Sprague, Silverado second in Nashville qualifying

SILVERADO RACING NOTES AND QUOTES
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 200
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES -- ROUND 16
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
NASHVILLE, TENN.
THURSSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2001

SPRAGUE IS BEST-QUALIFYING SILVERADO DRIVER, IN SECOND, AT NASHVILLE

JACK SPRAGUE, NO. 24 NETZERO PLATINUM SILVERADO (second behind Dodge driver
Scott Riggs):  "The NetZero Chevrolet is pretty good.  It's not quite as
good as it needs to be at this point, but we've got Happy Hour; that's the
part I enjoy.  We changed some things for qualifying on the truck itself;
it's the best it's felt.  I think it will be a great race.  We will be able
to race with him (Scott Riggs, polesitter) and he'll be able to race with us
and we will all be fine." ON THIS TRACK: "The track is awesome; they did a
great job building it.  To me the amount of grip it looks like it has it
doesn't have.  Bristol or a Dover has a ton of grip.  It's not like an ice
rink out there, but it's not the kind of grip you think you would have on a
concrete race track."  IS THE BAD LUCK OUT OF THE WAY?  "I wish I could feel
like that.  Who knows if the bad luck is out of the way.  Scott has had his
trouble, we have had our trouble, Ted has had his trouble.  Our trouble
unfortunately has been mechanical problems.  I think we have that fixed.  He
(Scott) has had some pretty weird stuff happening to his truck that I
haven't even heard of.  We have all had our troubles, along with Ted.  (Joe)
Ruttman has probably had the least amount of trouble.  I'm happy with the
trucks I've had and I'm happy with the truck I have here.  For the last
seven races we've had a pretty quick truck."

DENNIS SETZER, NO. 46 ACXIOM/COMPUTER ASSOCIATES SILVERADO (fifth):  ARE YOU
HAPPY WITH FIFTH: "We're fifth.  I don't know if that's happy enough.  It's
a little better than we were doing in practice.  We're pretty pleased with
that.  We picked up a few spots, we have a few more to go to catch Jack and
the other ones up front.  But we just have to work harder.  I'm pleased with
what the team has done."  DID THE TRACK CHANGE WITH THE FEW SPRINKLES OF
RAIN?  "We didn't have any problem at all.  We went out early.  I don't know
if it rained later, but running early we were fine.  Jack was the first one
down I think. I think we were the third out.  The early trucks seem to be
fine.  I didn't see any problem with the track; it was just like we
practiced earlier."  DID THE SURFACE CHANGE OVERNIGHT?  "There was a change
this morning, but I think the track got back to where we were last night.
The few sprinkles before qualifying was no problem.  The overnight rain
didn't change the surface too much.  We just hope it doesn't rain overnight
for tomorrow."

TRAVIS KVAPIL, NO. 60 CAT RENTAL STORES SILVERADO (first rookie, eighth):
ON BEING THE ABSOLUTE LAST TRUCK TO QUALIFY:  "I don't think it really
mattered.  We were hoping maybe the air temperature would cool down a little
bit.  With the concrete we didn't feel the track would make any changes, the
way the temperature cooled off.  We really don't feel like it hurt us or
helped us.  We pretty much went as fast as we went in practice.  I wish we
could pick up a little more in qualifying.  Once we tape up and do all our
tricks for qualifying we can't seem to pick up.  We're starting eighth;
that's better than we have the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we can ride
around in the top 10 and get a good finish out of it."  IF IT HAD RAINED YOU
COULD HAVE STARTED FOURTH BASED ON POINTS.  DID YOU WISH IT WOULD RAIN?
"You never know that until afterwards.  I think we had a shot at top five.
I wish now it would have rained, but we will take eighth. That's nothing to
be disappointed about."

RICKY HENDRICK, NO. 17 GMAC SILVERADO (ninth):  "The Silverado felt really
good during qualifying.  I guess I just bogged it down in the center.  It
was a little tough getting the momentum up and it was a little tight in the
center so I had to slow it down.  I killed the rpm on it and that really
slowed the GMAC Chevy down.  I'd much rather start further up front, but I'm
OK with our ninth-place start.  We're on the inside.  Usually I prefer the
outside, but on this track I think the inside is definitely better.  It's
another top-10 for Team GMAC and we'll take that."

LANCE NORICK, NO. 90 AVENTIS BEHRING CHOICE SILVERADO (11th):  "We made big
gains today.  We probably picked up seven tenths of a second from where we
started this morning.  The truck was good in qualifying.  I got a little bit
loose; we slowed down about one tenth, which is still good for the guys.  We
qualified 11th.  It would have been better if we'd run what we did in
practice, which would have put us about seventh.  But 11th is a good place
to start on the inside here.  Our Chevrolet is running good; we'll see how
it does in Happy Hour."  SURFACE CHANGE ANY WITH THE RAIN?  "I don't know. I
got a little bit loose in qualifying.  I'm not sure if that was from the
little bit of rain or the setup we had in for qualifying.  Normally on a
concrete track it doesn't change all that much, but since this is a new
place, you just never know."

COY GIBBS, NO. 20 MBNA SILVERADO:  "We slowed down a half a second.  I don't
think that's ever been done in motorsports (he said, laughing).  It's a new
all-time record.  We just didn't make the right changes.  We struggled ever
since we got here.  I honestly think it will race all right, but our
qualifying package is a joke right now."

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