Jimmy Spencer

James Peter Spencer (born February 15, 1957) is an American former racing driver, team owner, talk show host and television commentator. He is best known for competing in NASCAR. He hosted the NASCAR-inspired talk show, What's the Deal?, on Speed, and was co-host, with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace, of Speed's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane. Before retiring, Spencer had a segment on Speed's NASCAR Race Hub offering commentary and answering viewer questions (on Tuesdays and Thursdays). During his days racing modifieds, he was nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" for his aggressive racing style. Spencer is one of the few drivers to have won a race in all three of NASCAR's top series: the NASCAR Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, and the Truck Series.

Spencer's Cup wins both came in summer 1994 at the restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega.

Racing career Early years Spencer followed his father, Ed Spencer Sr., commonly known as "Fast Eddie", in racing. Spencer started driving Late Models in Pennsylvania. He captured his first win in the Late Model division at Port Royal Speedway in 1976. He moved to NASCAR Modifieds at Shangri-La Speedway (Owego, New York), then branched out to bigger events throughout the Northeast. In 1984, Spencer was one of the top contenders for NASCAR's National Modified Championship, at a time when all sanctioned races counted toward that title; after running over sixty races, he was second to Richie Evans in the final standings. When NASCAR changed the National Modified Championship into the smaller-schedule Winston Modified Tour (now the Whelen Modified Tour) in 1985, Spencer continued to run, and won the title in 1986 and 1987.

Spencer debuted in the Busch Series in 1985, finishing nineteenth at North Carolina Motor Speedway in the No. 67 Pontiac for Frank Cicci Racing, which was also his Modified team. The team ran twice in 1987 with a best-finish 36th, then ran the full season in 1988, finishing 7th in the point standings with five top-fives and thirteen top-tens in the No. 34. In 1989, Spencer won his first career Busch race, the Mountain Dew 400 at Hickory Motor Speedway. Spencer later won another two that season at Orange County and Myrtle Beach, finishing 15th in the final standings.

1989–1994

In 1989, Spencer moved to the Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Crisco Pontiac for Buddy Baker's team in seventeen of the 29 races. He posted three top-tens and finished 34th in points. He then ran full-time in 1990, finishing in the top-ten twice for Rod Osterlund Racing in the No. 57 Heinz Pontiac and finished 24th in points. In 1991, Spencer moved to the No. 98 Banquet Foods Chevrolet for Travis Carter Motorsports. Despite six top-ten finishes, Spencer dropped one position in the standings due to twelve DNFs. He began 1992 with Carter, but moved down to the Busch Series to drive the No. 20 Daily's 1st Ade Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso after Carter's team folded early in the season. He responded with his second career wins at both Myrtle Beach Speedway and Orange County Speedway.

Late in the 1992 season, Spencer joined Bobby Allison Motorsports' Cup team and posted three top-fives in the last four races of the season. He signed to drive Allison's No. 12 Meineke Ford Thunderbird full-time in 1993, and finished in the top-five five times, resulting in a career-best 12th place in the final standings. In 1994, he drove the No. 27 McDonald's Ford for Junior Johnson and won his first two and only career Cup races, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, and the DieHard 500 at Talladega. On the final lap at Daytona, Spencer won his first career Cup race passing Ernie Irvan for his only scored lap lead. He also won his first career pole award for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Other than that, the season was a huge disappointment, as he would only score two further top-ten finishes and finished the season 29th in the standings.

1995–2001

After finishing 29th in the standings in 1994, Spencer left to reunite with Travis Carter, who was then fielding the No. 23 Smokin' Joe's Ford. He finished in the top-ten four times in 1995 and in 1996, Spencer had two top-fives en route to a 15th-place finish in points. He fell to 20th in 1997.

In 1998, Winston/No Bull became his team's new primary sponsor and he was 11th in points when he suffered injuries at the Brickyard 400, forcing him to sit out the next two races to recover and fall to fourteenth in points. During the season, Spencer formed his own NASCAR team, Spencer Motor Ventures, which fielded the No. 12 Zippo Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Busch Series for himself and Boris Said, Steve Grissom, and Rick Mast. The team expanded to two cars in 1999, fielding the No. 12 and the No. 5 Schneider National Chevy for Dick Trickle. In 2000, he moved his team up to Cup to run the road course races with Boris Said in the No. 23 Federated Auto Parts Ford Taurus. The team ceased operations at the end of the season.

After a twentieth-place finish in 1999, Winston left the team, and Kmart became the team's new sponsor, causing Spencer to switch to the No. 26 to accommodate the new sponsor, who was already backing the No. 66 car driven by Spencer's teammate, Darrell Waltrip. Spencer had two top-fives and in 2001 won the pole positions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway and advanced to 16th in points.

2002–2004 For the 2002 season, Spencer would join Chip Ganassi Racing and drive the No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid. He began the season by failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, then had a streak of four top-five qualifying efforts, including at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he started fourth and was leading the race when he was bumped by Kurt Busch to win, starting a long rivalry between the two. After another DNQ at Watkins Glen International, Spencer was released from the ride at the end of the season, causing him to file a lawsuit against the Ganassi organization, saying his dismissal was a violation of his contract. Also in 2002, Spencer won his last career Busch Series race, the Food City 250 at Bristol driving for Phoenix Racing.

Spencer joined Ultra Motorsports in 2003, piloting the No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge. After some on-track incidents with Kurt Busch, Spencer confronted Busch after the GFS Marketplace 400 while Busch was still in his car. He was suspended for next week's race, the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway while Busch was placed on probation. Despite the events that took place at Michigan, he had four top-tens and ended the season 29th in points. He was also hired to drive three races for the No. 2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra's Truck Series team, winning the pole and the race in his second start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He became a part-owner of the Cicci organization that season, when he put Stuart Kirby in Cicci's No. 34 United States Air Force Chevy, but that partnership soon dissolved. He continued to remain involved as a part-owner, when he leased his shop to Bang! Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2004.

Spencer began 2004 with Ultra's Cup team at the Daytona 500, but when the team closed down due to a lack of sponsorship, he replaced Kevin Lepage at Morgan-McClure Motorsports, which had also been running unsponsored. Spencer's best finish that season had been seventeenth at Dover after gaining sponsors in Featherlite Trailers and Lucas Oil, when on October 25, he was arrested after trying to interfere with the police, who had a warrant to arrest his son for vandalism. The incident cost Spencer his job at Morgan-McClure, and he sat out the rest of 2004. He continued to co-host Race Hub, mainly alongside Steve Byrnes and Danielle Trotta, until the end of 2013.

2014–present Spencer quietly left NASCAR on Fox (Speed became Fox Sports 1 in August 2013) and NASCAR Race Hub after the 2013 season. Spencer has been largely inactive in the NASCAR community since then aside from an appearance on The Dale Jr. Download in 2021 and appearing on the last episode of Race Hub on June 11, 2024. In 2017, Spencer was quoted as saying “I still watch some races, it's not a top priority anymore, but I miss it."

Personal life Spencer is married to his wife Pat and has two children and five dogs. He also had a sister, Chrissy, who died of ovarian cancer in 2010. His father, Ed, died of Alzheimer's in 2014. His first grandchild, Hudson, was born in 2016. Spencer and his wife split time between their two residences in North Carolina (where NASCAR teams are based) and Pennsylvania (his home state).

Motorsports career results NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Pts Ref 1989 Baker-Schiff Racing 88 Pontiac DAY CAR ATL RCH DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR PHO ATL 34th 1445 Olds POC 1990 Osterlund Racing 57 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 24th 2579 1991 Travis Carter Enterprises 98 Chevy DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH BRI15* DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 25th 2790 1992 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL CLT DOV SON POC MCH DAY POC TAL GLN MCH 33rd 1284 Moroso Racing 20 Ford BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS Bobby Allison Motorsports 12 Ford CLT CAR PHO ATL 1993 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 12th 3496 1994 Junior Johnson & Associates 27 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND43 GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 29th 2613 1995 Travis Carter Enterprises 23 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 26th 2809 1996 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR BRI NWS MAR TAL SON CLT DOV POC MCH DAY NHA POC TAL IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CAR PHO ATL 15th 3476 1997 DAY CAR RCH ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR SON TAL CLT DOV POC MCH CAL DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR43 PHO ATL 20th 3079 1998 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL CLT DOV RCH MCH POC SON NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI NHA DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT TAL DAY PHO CAR ATL 14th 3464 1999 Haas-Carter Motorsports DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX BRI MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH43 POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 20th 3307 2000 26 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV MAR CLT TAL CAR PHO HOM ATL 22nd 3188 2001 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV MCH POC SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MAR TAL43 PHO CAR HOM ATL NHA 16th 3782 2002 Chip Ganassi Racing 41 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL CAR PHO HOM 27th 3187 42 GLN 2003 Ultra Motorsports 7 Dodge DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX TAL MAR CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI DAR RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO CAR HOM 29th 3147 2004 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI 35th 1969 Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Chevy TEX MAR TAL CAL RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT MAR ATL PHO DAR HOM 2005 Arnold Motorsports 50 Dodge DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV TAL KAN CLT ATL TEX PHO HOM 46th 667 Peak Fitness Racing 66 Ford MCH R&J Racing 37 Dodge MAR 2006 BAM Racing 49 Dodge DAY CAL LVS ATL BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT DOV 61st 122 Furniture Row Racing 78 Chevy POC MCH SON DAY CHI NHA POC IND GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH NHA DOV KAN TAL CLT MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1990 Osterlund Racing Pontiac 6 15 1991 Travis Carter Enterprises Chevrolet 23 40 1992 DNQ 1993 Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 30 13 1994 Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 21 37 1995 Travis Carter Enterprises Ford DNQ 1996 19 11 1997 7 35 1998 7 15 1999 Haas-Carter Motorsports 11 41 2000 22 30 2001 11 27 2002 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge DNQ 2003 Ultra Motorsports Dodge 23 40 2004 40 24

Busch Series NASCAR Busch Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Pts Ref 1985 Frank Cicci Racing 67 Pontiac DAY CAR HCY BRI MAR DAR SBO LGY DOV CLT SBO HCY ROU IRP SBO LGY HCY MLW BRI DAR RCH NWS ROU CLT HCY CAR MAR 75th 106 1987 Frank Cicci Racing 4 Olds DAY HCY MAR DAR BRI LGY SBO CLT DOV 72nd 55 24 IRP ROU JFC OXF SBO HCY RAL LGY ROU BRI JFC DAR RCH DOV MARBuick CLT CAR MAR 1988 34 DAY HCY CAR MAR DAR BRI LNG NZH SBO NSV CLT DOV ROU LAN LVL MYB OXF SBO HCY LNG IRP ROU BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT CAR MAR 7th 3801 1989 DAY CAR MAR HCY DAR BRI NZH SBO LAN NSV CLT DOV ROU LVL VOL MYB SBO HCY DUB IRP ROU 15th 2704 Baker-Schiff Racing 87 Pontiac BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT CAR MAR 1990 Huffman Racing 77 Buick DAY RCH CAR MAR HCY DAR BRI LAN SBO NZH HCY CLT DAR RCH 46th 642 Rodney Franklin 58 Pontiac DOV ROU VOL MYB OXF NHA SBO DUB IRP ROU BRI Henderson Motorsports 75 Olds DOV MAR CLT NHA CAR MAR 1991 Laughlin Racing 45 Pontiac DAY RCH CAR MAR VOL HCYQL† DAR BRI LAN SBO NZH CLTQL† DOV ROU HCY MYB GLN OXF NHA SBO DUB IRP ROU 42nd 636 98 Chevy BRI DAR RCH DOV 45 CLT NHA CAR MAR 1992 DAY CAR BRI CLT 17th 2941 Olds RCH ATL MAR DAR Huffman Racing 77 Buick HCY LAN DUB NZH Moroso Racing 20 Olds DOV ROU MYB GLN VOL NHA38* TAL IRP ROU MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT MAR HCY Allison Racing 28 Ford CAR 1993 Ingram Racing 10 Chevy DAY CAR RCH DAR BRI HCY ROU MAR NZH CLT BRI DAR RCH CLT MAR 42nd 838 Shoemaker Racing 64 Chevy DOV MYB GLN MLW CAR HCY ATL Three Star Motorsports 22 Chevy TAL IRP MCH NHA Ingram Racing 10 Pontiac DOV ROU 1994 Shoemaker Racing 64 Chevy DAY CAR DOV MYB GLN MLW SBO TAL HCY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT MAR CAR 63rd 348 Pontiac RCH ATL MAR DAR HCY BRI ROU NHA NZH CLT 1995 Moroso Racing 20 Ford DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW TAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM 34th 1177 1996 Keystone Motorsports Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NHA TAL IRP MCH BRI CLT HOM 32nd 1392 Bown Racing 51 Chevy HCY NZH Mark III Racing 77 Ford DAR Keystone Motorsports 20 Ford RCH Laughlin Racing 45 Ford DOV Chevy CAR 1997 Keystone Motorsports 20 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL LVS DAR HCY TEX BRI NSV TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAL CAR HOM 30th 1576 1998 Spencer Motor Ventures 12 Chevy DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN MLW MYB CAL SBO IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT GTY CAR ATL HOM 43rd 1164 1999 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR TEX NSV BRI TAL CAL NHA RCH NZH CLT DOV SBO GLN MLW MYB PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 43rd 1197 2000 DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSV TAL CAL RCH NHA CLT DOV SBO MYB GLN MLW NZH PPR GTY IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR MEM PHO HOM 65th 406 2001 Phoenix Racing 1 Chevy DAY CAR LVS ATL DAR BRI TEX NSH CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV KEN MLW GLN CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM PHO CAR HOM 26th 2329 Pontiac TAL 2002 DAY TAL DAY 26th 2454 Chevy CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH CAL RCH NHA NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW CHI GTY PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL CAR PHO HOM 2003 Tommy Baldwin Racing 6 Dodge DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI 86th 241 FitzBradshaw Racing 82 Chevy TEX TAL NSH CAL RCH GTY NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO CAR HOM 2004 BACE Motorsports 74 Chevy DAY CAR LVS DAR BRI TEX NSH TAL CAL GTY RCH NZH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR IRP MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM ATL PHO HOM 92nd 222 Michael Waltrip Racing 98 Chevy DAR 2005 DAY CAL MXC LVS ATL NSH BRI TEX PHO TAL DAR RCH CLT DOV NSH KEN MLW DAY CHI NHA PPR 120th 82 Red Cactus Racing 73 Chevy GTY IRP GLN MCH BRI CAL RCH DOV KAN CLT MEM TEX PHO HOM† - Qualified but replaced by Jeff Burton

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2003 Ultra Motorsports 2 Dodge DAY DAR MMR MAR CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA CAL LVS SBO TEX MAR PHO HOM 55th 416 2004 DAY ATL MAR MFD CLT DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN GTW MCH IRP NSH BRI 55th 303 Phoenix Racing 09 Dodge RCH ThorSport Racing 13 Chevy NHA LVS CAL TEX MAR PHO DAR HOM 2005 Ultra Motorsports 2 Dodge DAY CAL ATL MAR GTY MFD CLT DOV TEX MCH MLW KAN KEN MEM IRP NSH BRI RCH NHA LVS MAR ATL TEX PHO HOM 12th 3050

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Pts Ref 1989 46 Buick DAY ATL KIL TAL FRS POC KIL HAG POC TAL DEL FRS ISF TOL DSF SLM ATL 128th - 1994 Junior Johnson & Associates 2 Ford DAY TAL FIF LVL KIL TOL FRS MCH DMS POC POC KIL FRS 100th 325 Roulo Brothers Racing 39 Chevy INF I70 ISF DSF TOL SLM WIN ATL