NASCAR WCUP: Jimmy Spencer Ready for Return to Pocono

19 July 1999

Pennsylvania native Jimmy Spencer, driver of the No. 23 Team Winston Taurus, gave his hometown fans a lot to cheer about when he found himself leading last month's Pocono 500 with only 15 laps remaining. Unfortunately for Spencer, he slid in some oil that had been dropped on the track and ultimately lost his lead and finished 14th. Spencer spoke about that day and his feeling on returning to Pocono so quickly.

23 JIMMY SPENCER -- Team Winston Taurus -- WAS LAST MONTH'S POCONO RACE THE MOST SATISFYING FEELING YOU'VE HAD AFTER A RACE IN RECENT TIME? "Without question. It was really gratifying for me personally because me being from Pennsylvania and being at my home track, we haven't had the success we've wanted at Pocono and to lead the race that late was really special. I'm looking really forward to going back there because I think we can run really well again."

DID THAT DAY BRING BACK ANY MEMORIES OF YOUR SHORT TRACK DAYS WHEN THE FANS WOULD GO CRAZY CHEERING FOR YOU? "I think you sense the excitement more than anything. You don't really think about it when you're doing it because you're focused on what's happening on the track. Under caution, though, that's when my spotter said, 'This crowd is absolutely on its feet clapping for you.' Then you start to look and you realize that, boy, that is special. I think that anybody, wherever you are, if you do something at your home track, I think it's real special for the fans. They're the ones who remember watching you on the short tracks and knowing that when they do go back to a Saturday night show, they might be looking at some future Winston Cup driver right there that night. It's really special because it shows they're watching what you do and they remember what you did in the past. It's really neat because it just makes you want to keep coming back for more and more. It does help fans in the respect that they can be proud to stand up and clap for you and it helps you because you know that they really are supporting you."

WHAT DO YOU RECALL WHEN BILL ELLIOTT'S CAR STARTED SMOKING? DID YOU KNOW THERE WAS OIL ON THE TRACK? "The spotter said the 94 car smoked pretty good going down into the tunnel turn and he told me to watch myself. The thing is you're going so fast that you can't slow down because you're leading the race. I didn't see anything until it was right at the bitter end and then my left side tires got caught in it a little bit. I did everything I could to get it out of the wall. I still hit the wall a little bit and going up the short chute I said, 'I can't believe this happened to me.' But I still had to try to do the best I could to finish as high as possible. Unfortunately, I did some damage to the car and it took us out of the top five."

DO YOU LIKE THE FACT OF GOING BACK TO POCONO SO QUICKLY? "I don't think our series is based on when you go back the second time. Rockingham is the furthest apart and then you've got Atlanta. There is a long lapse in there and there's a big difference in the weather, so you really can't go back with the same setup. Sometimes you have to go back with a little different setup than the time before. Pocono, it should be the same conditions -- pretty hot and sunny. The one thing good about Pocono is that if you did run good there in the first race, sometimes you feel a little bit more confident that you can run good in the second race."

HOW MUCH CONFIDENCE DID YOU GAIN FROM THAT FIRST RACE? "I think what it did for us was really reiterate that we are doing our job right and we need to keep focusing and doing what we did that weekend at Pocono. It showed at Sonoma and it showed at Daytona. I think what Pocono did was give the crew and the driver a direction. When you're having a bad year, it sometimes takes just one good run to change the whole morale of a race team."

23 TRAVIS CARTER, Car Owner -- Team Winston Taurus -- WHAT DID THAT FIRST POCONO RACE DO FOR YOU AND YOUR RACE TEAM BECAUSE IT SEEMS YOU'VE BEEN PRETTY GOOD SINCE THEN? "Well we've been good one time. I don't think we were nearly as good at Daytona as would expect to be, but the Pocono race sort of gave us a lift at that time and got things turned on an upward swing for us. But that's a situation where we have to capitalize on that and keep moving forward. Every week is a new challenge in this business."

DOES IT HELP TEAM MORALE AND EVERYONE'S CONFIDENCE TO GO BACK TO POCONO SO QUICKLY? "Yes, it does but you also have to realize that every race every team is better -- every week at every race track. So, yes, going back to Pocono means we have to pick up and even be better than we were at that time to be competitive."

WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN YOUR DRIVER WAS LEADING WITH 15 LAPS TO GO? WERE YOU EXCITED? DID YOU THINK IT WAS GOING TO BE YOUR DAY? "For me, I don't get excited much anyway, but I think it was a relief to see the thing competitive. We worked hard to try to find that combination to get there. Coming down to the wire in that race I'm thinking, 'We're in a good position here.

Let's see what happens.' We certainly thought we could finish in the top five. We knew we had some good strong cars behind us and I know Jimmy was driving as hard as he could every lap, but we didn't know how long the tires would be able to stand it. If you're in a situation of driving as hard as you can and the guy behind you is driving as hard as they can, obviously, they should be using the tires as much as you are, so you really don't know the circumstances there at that time."

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