eighth in afternoon session, 33.560/160.906): "I've never been here, never seen it. It's real nice. I think it will be a really good facility. I think there are two grooves here. The guys don't like me right now. We worked on one Silverado all day long. Then we took the other one to shake it down because it had given me problems all year. We ended up going four tenths faster in the backup truck. and we only made two laps in it. They had the primary motor stuck in the primary truck and they will have to pull that one out." CHASSIS NOTE: The Silverado Crafton will race is "Rocky." It ran Darlington, Dover and Bakersfield. The other truck is No. 4, which ran Texas. BILLY BIGLEY, NO. 75 SPEARS MANUFACTURING SILVERADO (10th in final session; scraped the wall one hour before finish of session): "Sticker tires is the only thing we can blame it on. We have been on the same old tires all day. The Silverado was a little bit too tight. We heard people say that sticker tires were making the trucks real free. We adjusted for it, but apparently we didn't adjust enough for it. It turned sideways in the middle of (turn) three. I tried to catch it, but I ran out of race track. It stinks. But what are you doing to do? It has a little right-rear suspension damage and cosmetic damage -- a little bit on the nose, not real bad. It hurts my pride more than anything. These guys do such a good job putting a good truck under me each week. I know it's happened to the best of them, but it's hard to swallow sometimes." CHASSIS NOTE: No. 11. "It does not have a name; it's not Earl. It ran Darlington, and I did the same thing in Darlington. I flat-sided it on the practice day in Darlington. I don't know if it's me or the truck. ###