Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500

Times are rough? Puh-leeese
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Advance - Atlanta Motor Speedway

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 6, 2003) - The stock market is hurting, a war is pending, and the terror alert has glossed every color on the rainbow. Mr. Rogers is gone, tax season is here, and Six Flags over Georgia is still a week away from reopening its gates - which, by the way, when it does open will leave you standing in line long enough to watch a bare naked Chia Pet grow to shrubbery.

Somehow, none of this matters to Ultra Motorsports owner Jim Smith, because he's as chipper as Opie Taylor at a fishing hole, even when the world is miles away from Mayberry. The reasoning is all pretty simple. Smith has watched his No. 7 Dodge Intrepid notch its first top 20 in 14 races, he has witnessed his revamped team jell quicker than Pudding Pops, and he has realized the big, black dog on the hood of his race car is quickly becoming a NASCAR fan's best friend.

Times are rough? Puh-leeese. The only thing that would make life better for Smith is to land a top-10 finish this weekend in the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 (12:30 p.m. EDT on FOX) at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Truth knows they've been close. Driver Jimmy Spencer had the SIRIUS Dodge in seventh place a week ago with 90 laps to go in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 before an accident derailed a sure top-10 and a possible top-five. He still finished 17th.

Smith's "Dog Pound" will run the same car at Atlanta that it used last week in Vegas. Whether it will perform as well is still up in the air. Lest we forget, this is still essentially a brand new team. It just happens to be one that is having a heck of a good time right now with its driver, its crew chief, and certainly its owner. Racing was never supposed to be this much fun.

Team owner Jim Smith's thoughts --

Spencer said in a TV interview the other night there isn't an owner in the garage happier than Jim Smith, and we haven't even finished in the top 10 yet. Is that true?
"I don't think there's any question that I'm the happiest owner in the garage. It's no secret I've been running in the back the past few years, and that doesn't set well with me. I've always had a winning attitude. In the last two weeks I've seen my car pass more cars than it did all last year. There's no question that we've got first-class people now. I know by the way we ran in the first couple of races that we're going to contend for some wins this year."

Are you ever cautious of getting too optimistic, especially with it being so early in the season?
"Well, I know it takes time. But the last couple of weeks have shown me that we've built some pretty good race cars, and Dodge has given us a tremendous amount of wind tunnel time. Another thing is everybody had to start over this year. Every team had to build new cars. There's still a lot to be done in getting the chemistry between Tommy and Jimmy where it needs to be. They've got to get to a point where if Jimmy says it's loose, then Tommy knows exactly how to fix it. What is loose and what is tight? If it's loose, then define that into big loose or small loose - that kind of stuff. But I look at them right now, and I see that it's clicking. I've been in enough businesses and enough race teams to know it's all about people. As long as you've got everyone pushing the wagon, it will be successful."

What impresses you most about Jimmy?
"His attitude, and his tenacity. He reminds me of myself when I used to desert race. You always had these young kids out there, but the old guys could always get the job done."

How many times did you win the Baja races?
I ran the Baja 2000 only once, and won it. I won the Baja 1000 four times."

What impresses you most about Tommy?
"He's very good with people. He handles people well. He has a keen eye for what the car is doing on the race track. He observes better than most any crew chief I've ever been around. He knows adjustments. Take last week at Las Vegas for example: the adjustment he wanted to make on the car couldn't be made on a pit stop, so he did the best with what he had. He took some chances, tried to make the car better as the race progressed, and came out with a good finish. That's advancing."

Now the tough question: Everyone feels the dog on the hood should have a name. Do you have any suggestions on what it should be called?
"I tell ya, somebody mentioned the name D.J. awhile back, because it fits well with SIRIUS and the whole radio business. Those are also the initials of my father, who I think a lot of. I would have to vote for D.J. - because of my father and because it goes along with a radio disc jockey."

You know with all the world issues going on right now, you really shouldn't be having this much fun. Does this even feel like work to you?
"No it doesn't. I'll tell you something: it isn't a job when you're having fun. It's no secret that every NASCAR Winston Cup team spends a tremendous amount of time and hours working on their cars, but when you're in a zone like we are, you work longer and harder, but it never feels like it."

What is your answer to those who think you're taking a knife to a gun fight?
"I never take a knife to a gun fight. I take a machine gun to a knife fight. I just don't let you know it."

Of these three guys, which one would you choose to go to war with: Spencer, Baldwin, or SIRIUS president Joe Clayton?
"I would take Joe Clayton in a heartbeat. He'd talk our way out of it. He'd convince them to lay down their arms and come with us, and they'd probably end up buying a SIRIUS Satellite Radio in the meantime."

About SIRIUS --
SIRIUS is the only satellite radio service bringing listeners 100 streams of the best music and entertainment coast-to-coast. SIRIUS offers 60 music streams with no commercials, along with 40 world-class sports, news and entertainment streams for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. Stream Jockeys create and deliver uncompromised music in virtually every genre to our listeners 24 hours a day. Satellite radio products bringing SIRIUS to listeners in the car, truck, home, RV and boat are manufactured by Kenwood, Panasonic, Clarion, Audiovox and Jensen, and are available at major retailers including Circuit City, Best Buy, Car Toys, Good Guys, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics, Sears and Crutchfield. SIRIUS is the leading OEM satellite radio provider, with exclusive partnerships with DaimlerChrysler, Ford and BMW. Automotive brands currently offering SIRIUS radios in select new car models include BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Nissan. Automotive brands that have announced plans to start offering SIRIUS in select models include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Infiniti, MINI, Audi, Volkswagen, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Log onto www.SIRIUS.com to listen to SIRIUS live, or to find a SIRIUS retailer or car dealer in your area.

The upswing continues, Team SIRIUS qualifies 5th
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Qualifying Report - Atlanta Motor Speedway

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 7, 2003) - Ultra Motorsports owner Jim Smith stood atop the Team SIRIUS transporter on Friday and watched his No. 7 SIRIUS Dodge Intrepid turn a qualifying lap around the Atlanta Motor Speedway that only four other cars could beat. He then turned and asked the same question he's been asking for the last two weeks: "Who did they say was bringing a knife to a gun fight?"

Obviously not the SIRIUS Racing Team, which qualified fifth for Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race with a speed of 190.339 miles per hour. The speed translated into a lap time of 29.127 seconds around the 1.54-mile tri-oval. Earlier in the day, the No. 7 Dodge registered 23rd fastest in the two-hour practice session, posting a speed of 188.507 miles per hour (29.410 seconds).

"Wow, I guess Tommy made the right adjustments!" shouted Spencer, referring to crew chief Tommy Baldwin. "We got this thing loose, probably a little too lose, and I was definitely holding my breath through the turns. We were decent in this morning's practice - no better, no worse. But Tommy made some changes, made an air pressure adjustment, and this thing just took off."

The fifth-place qualifying effort ties Jim Smith's best as a sole Winston Cup car owner. His other fifth came with driver Kevin Lepage at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October of 2001. This also ties a career-best start at Atlanta for Spencer, and it's his third top-10 start in his last five races here.

Only four other drivers beat Spencer's lap - Bud Pole winner Ryan Newman (191.867 mph, 28.895 seconds), Bill Elliott, Elliott Sadler, and Bobby Labonte. Spencer will start on the inside of row three beside Michael Waltrip. Rusty Wallace, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Jeremy Mayfield round out the top 10 starting spots.

"I just can't say enough about these guys," Spencer said. "I'm talking about the guys at the shop, the guys on the road, even the girls who work in the front office. You walk into the doors at Ultra Motorsports and you're greeted with smiling faces, and that's because we're just having a heck of a time. These guys just keep working harder and harder, and before you know it we'll be a top-10 team."

Spencer is steering the same car he drove to a 17th-place finish last week in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Baldwin-led team went wind-tunnel testing with a new car on Monday, only to leave there feeling its chances were better with the car it just raced at Vegas.

"The best thing we've got going for us is people, and that is the most important ingredient on a race team," Baldwin said. "We're doing this without an engineer, without a two-car effort; we're doing this all on our own. I still think we need another three or four weeks to learn about each other before we can really come to the race track with a game plan. But right now we're on the upswing, we're making the cars better, and Jimmy has a lot of confidence in us. We want to make this a top-10 team, and at the same time get more subscriptions for SIRIUS so we can continue building our relationship with them."

The green flag for the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 is set to drop at 1 p.m. (EDT), with FOX bringing live television coverage 30 minutes before the start of the race. Spencer will stay busy until then. He is scheduled to make an appearance at a Speedway Children's Charity event on Friday night, answer questions at RJR Reynolds' Breakfast Club press conference Saturday morning, and then participate in a late model race against four other Winston Cup drivers in Mobile, Ala., Saturday night.

--30--

www.SIRIUS.com

Congrats Team SIRIUS fans on a top-5 qualifying run for Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500! Your support is extremely appreciated.

Media update for you -- Starting in two weeks, Team SIRIUS driver Jimmy Spencer will begin his journalism career as a columnist for The Winston Cup Scene. Spencer has already been writing a weekly column in our Team SIRIUS media notes packet, which has been ... shall we say... interesting. His column in the pre-race notes packet is written specifically about the people who cover NASCAR Winston Cup. (Jimmy's theory is if they can critique him, then he should be able to critique them.) In this week's column, Spencer offered advice to Winston Cup Scene reporter Rea White, who is expecting her first child in two months.

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AN EXCERPT FROM THIS WEEK'S "SPENCER TO THE MEDIA"

Here is my advice on naming the baby. First, you must know that my family has full ownership of the following names: Edward, Ed, Fast Eddie, Quick Jim, James, Jimmy, Mr. Excitement, and Vito Corleone (we loaned the name "Vito Corleone" to Francis Ford Coppola for use in his movie, The Godfather, in exchange for a VHS box set and a Marlon Brando poster.) How Rea's husband ended up with the name "Jimmy" is still something my attorney is looking into.

If Rea and Jimmy plan to name their baby after a NASCAR driver, I would suggest staying away from the following names:

* Rusty White -- sounds like a new fragrance line at Bath & Body Works
* Sterling White -- If I had gone to grammar school with a kid named Sterling White, I gotta admit I would've had to beat him up.
* Ward White -- one "W" shy of a web address.
* Hideo White -- Let's be honest, Fukuyama is the only thing that sounds good here.

As for girl names, my advice is to ask Kenny Wallace. He's got three of them.

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Spencer's column in The Winston Cup Scene will not be about media, but instead about whatever the heck Jimmy wants to write about. Judging by the above excerpt, this ought to be fun!

A few other items of interest: Tommy Baldwin's post on the Spencer web site was totally legit. In fact, that won't be the last time you hear from Tommy. He plans to post a message -- hopefully -- once a week to discuss the previous race. If he doesn't post, a team member will. This is just one of the ways Team SIRIUS wants to show its appreciation for your support for this team and for our sponsor. SIRIUS Satellite Radio is making a huge surge, and the efforts of Ultra Motorsports employees and Jimmy Spencer fans have a lot to do with it. All the guys in the shop bought -- yes, I said "bought" -- SIRIUS radios for their cars last week. We want to continue this relationship with SIRIUS, because they really are a top-notch sponsor. We can continue helping SIRIUS by doing our part to spread the word. Let's get as many people subscribed to these e-mail updates as possible. I'd like to have 1,000 e-mail subscribers by the time we return to Daytona for the Pespi 400. It's totally free, and very informative. All you have to do is send me an e-mail to ultra123@alltel.net and say you'd like to subscribe. Please make sure anyone who posts messages on the pit board know how simple it is. We'd love to have them join the Dog Pound!

Again, thanks for your support. Here's a milkbone for everybody!

Mike Davis
Publicist, Ultra Motorsports

Seventh Heaven For Team SIRIUS Racing
Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Race Report - Atlanta Motor Speedway

HAMPTON, Ga. (March 7, 2003) - Perhaps a new channel should be added to the SIRIUS Satellite Radio line-up: Team SIRUS Racing Top-10 hits.

For the first time ever, a SIRIUS-sponsored car scored a top-10 finish, as Jimmy Spencer took the checkers in seventh place in Sunday's Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 here at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It was certainly no fluke either. Team SIRIUS qualified the car in fifth place, raced consistently in the top 10 all day, and even led its first lap of the 2003 season - all this while fighting a vibration in the brake rotor. So now for the history lesson:

* The seventh-place finish was the first top 10 for Ultra Motorsports owner Jim Smith since his 10th-place effort in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 7, 2001 with driver Mike Wallace. The week before, his entry recorded its best finish ever in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series with a second-place run at Sears Point Raceway with driver Robby Gordon.
* This was Spencer's first top 10 since Aug. 24, 2002, when he finished eighth in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
* This is the first time that the No. 7 race car was the top Dodge of the race, and this marks the second time Spencer has been the top driver of the Dodge brigade. The first time was on March 24 of last year when he finished second in the Food City 500 at Bristol.

"The guys did a great job," Spencer said. "We qualified well and ran well all day. We had a vibration, and I think it was the brake rotor. We'd run 20 or 30 laps and get the brakes hot and try to slow the car down and it got a little scary. It's hard to run without brakes at Atlanta. We came home with a top 10, and that's pretty good for the Sirius Dodge boys. I like Atlanta, but I never ran well here. Last week at Vegas, I thought we had a top 10 car. I'm really impressed with the way the team has come together."

Bobby Labonte won the race by out-dueling Jeff Gordon in the closing laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished third, Matt Kenseth fourth, Tony Stewart fifth, and Elliott Sadler sixth. Spencer finished seventh after passing Dave Blaney and Joe Nemechek in the final 19 laps. Ryan Newman rounded out the top 10.

By finishing seventh, Spencer eclipsed 12 spots in the NASCAR Winston Cup point standings (tying Jeff Gordon with the biggest jump on Sunday.) Spencer is now in 23rd with 385 points - just 89 points out of the top 10.

"The next level for us is to just keep doing what we're doing," Spencer said. "I'm really happy with the way the team has come around. Our pit stops were a little rusty today, and we had that problem with the brake rotor. We've got to make sure we keep getting those top 10s. That's how you keep stepping up a level. This is not a fluke. We'll prove it next week again."

RATTLE IN THE CAGE: Had it not been for an unscheduled green flag pit stop on lap 90, Team SIRIUS would've never left the top 10 all day. But Spencer reported a vibration in the rear of the car on lap 85, and crew chief Tommy Baldwin soon called the SIRIUS Dodge down pit road. Upon evaluating the tires it was discovered the right rear wheel was loose. The four-tire stop, however, didn't remedy the problem. Spencer again reported a return of the vibration on lap 209.

It never amounted to more than a scare, for Spencer was passing cars at will. The unscheduled stop at lap 90 sent him back to 33rd position - one lap down - but he didn't stay there for long. It took him only 34 laps to climb back to sixth. The race's first caution then came out on lap 136, putting him back on the same pit sequence as the leaders.

"We're back in the hunt now, Jimmy Spencer!" said spotter Eddie Thrap from high above Atlanta Motor Speedway.

MESSAGE DELIVERED: Only 12 cars were on the lead lap just past the race's halfway point, making lapped cars a factor. Spencer was in ninth place and fighting to work around those lapped cars when one almost took him out. The No. 1 car of Steve Park climbed the banking and rubbed into the No. 7, putting Spencer on the brink of nearly losing control of the SIRIUS Dodge.

"That's a lapped car, man, and he about took me out!" Spencer screamed, immediately prompting Thrap to find the spotter of the No. 1 to "discuss" the situation.

"The message has been delivered, Jimmy," Thrap said. "Now stay smooth and go get you some."

KEY MOMENT: When the race's sixth and final caution flag flew 24 laps short of the finish, Spencer was in 10th place - the final car on the lead lap. That allowed for three things:

1) Baldwin called for Spencer to stay on the track while everyone else pitted so that he could collect the five bonus points for leading a lap. (Being the final car on the lead lap, Spencer would be able to pit the next time around and still not lose any positions when he returned to the track.)

2) Being able to pit under caution gave the SIRIUS crew time to pull a rubber out of the left rear spring. Spencer had been saying the car was a little too tight. With that adjustment, the No. 7 Dodge was ready for the final sprint.

3) Staying on the track for one extra lap while every one else pitted became a blessing in disguise, as Spencer was able to avoid a three-car wreck that happened directly in front of the Team SIRIUS pits. Radioed Baldwin, "It's a good thing we didn't come in on this lap, Jimmy, because you wouldn't believe the mess that just happened right here in front of our pit stall."

The race restarted at lap 306, and Spencer was now driving the best handling car he had all day. He climbed to ninth when Jimmie Johnson's motor expired, climbed to eighth by passing Nemechek, and took over seventh with a pass of Blaney.

As the checkered flag flew, Smith keyed his radio and said, "Number seven finishes seventh. We'll roll that every time!"

Replied Spencer, imitating one of his favorite lines at the craps table, "That's a good numba!"

BEST RADIO CONVERSATION: Waiting for a restart after the race's second caution, Thrap, Spencer and Baldwin found time for light conversation:

Thrap: "Are you having fun, bud?"
Spencer: "You know it. This is the best car I've ever had at Atlanta."
Baldwin: "I thought you said you never drove well at Atlanta."
Spencer: "Well you were dumb enough to give me a good car today."
Baldwin: "Well in that case, I'm going to really mess you up at Richmond and Bristol!"

Late in the event when Baldwin elected to stay out and collect the five bonus points for leading the race, Thrap keyed his radio and said what perhaps everyone in the Team SIRIUS pits was thinking:

"This will be the first of many laps you'll lead this year, hot rod!"

About SIRIUS -
SIRIUS is the only satellite radio service bringing listeners 100 streams of the best music and entertainment coast-to-coast. SIRIUS offers 60 music streams with no commercials, along with 40 world-class sports, news and entertainment streams for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. Stream Jockeys create and deliver uncompromised music in virtually every genre to our listeners 24 hours a day. Satellite radio products bringing SIRIUS to listeners in the car, truck, home, RV and boat are manufactured by Kenwood, Panasonic, Clarion, Audiovox and Jensen, and are available at major retailers including Circuit City, Best Buy, Car Toys, Good Guys, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics, Sears and Crutchfield. SIRIUS is the leading OEM satellite radio provider, with exclusive partnerships with DaimlerChrysler, Ford and BMW. Automotive brands currently offering SIRIUS radios in select new car models include BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Nissan. Automotive brands that have announced plans to start offering SIRIUS in select models include Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Infiniti, MINI, Audi, Volkswagen, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Log onto www.SIRIUS.com to listen to SIRIUS live, or to find a SIRIUS retailer or car dealer in your area.