NASCAR Cup

Bristol: Jimmy Spencer post race press conference

JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T) NOTE: Spencer entered race ranked 35th in points, with one top-10 finish in four starts this season. Following his runner-up finish Sunday, he's not ranked 23rd. "Kurt Busch just smashed right ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)

NOTE: Spencer entered race ranked 35th in points, with one top-10 finish in four starts this season. Following his runner-up finish Sunday, he's not ranked 23rd.

"Kurt Busch just smashed right into me, and that's OK. I never forget. The only thing is when I smash back, he won't finish. The team has done a heck of a job since Daytona. I'm really proud of my guys. We had great pit stops today, and we had a good car. I wanted to win really bad, and we didn't get it. The lapped traffic wasn't that bad today. Everybody was trying to get the best they could get. It's just a tough deal here at Bristol. Everything is so tight, and you've got to handle so well here. We had a really good day. We were really good on the long runs. When he smashed into the back of me, it really ruined my tires.

"We've got a big bull's-eye back there. I guess he couldn't see too good. He ends up winning the race. The Team Target Dodge ran real well today. It's pretty neat to come out of here with a top five finish. We should have had that last week also. The team is strong, and we'll get wins. There's no question in my mind. The guys do an excellent job of making these cars adjustable. We're getting better every week.

"I think I'm going to win more than once this year. I truly believe that. There's a lot of things you can and can't do, and one thing you can't do is beat and bang on people and knock 'em up out of the way, especially racing for the lead. I know a lot of guys who don't do that, and they're Winston Cup champions. Like myself and Gordon did early in the race. I admire the way he races me and I race him. Some guys have to learn and have to learn the hard way.

"That was a pretty bad deal for the Team Target Dodge. We were leading the race. I passed him fair and square and he just smashed right into my back bumper. That's part of it. What are you going to do? We had a good day, brought it home second and we're building on this thing. We're getting stronger every week. I love Bristol. I love Richmond. I love where the driver really shows. I don't like to beat and bang with people like that. I like to race 'em. I really enjoyed racing with Jeff Gordon last week and this week.

"Bristol is coming again in August, and that won't be long. We had a really good car today. It ran flawless. We just got railroaded out of the lead. He shouldn't race that way, but he won it. I just don't forget.

"Qualifying fourth really helped. We made a good pit selection and ran up front all day. I had a good car. I really enjoyed racing with Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and those guys. We kept adjusting on our car and got it real good on long runs. We had good pit stops all day. Team Target was awesome. We just never felt like we were as good as we needed to be on new tires, but on old tires we were really good. Kurt just smashed into my back bumper. I don't know how I saved it. The Good Lord helped me save it. That would have been a pretty bad wreck for me. I would have finished wherever. We still came back and salvaged second, and I was pretty happy.

"I never touched him (Busch). I knew my car was good and straight up off the corners. That's what you want here. I just drove up underneath him coming through three and four. I drove down on the inside of him and never laid a tire on him. He just hit me in the back bumper. I'm sure he'll say I checked up or I stepped on the brakes. That's fine. Remember Talladega. We don't forget.

"I have no clue what he's talking about (last year at Phoenix). I just look at it as when you start racing for victories, top fives, you'd better respect your competitors because it'll come back to haunt you pretty quick. I feel like I respected everybody today in the top five. I just think it's one of them bad deals. All-in-all, I think you should have a little more respect for the guy leading the race. I didn't do it to him, and I don't think he should have done it to me, but that's life. We go on. We're big boys. I'm a big boy.

"My car was really good on old tires. I don't know how I saved that car. I took 20 laps off the tires right there, and I knew that. I just thank the Good Lord that we didn't blow one out and hit the wall and we came home second.

"If you got beat fair and square... There's way of losing. I got beat yesterday by Jeff Green. I could handle that. I'm a big guy, but I can't handle getting smashed into and knocked up and out of the race track. You just don't race that way for victories. It really frustrates you because it's so hard to win races and so hard to run in the top five anymore, especially at Bristol. You've got to really be patient. We were patient all day. I'm very upset that it happened, but that's life. He calls it his way. I don't know what he's saying about Phoenix. That's fine. We're going to go on with Texas and hope we're going to come home with another top five finish."

-dodge-

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