Top Row Seat - Craftsman Truck Champion
Dateline: 11/01/99Fontana California hosted a barn burner of a Craftsman Truck Series race as the season-long Championship battle came down to a two lap shootout.
The top three in the series points were separated by a scant 25 points going into Saturday's race and all eyes were on Greg Biffle, Jack Sprague and Dennis Setzer to see who would emerge with the big prize.
Setzer's hopes were dashed early on when he got caught up in Kenny Schrader's wreck. Dennis would limp home in 29th place and finish the season third in points. The remaining two drivers dualed all day long. Leapfrogging each other back and forth with "if the race ended now" scenarios that gave them each the title a dozen times.
In an all-out two lap trophy dash Jack Sprague was surrounded by friends (and fellow Chevy drivers) while Greg Biffle could not even catch a break from his own teammate. When the race went green for the final time Sprague leaped from third to first virtually unopposed while Biffle was struggling with an ill-handling truck in unfriendly traffic.
The road to the championship ended with a checkered flag as Jack Sprague took the win without much of a battle from the other racers. Many races throughout history have been won and lost on pit road. However, this victory was a political win instead of a racing win. Crew chief Dennis Connor was working the teams in front of him during the final caution to guarantee the outcome of the race before the green flag fell for the final dash.
The Craftsman Truck Series Championship did not necessarily go to the fastest or the best prepared but rather to the best connected team on the circuit.
Motorsports Tragedy
I'd like to join the rest of the motorsports world in mourning the tragic death of CART racer Greg Moore. Greg was a very talented racer who was taken too soon.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Moore family as they struggle through this very difficult time.
Do you think the best driver won the truck title? What about the points NASCAR took away from Biffle after the Vegas race? Tell the world what you think on the bulletin board. Or you can talk about all things NASCAR in the chat room where I stop by frequently.
