41 Target Bristol Race Report

Contact:  Nealie Hamilton, Chip Ganassi Racing, 704/662-9642, nhamilton@ganassi.com
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    March 24, 2002
 
 
SPENCER FINISHES SECOND AT BRISTOL
 
BRISTOL, Tenn. (March 24, 2002) - The Target Dodge Intrepid R/T driven by Jimmy Spencer finished second in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.  This is Spencer's second top-10 of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup season.  With his second place finish, Spencer moved up to 23rd in NASCAR Winston Cup championship points.  
 
The Target Dodge started the 500-lap event in fourth position and Spencer quickly moved up to lead the race for the first time on lap 32.  The Target Dodge raced in the top-5 for most of the day with Spencer leading the race three times for a total of 54 laps.
 
With 56 laps to go, Spencer took the lead away from the No. 97 of Kurt Busch.  On the next lap, Busch got into Spencer's rear bumper making him lose control and slide up the track.  Busch went to the inside of the Target Dodge tapping Spencer again to take the lead and the eventual win.  The Target Dodge took the checkered flag in second place, gaining 12 NASCAR Winston Cup championship points positions.
 
"I never touched him (Busch)," Spencer said.  "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.  
 
"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're going to go on with Texas and I hope we're going to come home with another top-5 finish."
 
Next on the schedule for the No. 41 Target team is the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7, 2002.
 
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