Spencer, No. 2 Team ASE/Ultra Wheels Dodge Finish 12th at Milwaukee
TruckSeries.com Report
July 27, 2005

Jimmy Spencer fought to a hard-earned 12th-place finish in Friday night’s Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at The Milwaukee Mile. Spencer started the No. 2 Team ASE/Ultra Wheels Dodge deep in the field and steadily worked his way towards the front by making passes on the track, narrowly missing his fifth top-10 finish of the season.

After qualifying 28th in the mid-afternoon qualifying session, Spencer spent the first 50 laps of the race running in or around that position. With weather issues a concern, the field strung out trying to reach the mid-way point, at which point NASCAR could declare an official race in case of rain. As the field stretched out under a long green flag run, Spencer started picking up positions as the handling on other trucks started to fade.

As the field reached the 70 lap mark, green flag pit stops brought the field down pit road. Spencer’s crew changed four tires and fuel quick enough to gain five positions in the exchange, and Spencer was able to avoid a pit road speeding penalty, which caught out nine competitors and brought them back down pit road for a pass-thru penalty.

Spencer continued to hold position until the field approached the next round of green flag stops. With 142 consecutive green flag laps in the books, the event’s only caution flag waved when Johnny Benson’s truck had engine failure in turn one and slid to a stop. While pitting under caution, Spencer’s crew again stepped to the plate and delivered one of the quickest stops of the night, gaining another five positions on pit road.

Restarting in the 13th position, Spencer quickly moved into 12th, a position he would hold to the finish. His continued progress towards the front was impeded by leader Dennis Setzer’s frantic early pace, which trapped all but three other drivers a lap down, and left Spencer as the lead driver two laps off the pace.

With the finish, Spencer holds the sixth place in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship standings. He is 177 points behind leader Setzer, and just 36 points behind fifth place Ricky Craven.

Spencer and the No. 2 Team ASE/Ultra Wheels Dodge return to action this Saturday at 3 P.M. Eastern in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at the Kansas Speedway. Speed Channel will have the live telecast, with Motor Racing Network carrying the race live on selected radio affiliates nationwide. TruckSeries.com will provide continual real-time updates throughout practice, qualifying, and the race at www.truckseries.com.