Sprague Rallies For Truck Win
By Rick Harmon, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Feb. 17–DAYTONA BEACH — Travis Kvapil’s Ford was by far the strongest truck Friday night in the Craftsman Truck Silverado HD 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
Kvapil led 49 of the 100 laps, including 12 of the last 13. But he didn’t lead the one that mattered most — the last one.
Polesitter Jack Sprague, with a big assist from fellow Toyota driver Johnny Benson, passed Kvapil 30 feet from the finish line to win the race. Benson finished second, with Kvapil third.
“I can’t thank Johnny Benson enough,” Sprague said. “He won this race for me. He said he would go with me and he did.”
Following the seventh caution on Lap 89, Kvapil led the single-file restart with six laps to go. As trucks behind him positioned themselves to make a run at Kvapil, he maintained his lead.
“I knew coming out of Turn 2 I was in trouble. I had too big of a lead,” Kvapil said. “We had the best truck all night and I knew they were going to gang up on me at the end.”
Sprague admitted Kvapil had the best truck in the race, but the Toyotas working together was the difference. The win was Sprague’s and Toyota’s first at Daytona, and Benson wanted to make sure a Toyota made it to Victory Lane.
“I knew a Toyota would win eventually at Daytona,” Sprague said. “But I didn’t think it would be Jack Sprague winning at Daytona.”
“I saw Jack in front of me and knew I had a chance to push him to the front,” Benson said. “My job is to help Toyota win races. I pushed Jack as hard as I could. I knew I couldn’t win the race staying with Jack at the end so I cut across the track.”
Sprague went to the outside, Benson went to the inside and both passed Kvapil. Sprague finished .031 seconds ahead of Benson and .034 ahead of Kvapil. It was the second-closest win at Daytona. (Rick Crawford beat Kvapil by .027 in 2003.)
“The whole race was wild for me,” Sprague said. “I knew the only place I could make a move was coming off Turn 4. He hit me so hard he about knocked my teeth out. We all worked together and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Sprague’s victory ends a streak of 21 consecutive weeks Todd Bodine has led the points standings. Bodine finished fifth.
“This is by far the biggest race I’ve ever won,” Sprague said. “I won a race at Daytona”
One of the more spectacular wrecks occurred on Lap 62 when Mike Bliss got into the side of Terry Cook, sending his No. 50 Toyota into the wall. As it skidded against the wall, the truck became fully engulfed in fire. Cook was not injured.
The superstretch grandstands were fairly full, despite the temperature dropping into the 40s as the race started. The attendance was estimated by track officials at 90,000.
Reporter Rick Harmon can be reached at (813) 948-4202 or rharmon@tampatrib.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
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