NASCAR Trucks: Chevrolets sweep top seven spots in optional test day
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
August 25, 2001SILVERADOS SWEEP TOP SEVEN SPOTS ON OPTIONAL TEST DAY Jack Sprague led a Chevy Silverado sweep of the top-seven spots during optional testing today for the Chevy Silverado 200: Jack Sprague, Lance Norick, Ricky Hendrick, Travis Kvapil, Matt Crafton, Bill Bigley, Tom Carey Jr.
Jack Sprague -- #24 NetZero Platinum Chevrolet Silverado (27.906/129.005) -- fastest "We were pretty good. The truck was really fast in the 'qualifying run.' I was surprised. This is the truck we ran in New Hampshire and won with. That's the last time we ran it. The guys did a great job. It's running good. I love this place, we won here twice. We always ran here well. It's kind of a weird racetrack. I like it. Hopefully we can put it on the pole and win the race and get back into the point lead and not break anything."
Lance Norick -- #90 Aventis Behring Choice Chevrolet Silverado (2nd fastest in practice, 28.167/127.809) -- "We tried a bunch of weird stuff to see if any of it worked. We took it all off; we weren't worrying about going too fast. We then went back to our basic setup, and that was when we turned our fastest lap. We changed motors and now we're just trying to get ready for tomorrow. We ran third last week, and our guys are coming along well. We have about 350 people coming to watch us run this weekend. We have a good chance to run well. It would be good for us to run as good as we did last week. The guys are doing better and better every week. It's the same truck we ran the last two or three weeks. We were quickest truck most of the afternoon. Then we changed motors, the temperatures got down quite a bit. So I really think we'll have something for them tomorrow as far as being quickest. I just can't say enough about those guys. They've been working hard and we've been getting faster every week. I've never had a problem with this track. I like this track a lot. It's definitely different than anything we run. It's a fun track. It's a track you can't make a mistake on. There's a few places on it that aren't forgiving. Whenever your truck ís working good, it's a lot of fun."
Ricky Hendrick, No. 17 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet Silverado -- 3rd fastest, 28.212/127.605) -- "We had our test motor in it. It was awesome horsepower. It got me flustered throughout the day. When we were good, we were decent. When we weren't so good, we were junk. There was no in-the-middle all day today. You know, it kind of had me on my toes. I was a little upset. We made a qualifying run, it turned out pretty good. So, I'm pretty happy. It's a fun place. It's a lot like the track I grew up at in Concord, [NC], but backwards. It's fun, and tomorrow we'll get our big motor and go out there and see what we get."
Travis Kvapil -- #60 CAT Rental Stores Chevrolet Silverado (4th fastest in practice, 28.240/127.479) "The test definely helped us. You really have to carry a lot of speed through the dogleg, and you need a lot of forward bite. It's hard to strike that balance. This test is a great opportunity. If you ask me, my call is five turns for the track."
Tom Carey, Jr. -- #03 EJP/Healey & Associates Chevrolet Silverado, 28.286/127.721, 7th fastest in practice -- "We have a great horse here today. We don't have a second motor like the rest of these guys. We don't want to wear it out. Tomorrow we have two hours of practice, and the track can change. So there's no sense in us going out [on the track] any more today. We made a lot of changes in the morning that didn't work. Overall we're a little better than we were. This test day definitely helped."
Dennis Setzer -- No. 46 Acxiom/Computer Associates Chevrolet Silverado -- ninth fastest, 28.392/126.796 -- "I love this track. We won here last year. I like the track a bunch. We;re still looking for a little something for the Morgan/Dollar Silverado. Other than that, it's pretty good. We were top-10 all day, but we're still hunting that little bit to get us in the top three, but we will be there." ON THIS TRACK: "It's pretty challenging for the driver. all the cornhers are different. It's very high speed at the dogleg, flat off-camber in turns 2 and 3, if you count five corners. It's very tight in turns 4 and 5; it's a slightly banked corner. All the corners are different, challenging in their own separate way."
Coy Gibbs, No. 20 MBNA Chevrolet Silverado --11th fastest, 28.457/126.507 -- "We're decent. We need to get a little better. I think we'll work more on our specific package that we finished the day with today, when it won't be going all over the place like we did today. We'll be all right. I don't know how it'll qualify. That worries me some. I think it'll stay consistent and race good. I think driving the two-seater Silverado racetruck yesterday (giving media rides) definitely gave me all the confidence in the world to do well here."
Text provided by Judy Stropus
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