Truck Series Competition Proves Tough for Spencer
TruckSeries.com Report
September 28, 2005

As a drop-in competitor, No. 2 Team ASE Dodge driver Jimmy Spencer won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in his second appearance.

Spencer, following that September 2003 victory at New Hampshire International Speedway, might have thought, "Well, that was easy."

As a fulltime NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor in 2005, however, Spencer's view has turned 180 degrees.

"I've never been in a series any more competitive than this one is today," said Spencer, a 30-year racing veteran and two-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series winner with 476 starts and nearly $20 million won.

Spencer has yet to duplicate his New Hampshire success although he's come close, losing by a split second to Bobby Hamilton in the No. 04 Bailey's Dodge on the final lap of this season's opening race at Daytona International Speedway.

The Ultra Motorsports driver currently shares a fifth-place championship points total with No. 30 Germain Motor Company Toyota trucker Todd Bodine following last weekend's Las Vegas 350 in which Bodine recorded his second victory of the season.

Spencer, 48, may be on the short side of his competitive career but the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is giving him plenty of what got him hooked on racing in the first place: the opportunity to win.

"In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series you have to race hard - from start to finish," he said.

Spencer isn't surprised that the series has produced three members of this year's "Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup:" Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

"The tribute to the series is that it brings out a never-give-up attitude in drivers," he said. "That's how you get recognized by a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup team owner."

Although Spencer didn't repeat as a New Hampshire winner when the series visited the 1.058-mile track a couple of weeks ago, he points to the race's dramatic conclusion - a three-way fight between three "old school" competitors who had no thought in mind but standing in victory lane.

"Here you had three guys racing for the lead and the respect they showed for each other was phenomenal," said Spencer of winner Rick Crawford, Dennis Setzer and Ted Musgrave. "The series is tough but in a way nobody's going to give you anything but the room to race.

"First place pays the most points. That's how these guys approach it. And it fits my personality as a driver."

With five races left on the schedule, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship appears destined for a photo finish - again.

Just five points separate standings leader Setzer from runnerup Musgrave, Spencer's Ultra Motorsports teammate. The point difference matches the record for this point of the season. In 1998, Jack Sprague (No. 16 Chevy Trucks Chevrolet) was five in front of Ron Hornaday Jr. in the No. 6 GM Goodwrench Chevy who went on to win his second championship.

The closely contested championship race is nothing new. In nine of the series' 10 seasons, the decision has gone to the final race which, for the third time, will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 18).

Neither Setzer nor Musgrave has won a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship but both have carried title hopes into the finale. Setzer and Musgrave finished second and third, respectively, in each of the past two seasons. Setzer lost the 2003 title to Travis Kvapil by nine points in the series' third-closest decision. Musgrave missed by 18.

Hornaday, the current third-ranked championship hopeful, is 200 points behind Setzer. The spread between Hornaday and 10th-place Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards/Seal Best Chevrolet) is 194 points with Sprague in 11th, 32 points back. Should he advance, Sprague will be a perfect nine-for-nine in top-10 championship finishes. Next closest in the record book is Setzer, who is working on his seventh-consecutive ranking among the top 10.