#41 Target Texas race report

Contact:  Nealie Hamilton, Chip Ganassi Racing, 704/662-9642,
nhamilton@ganassi.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2002

SPENCER SCORES SECOND STRAIGHT TOP-10 FINISH

FT. WORTH, Texas (April 9, 2002) - The Target Dodge Intrepid R/T driven by
Jimmy Spencer finished eighth in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor
Speedway.  This is Spencer's second straight top-10 finish; he finished
second at Bristol Motor Speedway.  With his eighth place finish, Spencer
moved up two places to 21st in NASCAR Winston Cup championship points.  

The Target Dodge took the green flag in the 21st position but moved into the
top-15 by lap 7.  Spencer radioed in within the first 20 laps stating that
the car was tight in the center yet he continued to move through the pack up
to 11th position by lap 23.  Following the mandatory caution period on lap
35, Spencer restarted in the eighth position due to a 14.66 second four tire
pit stop by Team Target.  The Target Dodge stayed in the top-10 for the
remainder of the first 100 laps of the race.  

Team Target made adjustments on the No. 41 Dodge during pit stops and kept
Spencer in the top-20 from laps 100 to 200.  As green flag pit stops were
ending, a caution came out on lap 239 with Team Target still on the track
without coming in to pit.  Spencer brought the No. 41 Dodge in under caution
and was able to restart in third position due to the pit sequence.  Spencer
remained competitive in the top-5 for the remainder of the race until he
began to fall back starting on lap 325 when the No. 20 and No. 48 cars slid
by him on the inside.  Spencer eventually finished in eighth place behind
teammate and points leader Sterling Marlin.  Spencer and Marlin started the
event in 20th and 21st positions due to having the exact same qualifying
times (28.181 seconds).

"The car pushed, but we weren't bad," Spencer said.  "We ran in the top-10
most of the day and made a couple of adjustments to try to get it better. At
one time, we really got a push to the car. We almost lost a lap and came
back. We adjusted back on it the other way, and we might have adjusted right
in the end because we came home in the top 10. That wasn't too bad. 

"We're going to have a lot of top-10s this year. We've got a good race team,
and we're learning a lot. We've got to get better figuring out stuff. Our
pit stops were awesome today. Sterling and I qualified 20th and 21st with
the same speed. We finished seventh and eighth. It's not where we want to be
and it's not where Chip expects us to be. The whole team expects more and
we're going to get better. We want top fives, and I know we can do that."

Next on the schedule for the No. 41 Target team is the Virginia 500 at
Martinsville Speedway on April 14, 2002.

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Nealie Hamilton
Media Relations
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
704-662-9642 x1130 / office
704-957-9933 / cell