Sprague Takes NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Pole

Jack Sprague turned a lap of 50.137, 179.508 mph, to capture the pole for the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener at Daytona.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Jack Sprague turned a lap of 50.137, 179.508 mph, to capture the pole for the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener at Daytona.

"Anybody can run around here in qualifying, it's not that hard," Sprague said after capturing his 30th career Craftsman Truck Series pole in the No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota.

"Racing's a different deal. This truck was awesome in drafting practice. I'm more excited about that than winning the pole. To have the speed too is unbelievable. I think we've got a shot to win this race. The guys did a great job building this truck, they deserve the credit for the pole. "We only ran 15 minutes in practice in the draft, and I said, 'it's awesome,'" Sprague said. "We ran one run this morning, and felt if it back it up, I'd be pretty proud of the truck. I'm looking forward to the race."

Qualifying second was Carl Edwards, running a lap of 178.742 mph in the Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

He was followed by defending series champion Todd Bodine in the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota, 178.370 mph; Travis Kvapil in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, 178.080 mph; and Erik Darnell in Roush's No. 99 Northern Tool & Equipment Ford, 177.574 mph.

"I think this is going to be a wild race," said Edwards, who won at Daytona in 2004. "Having Erik starting up front will really help. The truck is great, and it's fun to drive."

Bodine began his 2006 championship campaign with a second-place finish at Daytona, following the No. 6 Ford then driven by Mark Martin.

"It's always better to start near the front, but at Daytona, it's just a place to start," Bodine said. "I've come the back to the front here, so it doesn't matter."

The top-qualifying rookie was World of Outlaw sprint car veteran Tyler Walker, sixth fastest in the No. 36 Melling Engine Parts/Harris Trucking Toyota owned by Bill Davis.

"I'm on cloud nine, and can't wait until tomorrow night," Walker said. "Racing at Daytona is a dream come true. We're better in the draft than we are in qualifying trim, so I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers were Terry Cook, Ted Musgrave, Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson, with former Champ Car standout AJ Allmendinger 11th in what will be his fourth start in the series.

"I thought we'd be a little quicker in qualifying, but that's not a big deal," Allmendinger said. "It's been drafting great in practice. It's a truck race, so things will change 100 times before the end of the first lap. I think it's driving well, and it's consistent. That's probably the most important thing. We've been working hard on a good race setup and good balance."

Sprague and Bodine had a near altercation during Thursday morning practice.

"Todd was finishing up a run, and he pulled down ­ he didn't know I was there," Sprague said. "I was in the grass the whole length of the backstretch, jumping over the road course roads. That was a hairy ride at 180 mph with no grip. Fortunately, I didn't wreck, it only tore the nose up. When I came in the pits, I could hardly notice any damage."

Thursday's qualifying was held in an intermittent drizzle and cool temperatures. With 37 drivers attempting qualifying runs, the only driver failing to make the field was Wayne Edwards.

The eighth annual Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona is set to start at 8:00 PM ET Friday.

You can watch the race live on the SPEED Channel.

Chevy Silverado HD 250 Starting Lineup:

Row 1:

1. 60 Jack Sprague Con-way Freight Toyota 50.137 179.508

2. 50 Carl Edwards Roush Racing Ford 50.352 178.742

Row 2:

3. 30 Todd Bodine Lumber Liquidators Toyota 50.457 178.370

4. 6 Travis Kvapil Roush Racing Ford 50.539 178.080

Row 3:

5. 99 Erik Darnell Northern Tool & Equipment Ford 50.683 177.574

6. 36 Tyler Walker # 360 OTC Toyota 50.806 177.144

Row 4:

7. 59 Terry Cook Melling Engine Parts/Harris Trucking Toyota 50.830 177.061

8. 9 Ted Musgrave Team ASE/Germain Toyota Toyota 50.977 176.550

Row 5:

9. 5 Mike Skinner Toyota Tundra Toyota 50.978 176.547

10. 23 Johnny Benson Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota 51.019 176.405

Row 6:

11. 00 A.J. Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 51.020 176.401

12. 1 Aaron Fike # RFMS/Red Horse Racing Toyota 51.065 176.246

Row 7:

13. 14 Rick Crawford Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford 51.247 175.620

14. 2 Cale Gale Camping World Chevrolet 51.271 175.538

Row 8:

15. 4 Chase Miller Open Joist Dodge 51.334 175.322

16. 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. AES HR Solutions Chevrolet 51.385 175.148

Row 9:

17. 47 Kraig Kinser Ginn Resorts Chevrolet 51.422 175.022

18. 09 Joey Clanton # Zaxby's Ford 51.422 175.022

Row 10:

19. 10 David Starr Maxx Force Diesel Ford 51.429 174.999

20. 16 Stacy Compton Melling Engine Parts Ford 51.462 174.886

Row 11:

21. 18 Ken Schrader Fastenal Dodge 51.557 174.564

22. 46 Mike Wallace DirecTV Hot Pass Chevrolet 51.574 174.507

Row 12:

23. 07 Tim Sauter # Lester Buildings Chevrolet 51.647 174.260

24. 13 Willie Allen # National Pork Board/Silver Floss Chevrolet 51.712 174.041

Row 13:

25. 21 Kelly Bires # Air Force Ford 51.736 173.960

26. 88 Matt Crafton Menards Chevrolet 51.742 173.940

Row 14:

27. 77 Brendan Gaughan South Point Chevrolet 51.766 173.859

28. 8 Blake Bjorklund # Blue Ox Chevrolet 51.835 173.628

Row 15:

29. 7 Derrike Cope Hooters Energy Drink Chevrolet 51.864 173.531

30. 08 Chad McCumbee GPS Store/Garmin Chevrolet 51.906 173.390

Row 16:

31. 75 Dennis Setzer Spears Mfg. Co. Chevrolet 52.145 172.596

32. 40 Mike Bliss Curtis Key Plumbing Chevrolet 52.208 172.387

Row 17:

33. 15 Bill Lester Manheim Central Florida Auto Auction 52.223 172.338

34. 28 Brandon Knupp Chevrolet 52.348 171.926

Row 18:

35. 63 Jason White # Gunbroker.com Ford 52.418 171.697

36. 44 Larry Foyt Sile Stone USA Chevrolet 52.823 170.380

Did Not Qualify: 95 Wayne Edwards

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