DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 16, 2003) - Of all the adversities Team SIRIUS
overcame during its 11 days here at Daytona - nine dicey practices, a game of
survival-of-the-fittest in the Gatorade 125s, and a car with an inconsistent
attitude - the one bullet it could not dodge was one it never saw coming.
Jeff Green's car blew a right rear tire and went careening into Jimmy's Spencer
No. 7 SIRIUS Dodge Intrepid on lap 95 of the Daytona 500, ending the day for
both drivers.
"I tried to get outside of him (Green), but I couldn't," Spencer said.
"It happened so quick."
Spencer was in 27th position when the accident occurred. He ended up
having to settle for a 40th-place finish, as heavy damage to the right side body
and oil tank ruled out any chance of reentering the race.
Fourteen laps later, none of the 43 drivers could continue. The second
torrential downpour of the day halted the event at lap 105, turning the Daytona
500 into the Daytona 263. Michael Waltrip was leading when the red flag
flew, hence giving him the win. Kurt Busch finished second, followed by
Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin.
SPENCER SHOWING PATIENCE: Not wanting to force the issue so early,
Spencer spent the first 35 laps gaining a feel for his car and staying out of
trouble. He teamed up with Dale Jarrett in a draft toward the back of the
pack, dodging accidents on lap 36 and lap 57. All the while, he reported
to crew chief Tommy Baldwin that the car was tight, meaning he was having
problems turning through the corners. The tight condition worsened to the
point that he had to lift off the throttle on lap 48, losing the draft. It
became a blessing in disguise, because Spencer was able to stay clear of Ryan
Newman's frightening crash on lap 57.
"Big crash, slow down, slow down, hit pit road if you have to,"
spotter Carl "Red Dog" Barnes prompted over the radio. Spencer
was able to steer around the wreckage and keep the No. 7 Dodge in the race.
"Good job, Jimmy. That was a good piece of driving right there."
CROWDED PITS: Team SIRIUS made four pit stops on the day. The
pit window was set anywhere from lap 32 to 37, determined by smaller fuel cells
mandated by NASCAR last year. Spencer hit pit road for the first time on
lap 35, taking right side tires under a green flag condition without incident.
The second and third stops, however, weren't so fortunate. Under caution,
Spencer had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the stalled car of Bill
Elliott, costing precious seconds on a left-side-tires-only stop on lap 73.
With the caution flag still out, Baldwin elected to bring the car in again on
lap 74. This time, Spencer found himself blocked in by Steve Park's No. 1
car.
"The guys gave me really good stops," Spencer said. "It was
just unfortunate that we had to slam on the brakes or slow down to avoid hitting
other cars. It cost us a lot of time, and at Daytona, you don't have a lot
of time to give."
Spencer's fourth pit stop came on lap 64 - one lap after a 40-minute red flag
session for rain. Baldwin called for fuel only, and gas man Jeff Miles did
his work in less than five seconds. Spencer was away and ready for the
restart.
MAKING HIS MOVE: The lap 67 restart saw Spencer in 24th position.
He made his way up to 20th during the next seven laps, but backslid a bit while
jockeying for drafting partners. For the next 20 laps, Spencer found
himself on the bottom, the top, and in the middle of three-wide packs.
"It got racey in there, and I knew there was another band of weather
coming," Spencer said. "Our car was tight, but I felt we could
still make a move to the front as long as I had someone to draft with. But
then, out of nowhere, I get slammed into the wall, and it was over."
Green, the Bud Pole Award winner for the race, said it felt like someone shot
his tire out with a shotgun. As he reached the middle of turns three and
four, his right rear blew out, leaving him with no control of a 190-mile per
hour race car. Unfortunately for Team SIRIUS, Spencer was on the outside
of Green with nowhere to go.
"It happened so quick, I couldn't even tell how it started," said
Barnes, who was atop Daytona International Speedway. "He (Spencer)
got hit pretty hard."
NEXT ON THE SLATE FOR TEAM SIRIUS: Despite a winter storm in the
Charlotte, N.C. area, the Team SIRIUS road crew returned to the shop on Monday
to help put the finishing touches on a car they'll race at Rockingham, N.C. this
weekend. Fox and MRN will begin live broadcasts of the Subway 400 at 12:30
p.m. (ET).
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