Sprague Wins Nashville, Johnson Takes Third at Pocono

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (June 10, 2002) -- Jack Sprague won the NASCAR Busch Series event at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on Saturday and Hendrick Motorsports placed two NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams in the top five at Poncono (Pa.) Raceway on Sunday during a busy weekend of stock car racing. Sprague, a three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, brought home his first victory in 90 career Busch Series starts at the Inside Traxx 300, the 15th race of 2002. “Winning a Busch race was something I've wanted and this team needed to do for a while now," he said after earning the coveted Gibson guitar that’s awarded every year at Nashville. “The NetZero Chevy was really good all weekend and once the race started, we knew we were bad to the bone after about five laps into a run. “I'm surprised it took us so long to win because we've been close so many times this year. Now I've got that monkey off my back.” Sprague’s victory in the No. 24 NetZero Chevrolet keeps him atop the Busch Series driver standings, leading second-place Jason Keller by 80 points. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Ricky Hendrick battled his way into 15th-place at Nashville, his third top-15 since returning from shoulder surgery at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on May 3. The Busch Series rookie moved into 29th in the overall standings after starting only nine of 15 events this season in the No. 5 GMAC Monte Carlo. The Winston Cup Series visited Ponono on Sunday, as Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon continued their respective runs at the championship. Johnson earned his fourth top-five finish of the season in the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet with a third-place finish in the Pocono 500, narrowing the gap between himself and first-place Sterling Marlin to just 136 points in the driver standings. Gordon, the defending Winston Cup champion, also brought home his fourth top-five of 2002, taking fifth-place overall on Sunday in the No. 24 Dupont Chevy. It was his ninth top-10 finish of the year in 14 events and keeps him a solid third place in championship points. Teammates Terry Labonte and Joe Nemechek had rough days at Pocono, with each bowing out of the event early. Labonte experienced engine trouble in the No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet just past the halfway point of the race, saddling him with a 38th-place finish after starting 16th in the field of 43. The two-time Winston Cup champion dropped one position in the standings to 17th. Driving the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet, Nemcheck had problems on lap 30 of the event when his race car slipped out of gear, causing him to lose control and back into the wall, doing severe damage. Team 25 was credited with a 41st-place, keeping Nemechek stable in the Winston Cup standings at 38th. The NASCAR Winston Cup Series visits Michigan International Speedway for this Sunday’s running of the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 (FOX, 1 p.m. EDT), while Sprague and Hendrick will join the rest of the Busch Series competitors at Kentucky Speedway for the Kroger 300 (FX, 7:30 p.m. EDT). Each event will be broadcast live on local MRN Radio affiliates.