NASCAR WCUP: Spencer returns to good memories at Martinsville
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
April 3, 2001JIMMY SPENCER --26-- Kmart Taurus -- WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MARTINSVILLE? "I've got a lot of memories of Martinsville. Actually, Martinsville was what made me go asphalt racing. I drove down there about 1978 to watch the old sportsman cars and modifieds and I fell in love with 'em. I was racing dirt at the time, but when I went home I sold my dirt cars and decided I was gonna buy a modified because that was the closest thing we had up north. I don't remember who won the race that day, but I enjoyed watching guys like Ray Hendricks and Paul Radford, Sonny Hutchison and Tommy Ellis. It was pretty neat. That's what I remember about Martinsville. There always used to be a doubleheader. They used to race in front of the Winston Cup guys, and that's just about where I got my break. Martinsville is the place where I first met Junior Johnson and Cale Yarborough. I told Junior that someday I was gonna drive for him and he said, 'Well, keep the faith boy.' I talked to him for quite a while which really shocked me, but I did eventually drive for him, so Martinsville brings back a lot of memories.
HOW IS THAT TRACK FOR YOU? "It's a tough race track. It's hard on brakes, but right now the brakes we have on our cars are incredible with the speeds we run. It used to be that you had to save everything, but now you don't have to save anything. The brakes will go 500 laps at Martinsville without too much problem because of the cooling system we have. You may still have to save your brakes a little bit, but the other thing you have to watch is your temper. Tempers flare pretty heavy at Martinsville."
THEY'VE MADES SOME CHANGES THERE THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. "Yeah, the pit road used to be a problem but now with one pit road it's not too bad. If you have a flat tire or something you know you're gonna lose two laps, but I think all in all Martinsville has done a good job of making improvements. You know, some people are saying we need to lose some dates at some of these race tracks and maybe we need to lose one. But you always need to remember that Martinsville, along with Richmond and Bristol, is the closest the fans can get to the car. They can smell the rubber burning from the tires and smell the smoke and they get to see an exciting race. I think Martinsville will always have a place in our heritage and we'll always be there. I also think that Martinsville, if you have a good day, you leave there pretty happy. If you don't, usually there's a lot of retaliation."
YOU WOULD NEVER DO THAT WOULD YOU? "No. I used to do things like that, but I think I've matured."
IS MARTINSVILLE HARDER FOR YOU BECAUSE OF THE STYLE OF DRIVING? "Martinsville is hard for me because I love to go fast. I probably drive into the corners a little too deep and use a little too much brake, but I learned a lot from Darrell Waltrip last year and that really helped me because we came back and finished seventh in the fall. Martinsville is tough for me because you know you're faster than somebody, but you've got to be a lot faster to pass them. You have to really bide your time and be patient. I think it's a track that really tests your patience as much as anywhere you go."
AS FAR AS THE BUMPING AND BANGING, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN COMPARE IT TO? "No, but I'd like to see a 500-lap race at Orange County or South Boston or Hickory. God, there wouldn't be a straight piece of metal on any race car when it was all over with. That's short-track racing. Martinsville is different. There's no way of changing the way you drive at Martinsville. You've got to learn a certain pattern and keep that pattern. It's not a track that changes. It gets slick and greasy up off the corners and the more aggressive you get at Martinsville, the slower you run. The faster you try to go at Martinsville, the slower you'll run. It's the opposite of the way you think at most race tracks. You come to some race tracks and know that if you drive in a little bit different and not use as much brake, you'll run faster. At Martinsville, you've got to use brake and you've got to lift at a certain spot. If you drive in too deep, then you have to use too much brake which slows down your center corner speed. Martinsville is a tricky place, there's no doubt about it."
DO 43 CARS ON THAT SMALL TRACK MAKE IT MORE FRUSTRATING OR MORE FUN? "That's a lot of cars, but our sport has grown too big to say that we can only have 36 cars start one place and 43 in another. If we did that, then that means we should start 50 or 60 at Daytona and Talladega. I think NASCAR has come up with a really good rule that it's 43 cars everywhere. That's a lot of race cars, but it makes for an exciting day. It's an exciting day from the driver's standpoint and I know the fans enjoy it a lot."
WILL YOU PARTAKE IN ANY OF THE WORLD FAMOUS HOT DOGS AT MARTINSVILLE? "If you don't have at least one hot dog at Martinsville, you've not been to Martinsville. The problem is that one leads to two and two leads to three. Luckily, we have three days there."
Text provided by Greg Shea
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