The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 45

AUTO RACING 15 Sunday July 8 2001 THE KANSAS CITY STAR victory hopes go up in smoke! TRUCK REPORT ROOKIES RULE just a matter of time before he wjisj! going to get a wire really thought we were going win very disappointed do-r ing all I can da It just seems like we just get to the end of thqyq Hendrick commiserated with Sprague a two-time points champion who still pocketed $10665 because he led so many laps won a lot of Heri chick said had a lot of bad luck this year why autPn racing We had a lot of bad luck last? 8 and is still third in the points series also had engine problems at Martinsville Va when he finished 20th On Friday he joked about all the his crew was doing in order to keep up with the Dodge trucks that had been dominating the series But Sprague found little to laugh about on Saturday At least victory soothed some of the disappointment I win so happy Ricky did" said Sprague who was third in qualifying Friday behind Dennis Setzer and Hendrick was took the lead truck limped along the apron unable to keep pace with the field He was issued the black flag ordering him off the trade The diagnosis was a broken leftside lifter in his engine It was the third straight week Sprague had lost a race because of mechanical problems and he was fuming get paid to drive the car I get paid to build the Sprague said tersely after he ran through some orange cones and pulled the smoking truck into the garage all I can Last week at Milwaukee Sprague led all but two of the first 170 laps before his tires failed him and he finished second to Ted Musgrave TVvo weeks ago in Memphis Tenn he encountered some off-line problems and surrendered the lead at lap 103 of 200 before finishing 23rd his worst finish of the season Sprague who won at Texas on June By RANDY COVITZ The Kamai City Star Jack Sprague was smoking So was his engine Sprague appeared in full control of die NASCAR Craftsman Thick Series Auto Parts 250 on Saturday leading 80 of the first 129 laps when he made his final pit stop But as Sprague headed back onto the track smoke began billowing from his Chevrolet Sprague tried coaxing some more laps out of the truck as teammate and eventual winner Ricky Hendrick TRUCKS: Rookie Hendrick makes history with victory Local racers experience! ups KH only did Ricky Hendrick be-the first rookie to win a Craftsman Thicks race in four other rookies (fourth) Billy Bigley Travis Kvapil (sixth) and Haseleu (10th) finished iplO definition of a rookie is not ter totally but a beginner to the said Wood series Is no different than any other series all racing It surprise me one Haseleu who is teammate for Roush Racing matched his season best our fourth top-10 finish" he said we just keep finishing 10th We had some problems we hade flat tire going down the front straightway that lost us a lot of spots Otherwise we might have had a chance for a sixth or Bigley recovered from crashing into the wall during testing kind of spooked me a little bit" he said asked Dennis Set-zer if we could run around with him in practice so we drafted I learned a lot discovered myself" HIS KIND OF TRACK Wood is really taking a liking to Kansas Speedway On June 2 he finished second in the NASCAR Winston West Series race On Saturday he overcame a spinout on lap 22 and finished fourth NEW POINTS LEADER Soott Riggs' seventh-place finish was good enough to vault him past Joe Ruttman and back into the Craftsman Truck points lead at the halfway mark of the season Ruttman was bedeviled by a series of electrical problems including his battery and alternator and he "finished 24th his poorest showing of the season GOING GOING GAUGHAN Brendan Gaughan led from laps 63 to 69 before making his first pit stop But when he returned to die track he lost control of his truck on lap 74 Gaughan in his fourth trucks race of the season hit the nstde wall on turn two and was through for the day It was completely my fault" Gaughan said had a great truck It was a tick loose but we were flying 1 must not have been concentrating I feel bad for the team 1 fed like a jerk" DOUBLE THE FUN Ted Musgrave who finished second enjoyed racing on the 15-mile Kansas Speedway tri-oval It has a lot of said Mus-grave a four-time winner this season was pretty warm but the facility held up a fun place to race because no matter what happens you have places to move around and pass people track is so big so wide you could put 80 trucks out there and have a lot more fun If you had twice as many trucks you would have twice as much action I might not have finished second but ourth RICH SUGGThe Kansas City Star Members of Ricky crew celebrated after victory Saturday in the Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway NASCAR Craftsman Track O'Reilly Auto Paris 2S0 At Kansas Speedway lap length VA miles Continued from C-l Craftsman Thick series said Rick Hendrick whose Hendrick Motorsports dynasty includes Winston Cup champions Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte and trucks titan Jack Sprague are nice but to see your son do something it gets very emotional standing there you think about him when he was sitting in your lap in (Ken) lap kind of like the mascot of the football team ending up being the quarterback really special" Ricky Hendrick felt the presence of his father at the track Rick Hendricks largest Chevrolet dealership is in Kansas City and he brought friends business associates and family to Kansas Speedway before hightailing it back to Daytona Beach Fla for Saturday Pepsi 400 what really stresses you when you have a lot of friends and a lot of family here in Kansas Hendrick said is a dream come true It is definitely the coolest thing that has ever happened to Though Hendrick qualified second on Friday to pole-sitter Dennis Setzer he appeared consigned to finish second to the smooth-riding Sprague for most of the race Hendrick stuck his Chevrolet in front for two laps midway through the race and also during laps 130-135 after Sprague who led a race-high 80 laps blew an engine Hendrick then swapped the lead with Musgrave who finished second and Setzer who finished third before blowing past Billy Bigley and cruising the last 23 laps to victory He averaged 125094 mph and received $40885 for his win Hendrick like the other drivers had to cope with the intense heat which was 95 degrees on the thermometer at high noon but about 140 on the track behind and my feet were on Hendrick said other than that I was good until I got out for the celebration I wanted to fall over or puke or something The victory in 18th NASCAR Craftsman Thicks race surprise him After practice rounds qualifying and Happy Hour he exuded confidence knew when we unloaded be pretty good Hendrick said like superspeedways and this is a mini-superspeedway not a bump out there like a mini-Talladega because I didn't use the brakes once Maybe By IVAN CARTER The Kansas City Star The first major race day at Kansas Speedway included a mixture of accomplishment and frustration for four Kansas City-area racers All experienced the excitements of revving their engines at the start of the NASCAR Craftsman Thick-) Series Auto Parts 250 on-Saturday but only two Aaron Daniel of Kansas City and Randy' Briggs of Kansas City Kan were able to complete the race Daniel made his Kansas Speedway debut a memorable one by finishing 17th and Briggs came a spinout on lap 82 ami damage to the front end of his truck and finished 18th David Hall of Blue Springs and Rick Beebe of MerrW am saw their races end early because of mechanical problems "I came in looking to earn the rti-M spect of these guys and I feel like I was able to do that" said Danitil who also competed in Saturday night's races at 1-70 Speedway in-Odessa Mo "My goal was to finish-fin the) top 15 but take it I'm-grateful for the opportunity to in front of the home crowd fully next time we race here the truck will run a little faster and race a little Briggs was especially thrilled to help break in the new track The race marked just the second time he has competed in a NASCAR-Craftsman Thick Series race anid the first time he has been able to complete one That it all took place in Ufc hometown made it a bonus were so many fans sp many Briggs said "My wife answers e-mails every day people wishing us luck We got three phone calls since the race ended Being here in my home- town this was really really big it wasn't for a couple of rookie mistakes I probably ished (in the) top 15 The good thing was we overcame some ear- -hr damage and were able to finisfi the Finishing proved to be an acr complishment since several trucks were knocked out of the race day ended when his motor blew lip on lap 53 To the de- light of a large contingent of fol- lowers in the grandstands he hadr managed to climb from 22nd place to 17th earlier in the race "There were a lot of people heife" watching and I wish we done better for Beebe said we got around 15 laps in I knew the motor going to last The truck was running way too hot It's disappointing becausp I want to come out here and? just try to finish I wanted to run aP good Hall who finished 11th in the-June 2 ARCA race at Kansas Speed way ran 65 laps on Saturday bfe1 fore his truck succumbed to en gine difficulty was really a combination of five or six things" Hall said truck was overheating the off pan was cracked and there was no clutch so there a whole kkp we could do This place has been good to us though" a Mi TT2 giving my secrets away When I watched the ARCA race here (on June 2) I said a first win this will probably be it Happy Hour I was real confident with the truck I knew I could put it wherever I wanted I could run high I could run low I could run behind somebody I could run in front of Setzer sensed Hendricks self-assurance been impressive all year Setzer said got a lot to draw on in Hendrick Motorsports with Jeff Gordon his dad Jack Sprague they've got a lot of notes from the Craftsman Thick The victory solidified Hendricks hold in the rookie-of-the year standings but he was unable to move up in the overall series standings where he still is fifth Hendrick began the season strong with a second-place at Daytona and had 10 top-10 finishes in 1 1 races this season before winning on Saturday still a lot to he said week I critique myself and sit down with the crew chiefs and my father and talk to him on what I need to improve on faster I progress the more we win races the faster going to Winston To reach Randy Covitz sports reporter for The Star call (816)234-4796 Time of race: 2 hours 0 minutes 9 seconds Average speed: 125094 mph Margin of victory: 2841 seconds Lead changes: 14 among 8 drivers Lap leaders: Setzer 1-20 Sprague 21-55 Musgrave 56 Setzer 57-60 Kvapil 61-63 Gaughan 64-69 Wood 70-78 Hendrick 79-80 Wood 81-84 Sprague 85-129 Hendrick 130-135 Musgrave 136-140 Setzer 141 Bigley 142-143 Hendrick 144-167 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points (unofficial): 1 Riggs 1872 2 Ruttman 1823 3 Sprague 1777 4 Musgrave 1775 5 Hendrick 1766 6 Kvapil 1740 7 Cook 1651 8 Crawford 1585 9 Setzer 1544 10 Gibbs 1488 SHORTENED CELEBRATION Hendrick didn't get to celebrate his first victory as much as he had envisioned He drove circles on the track as planned but get to climb on top of the truck and salute the crowd Before every race you have an image of Victory Hendrick said you run through the whole deal would you do to celebrate how would you do Formy first win I wanted to get on op of the truck in the middle of the track I did my donuts but they yelled at me to come in because BSRN was running out of air Randy Covitz Li and Ivan CarterThe Star Track Homestead Fla Texas 1-70 Speedway Bakersfield New Hampshire Driver Kenny Irwin Tony Raines Randy Tolsma Andy Houston Kurt Busch Year 1997 1997 1997 1998 2000 Not bad for beginners Ricky Hendrick's victory Saturday made him the sixth rookie to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race JEFF ROBERSON The Kansas City Star Ion Wood got a little sideways as Jason Small (74) and Randy Tolsma went past him in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Thicks race Wood recovered and finished fourth Milwaukee New Hampshire Dover Del California 2001 Ricky Hendrick Kansas Fueling and this hose is operated by a separate crew member The fuel is not stored in a tank in the car but a fuel cell The fuel cell is a rubber bladder that is housed in a protective Kevlar collar Since fuel ceils have become part of auto racing fuel fires have become all but extinct could drop an atomic bomb on one of these (and it would not said Les Mactaggart the technical consultant From there the fuel heads to the engine by way of fuel lines that look like garden hoses IRL engines at Kansas Speedway will be burning two gallons every mile The fuel they burn methanol is a form of alcohol They bum it for a couple of reasons First when it was introduced in the late 1920s high-grade gasoline was hard to find Second it provides a bit more pop than gasoline Third it is safer because unlike gasoline it is water-soluble and it has a lower flash point There are two downsides to methanol First it burns invisibly The guy next to you could be on fire and you wouldn't know it except for his body language Second it is heavier than gasoline Oh and for those who do worry about cost it is currently about $275 per gallon 4 The price of the fuel is the last thing auto racers think about as they pull up to the pump They are thinking about seconds not dollars That is seconds spent taking on a load of fuel as cars not in the pits with them whiz past at 215 mph The whole refueling process is built around putting 35 gallons of fuel methanol in the case of the IRL into a car in 11 seconds The fuel that is loaded during a pit stop is contained in a tank that is elevated 84 inches off the pit-road surface It is elevated because rules say that fuel can be forced into the tank only by gravity The fuel travels from the elevated tank through a plastic hose that must be 3 inches in diameter and no shorter than 10 feet long Why not shorter than 10 feet? shorter the said Phil Casey the technical director the faster the At the end of the hose is the kind of nozzle they use to load fuel into jet aircraft It is a large nozzle that creates a seal with the port on the left side of the chassis A second smaller hose goes into a vent hole in the chassis Auto racing can be a bit of a mind-boggler to the new racing fen So The Jim Fedley will take a look at the essential equipment and concerns for auto-racing teams JOE LEDFORDTEe Kansas City Star Greg Ray like all other IRL drivers like to spend a lot of time taking on fuel in the pits The pit crew can put 35 gallons into a car fan 1 1 seconds i.