For the first time ever, Mongo speaks out
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Advance - Darlington Raceway


MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 11, 2003) - The question was simple: When did you decide to make a difference in people's lives?

Mongo has difficulty answering that question.  He's just a dog - a dog that has been catapulted into the spotlight thanks to Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip and a string of sporty performances by the No. 7 SIRIUS Racing Team.  How does Mongo even begin answering a question like that, especially when so many things have impacted his life?  To name a few, there was the Russian space dog, Laika, the first living creature in space.  There was former first dog Buddy Clinton, a friend of Mongo's who was tragically run over by a car last year despite having acres of land to dwell on.  There was Old Yeller… let's not even go there.

In a dog-eat-dog world, all Mongo ever wanted was a milk bone.  But the surge of Jim Smith, Jimmy Spencer, Tommy Baldwin, and the whole No. 7 SIRIUS "Dog Pound" this year has turned Mongo from spokeshound of SIRIUS Satellite Radio to ambassador and icon of America's most popular sport.

Now, just days before his image will again dress the hood of the SIRIUS Dodge in the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (12:30 p.m. EDT on Fox) at Darlington Raceway, Mongo speaks out for the first time.  Where did he come from? Where has he been?  And what does he think of Jimmy Spencer?  Mongo's answers may surprise you.

Mongo's thoughts:

First of all, Darrell Waltrip started calling you "Mongo" last week at Atlanta.  Had you ever been called anything before that?
"It's true my dawg, D.W., gave me my name, but he never said my whole name.  My whole name is DeeJay Sir Mongolot.  Some people call me D.J.  Some Mongo.  Some just refer to me as the big, black dog on Jimmy Spencer's SIRIUS car."

What do you think of riding with Jimmy Spencer?
"Jimmy's my boy.  He's got five dogs of his own, and I pretty much grew up with all of them.  I used to race against Zippo on dirt tracks up north.  I went to training school with Oscar.  I dated Dharma awhile.  Had one of those high school crushes on Princess, even though she's a bit older than me.  Sabrina's got bit of an attitude, but she's a sucker for doggy treats.  Give her one, and she's your best friend."

So being on Jimmy's car is cool with you?
"Hey, as long as he doesn't wad me up, I'm cool with him."

You're on a team with multiple personalities - Spencer, Baldwin and Smith to name a few.  How would you describe your personality?
"I'm a little bit of everything.  I'm Eminem with George Straight's belt buckle on.  I'm Papa Roach at a Jewell concert.  I'm cool like Tommy Baldwin, but I've got hop like my dawg, D.J."

D.J., as in D.J. Smith?
"Of course, D.J. Smith - Jim Smith's daddy.  You know he invented the crapper, right?"

I believe they're called Porta-johns, but yes, I know.  So what do you think about Darlington, the track you'll race at this weekend?
"I've had better luck in D.J.'s Porta-potties, but this is a new team this year.  I've been impressed with my boy Baldwin, and I got a feeling Spencer is going to run me wild this weekend.  One thing I've learned about Spencer is he loves that gas pedal."

Does that make you nervous, Mongo?
"Like I said before, if he keeps my pretty face from being smeared on that wall, me and Spencer will go places."

Team SIRIUS records best qualifying effort ever
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Qualifying Report - Darlington Raceway


DARLINGTON, S.C. (March 14, 2003) - Last week Jim Smith tied his best-ever qualifying effort.  This week he beat it.

Smith watched his No. 7 SIRIUS Dodge Intrepid turn the fourth-quickest qualifying lap Friday during Bud Pole Qualifying for the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 here at Darlington Raceway.  Jimmy Spencer drove the No. 7 Dodge to a time of 29.083 seconds at speed of 169.089 miles per hour.  Only three drivers turned a lap quicker - pole sitter Elliott Sadler (170.147 mph), Ryan Newman and Jerry Nadeau.

"I know I keep saying it, but this is just what confidence can do for you," Spencer said after climbing out of the No. 7 Dodge.  "Things are coming together so fast, it's really hard to believe."

Earlier in the morning, Spencer had stacked up 20th fastest in the first practice session, turning a quick lap of 29.531 seconds.

"We weren't that good in practice, but we weren't that bad. We only made three runs and we were tight, but we made some adjustments. It's confidence with the crew and the crew's confidence with the driver. Tommy has a lot of experience with the Dodge, and he's getting a better understanding of what I like. He knows what I'm talking about when I tell him something. Turns one and two were awesome, but three and four it still got tight. We fought that all day. You've got to have two good corners to have a good lap here. The Sirius boys have been working hard. This is the car we had at Rockingham, and we're saving the car from last week. We've got a new car for Bristol. I'm so excited that we stayed in the top five. Two top five qualifying runs in a row, Atlanta and here, that's pretty cool. I can't say enough for my guys. We just keep getting stronger each week."

The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 is set to start at 1 p.m. (EDT) and will be aired on Fox.  The SIRIUS Dodge is donning a special decal on the rear quarter panels this weekend, as Smith reserved the space for his favorite charity, Childhelp USA, an organization that helps abused children.

Typical day at Darlington leaves Spencer in 21st
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 Race Report - Darlington Raceway


DARLINGTON, S.C. (March 16, 2003) - After enduring a week's worth of assumptions and predictions on the possibility of having one of her races dropped off future NASCAR schedules, Old Lady Darlington responded with perhaps the best race in Winston Cup history.

A side-by-side duel between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch on the final lap of the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 was the pentacle of an afternoon that was not without those little intricacies that make Darlington so special - bumping, banging and battle wounds.  Craven beat Busch by two-thousandths of a second, the smallest margin of victory since NASCAR introduced electronic timing in 1993, in a spectacular finish that had both drivers leaning on each other's cars as they took the checkers.

All the while, Jimmy Spencer was doing all he could to bring the battle-worn No. 7 SIRIUS Dodge home.  Spencer's machine had suffered internal damage when the car of Mike Skinner cut into the left rear quarter panel of the SIRIUS machine and put it into the wall on lap 132 of 293.  Spencer was in seventh place at the time.

"The car wasn't the same after that," Spencer said.

Team SIRIUS used a series of pit stops to adjust the toe-in of the car, but the No. 7 Dodge wasn't the same top-10 contender it had been.  Spencer was still able to knock off 10 positions in the final 100 laps to finish 21st.

"It's a wonder he could drive the thing at all," said car chief Tripp Bruce after combing through the car.  "The rear-end housing is bent, the truck arms are bent, and the right side is practically caved in from hitting the wall."

Team SIRIUS made no movement from its 23rd spot in the NASCAR Winston Cup championship point standings.  Spencer now has 490 points - 23 points shy of 22nd-place Jeff Burton and 270 out of the lead. 

THE BOSS SAYS THANKS: Having started a season-best fourth, Spencer remained in the top 10 through the first 100 laps.  He even led laps for the second straight week when crew chief Tommy Baldwin elected not to pit on the race's second caution.  Team SIRIUS had just serviced its Dodge Intrepid six laps earlier, so Baldwin told Spencer - who was in fourth place - to stay out while the leaders pitted.  That gave Spencer a five-point bonus for leading a lap.

Some 17 laps later, the race was under the tow of the pace car for the fourth time, as Darlington Raceway was living up to its reputation.  During that caution period, spotter Eddie Thrap received a phone call from Ultra Motorsports owner Jim Smith, who was watching Fox's live telecast of the event from his California home.

"The boss man just called and said he appreciates the five bonus points.  He also said he appreciates you guys saving him a set of tires."

The comment got a laugh from everyone in the Team SIRIUS pits.  Smith's comment was in reference to the bill Goodyear sends each owner that pays for tires used during the race.

CLOSE CALLS:  Two difference circumstances could've spelled disaster for Spencer.  The first was discovered after the team's second pit stop on lap 69.  Spencer had radioed Baldwin about the handling of the race car, which prompted an air pressure adjustment and a track bar adjustment.  But the four-tire stop also revealed that the right rear tire was going flat.

The second situation took place on lap 132 when Skinner's No. 4 car hit Spencer's No. 7, sending the SIRIUS Dodge into the wall.  Spencer immediately thought his tire was rubbing against bent sheet metal.

"(The tire) looks OK from here, Jimmy," Thrap said.  "I think we're in good shape."

"Just keep diggin' Jimmy," said Baldwin.  "You may have knocked the toe-in, because you hit the wall pretty hard.  We saw it on TV. But we'll get you fixed up.  We're still in good shape."

CAUGHT A LAP DOWN:  Team SIRIUS made a green-flag pit stop on lap 184, and before the pit sequencing could cycle through, the sixth caution came out to put the No. 7 car two laps down.  The yellow flag flew when contact between John Andretti's No. 43 Dodge and the No. 7 Dodge caused Andretti's tire to go down, sending his car into the wall.

"I'm not sure how much room we had to play with there, but I know when we got together, his tire cut down," Spencer said.  "I hate it for John and his team.  It certainly wasn't intentional, because that caution flag was the last thing we needed.  That put us a lap down."

Spencer restarted in 31st with 100 laps to go, and immediately started clipping off positions.  By lap 229 he was in 25th.  Then the Team SIRIUS crew boosted him into 23rd with a fast pit stop on lap 236.

The final 50 laps saw Spencer jockeying for the 20th, 21st, and 22nd spots with Steve Park and Ken Schrader.  Spencer fended off Schrader in the closing circuits and had fought his way into 20th, but was passed by Park on the final lap.

"We didn't have the car today," Spencer said.  "We didn't have a car that could win the race, even before I hit the wall.  We were probably a top 10 at best, but after that incident with the (No.) 4 car, I was just trying to hang on to it.  This is typical Darlington.  I love this place, always have.  We had a good run going, but just didn't end up where we would've liked."