Sprague gets 25th career NASCAR trucks victory

Jack Sprague led the final nine laps Friday night in Fort Worth, Texas, for his 25th career NASCAR truck series victory, but first in more than a year.

Sprague, who beat Johnny Benson by 1.3 seconds, hadn’t won since May 2004 at Mansfield, Ohio.

After taking four tires on his last pit stop with about 30 laps left, Sprague stayed with the front pack. He was finally able to pull his Chevrolet ahead on the 159th lap when David Reutimann pitted for the last time.

Benson, a former Nextel Cup driver who hasn’t won in the truck series, had his second runner-up finish in two Texas truck races. Dennis Setzer was third.

Sprague won with an average speed of 144.847 mph. It was his fifth straight top-10 finish at Texas, where he also won in 2001.

“We didn’t have any misfortune,” Sprague said. “We didn’t have a scratch on the truck.”

Johnson’s advantage questionable

Coming off a sweep of last summer’s events at Pocono Raceway, Jimmie Johnson should be the favorite Sunday in Long Pond, Pa.

But the Nextel Cup points leader has nearly no advantage heading into the Pocono 500. A change in the gearing rule means everybody will be going slower, looking for new way to get around the 2.5-mile triangle.

“With the gear rule we have, we won’t be able to shift,” Johnson said. “That’s going to be much different than what any of us have done before, and I expect the times to probably be a lot slower since we’re not able to optimize the power band of the engine.

“And then with the smaller spoiler, at Pocono it’s very tough to get stopped in turn one with the speeds we carry and I would expect that the smaller spoiler is going to be a little tougher on the brakes as well. So it’s going to be a different race track, probably one of the tracks we will have the most difficulty adjusting to with this new rules package this year.”

First American since ‘93 drives F1

Scott Speed became the first American since 1993 to drive a Formula One car when he tested for the Red Bull Racing team at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Speed, a 22-year-old from Manteca, Calif., participated in both practice sessions in a third Red Bull car that is sent out onto the track for testing purposes. His presence marked the first time an American has been in Grand Prix activities since Michael Andretti in 1993.

Speed was 15th in the first practice session, but had trouble in the second when he spun halfway through to end his day in the car.