ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701210066
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
A POLE POSITION claim made Jack Sprague feel better in his NASCAR truck.
A not-quite 100 percent Jack Sprague, bidding to begin the new NASCAR Craftsman Truck season the same way he finished 1996, led qualifying Saturday for the season-opening Chevy Trucks Challenge at the Walt Disney World Speedway.
Sprague, Saturday's next-to-final qualifier in a Chevrolet, shook off the effects of the flu to dislodge NASCAR Winston Cup veteran Michael Waltrip from the provisional pole for the $544,134 race with a lap of 126.859 mph around the one-mile, triangular layout. Waltrip, driving a Ford, occupied the No.1 spot for nearly two hours, after running his Ford through the clocks at 125.720. (Qualifying in Scoreboard. C9)
The run nailed Sprague's fourth career pole in the series, all but one on tracks of a mile or longer. His most recent came in October in Phoenix.
Sprague won the Phoenix race, then added another victory at Las Vegas. A triumph in the 200-mile Chevy Trucks Challenge would make the Spring Lake, Mich., competitor the second driver in the series' short history to win three consecutive races.
``We worked real hard to qualify [and] I'm a little under the weather,'' Sprague said. ``I think I run the best when I'm sick. I won my first race when I was sick [so] it might be the best thing. Hopefully, we can make it three in a row.''
Defending series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. qualified his Chevrolet third at 125.615.
Porter wasn't the only qualified driver to test the speedway walls. Twenty-seventh qualifier Lonnie Rush Jr., also a rookie, will roll out a new mount after losing control of his Chevrolet in a post-qualifying practice session. Butch Miller, who qualified his Ford 18th, was involved in an accident during the same practice but his truck's status wasn't immediately known.
Kelly Denton qualified fifth in a Chevrolet at 125.401, followed by veteran Bob Keselowski's Dodge at 125.235.
Tammy Jo Kirk became the series' first woman qualifier by placing ninth at 124.978 in a Ford owned by former Daytona 500 winner Geoff Bodine.
``I was nervous as heck (but) it makes me feel good,'' Kirk said. ``I just want to go out there and run a good race.''
Thirty-two drivers among a field of 60 qualified via time trials. Doug George, Bob Brevak, Boris Said III and Kenny Allen took provisional starting positions based upon 1996 series standings.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines KEYWORDS: AUTO RACINGby CNB