NASCAR Trucks: Setzer, Sprague take front row at Richmond

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 6, 2001

Dennis Setzer claimed his second pole position of the season in his Chevy Silverado, and Jack Sprague was close behind, making it an all-Chevy Silverado front row for the fourth time this year:

Kentucky: Jack Sprague and Ricky Hendrick
Kansas City: Dennis Setzer, Ricky Hendrick
Darllington: Jack Sprague, Ricky Hendrick

This marks the seventh pole position for the Chevy Silverado this season. Chevrolet continues to extend its lead in most poles in the series since its inception in 1995: 68.

Kevin Harvick, in the No. 6 Twizzlers/PayDay/Sonic Silverado, was fourth (22.427/120.391) and Lance Norick, in the No. 90 Aventis Behring Choice Silverado (22.501/119.995) was eighth. Harvick will be "ironman" this weekend, as he will drive in the Craftsman Truck Series, the Busch Series and the Winston Cup Series here in Richmond.

DENNIS SETZER, NO. 46 ACXIOM/COMPUTER ASSOCIATES SILVERADO (first, 22.248/121.359): "There's not a lot to say on the lap. It's by far the best we had all day. Danny Gill made some changes after the early-morning practice. We didn't get a run on sticker tires. We didn't know exactly where we were. The few changes he made were really great when it came time to qualify. I'm impressed with the job they did on the Acxiom Silverado."... "We're trying to gain recognition for our sponsor Acxiom and Chevrolet Silverado. Right now we're in the building process, probably more so for next year. We're going to be back in the truck series next year with Morgan/Dollar Motorsports. We're excited about where or program is going. We're building a few things in our trucks, trying out some new trucks from week to week. This is some new stuff we're trying this week. We're excited about the whole program, fhe way the NASCAR Crftsman Truck Series is coming along."

JACK SPRAGUE, NO. 24 NETZERO PLATINUM SILVERADO (second, 22.304/121.055): YOU'RE SLOWER THAN IN PRACTICE: "It's gotten a lot hotter than it was when we practiced. I'm pretty sure that's the reason. It'll cool off tonight and come back. It was a pretty eventful two laps, the second lap I couldn't even complete from just about wreckinng in turn 3. That was a lot better than I thought it would be. As I came around and looked at the scoreboard and I was second I couldn't believe it. That's the way it goes sometimes. We had a shot at it and we went for it and didn't get it." ON THE TRACK SEALER: "I don't have any clue what happened, it just got slippery. It looks like the sealer is holding up fine. You could see on the bottom groove it was a little lighter than it was earlier, but I don't think that contributed to my situation. I was just pretty much out of control."... "It's a lot easier to hold your breath for two laps than it is for 200. You have to get the truck to handle well and handle well all night. It's extremely, extremely hard to get off turn 2 here good all night and that's where the race is won a lot. That's my opinion and that's what we've always tried to set up for is getting off turn 2. It's slippery coming off turn 2 today."... "First of all, this is an awesome race track. It's a difficult race track to drive. It's unique. It's probably one of the funnest race tracks that we race on because it is so difficult. I enjoy coming here, I look forward to coming here. It's the prefect size race track. It puts on the best racing for the fans of any of the race tracks, I think. To me it's a little bit Phoenix, not quite, just swapped around 180 degrees."

RICKY HENDRICK. NO. 17 GMAC SILVERADO (11th, first rookie): "Kind of the same deal as Jack; we just didn't go as fast. (It's) real slick. (We're) just trying to get a hold of it. I guess it's a tough place for any rookie. We've been here one other time and we kind of struggled. It seems like we're a lot quicker the more we are out there running than we are just running one fast lap. I'm looking forward to the race. I think we have a better truck than where we qualified. We qualified 11th. it's not awful, awful bad. It's a lot better than last year. We will go into Happy Hour and try to be a lot better -- get the thing so it hopefully won't be tight tonight and see what we've got and go up front."

Text provided by Judy Stropus

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