Qualifying: Mr Excitement on pole

Jimmy Spencer - known as Mr Excitement in NASCAR Winston Cup racing - scored one of the greatest accomplishments of his career by winning the pole for Sunday's Brickyard 400. Spencer was one of the first drivers to make a qualification attempt when track conditions were cooler and ran a lap at 179.666 miles per hour in a Ford Taurus on Saturday morning.

Could "Mr. Excitement" be just what this race needs to put a spark into it?

"There are certain facilities in this country that put on great races," Spencer said. "This track doesn't have a great race with 25 cars under a blanket, this track puts a great effort on the car that is handling really well and running good and gets everything out of it. The fans that come to Indianapolis appreciate that.

"It ain't Bristol and it ain't Martinsville. If you bump somebody here, you'll lose your aerodynamic package and end up pushing. You can't bump your bumpers here. There are so many different ways to approach this place. It is steeped in history and tradition and you hopefully have a good car so you can stay up there all day long. It's a very technically challenging race track."

It was the second pole of Spencer's NASCAR Winston Cup career, his first was at North Wilkesboro in September 1994.

"Oh, it's going to be special," Spencer said of winning the pole. "My whole life, growing up as a boy, watching my dad race, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway meant so much to us. I've tried to run well here in the past, and mainly wanted to run an Indy car and took my way through the Winston Racing Series and then decided I was going to run NASCAR, got a Winston Cup ride and just wanted to get the Brickyard.

"To be on the pole, it's special, without a question."

Bill Elliott will start on the front row after qualifying his Dodge Intrepid at 179.565 mph for his best starting position in the Brickyard 400. Elliott finished third here last year.

"It's kind of like you use what you learned over the winter at Daytona and then it's time for the Brickyard," Elliott said. "It's one of those races that everybody wants to win. My qualifying run was pretty uneventful. The car stuck pretty well. We were a little loose, but it wasn't too bad qualifying. You go out earlier in the day and the racetrack's got a good bit of grip to it. As the heat gets in the track, from time practice started until the time it ended, the racetrack gained about 10 degrees. It's hard to overcome that; I don't care who you are.

"Last year, I had one of the best Indys I've ever had here. I finished third and really had a good car. That was last year and now we've got to worry about this year. I think the biggest key will be how this last practice goes this afternoon and how the race track goes tomorrow and how well we get the car tomorrow."

Elliott's team mate at Evernham Motorsports, Casey Atwood, had his best qualification attempt of the season when he put his Dodge third on the grid after a lap at 179.361 mph.

"That was a good lap for us," said the 20-year-old Atwood. "We backed up what we ran this morning. We got a little bit loose, but that was a great run for us and it'll give us a good starting spot for Sunday. I hit my marks pretty good. That's pretty much all it had. We could have picked up a little bit more if it had been a little tighter off the corners. The track got a little slicker since this morning.

"We've got a brand new car the guys built just to come here. The guys built a great car. We've got a good starting position, so maybe we can keep it up there. Every track is a little tricky. You've got to be careful not to drive in the corners too hard. You've got to let off early and get on the gas quicker. I never did it in Busch. Just about everywhere in Cup, you've got to learn how to back out a little early."

Ford driver Ricky Rudd was fourth at 179.233 mph followed by rookie Ryan Newman at 179.037 mph, also in a Ford.

Rudd drives for team owner Robert Yates as does team mate Dale Jarrett, who qualified sixth at 178.848 mph. Ironically, Spencer's engine was built at prepared by Robert Yates Racing to give the engine department three starters out of the top six in Sunday's 400-mile race.

"Robert Yates engines, they're pretty good engines, without a question," Spencer aid. "Robert and Doug Yates have done a great job."

Spencer was able to finally achieve some success at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - a track that has given him two of the worst moments of his career. In 1994, Spencer suffered a broken shoulder blade when he smacked into the third turn wall. In 1998, Spencer suffered a concussion that kept him out of the race car for three races.

"I was the first driver ever out of the Brickyard 400," Spencer said. "I blew a right-front tyre and A.J. Foyt, he called me up about two days later and he just wanted to make sure I was alright, so that was pretty neat. But in 1998, it was stupid on the driver's part that did that. We were racing for 16th or 17th place and I ended up missing three weeks. I think everybody learns from their mistakes so I think he learned a lot from that mistake that day.

"Most of all, we've ran pretty good here and we've never could capitalise on it. One time in particular we were running really, really well, about sixth or seventh, and Dale Earnhardt got together under caution, just a racin' deal and I've had a lot of bad memories about this track, but hopefully it all changes this weekend."

Spencer proved he is good enough to win a pole in one of the biggest races of the year. But, is he good enough to win Sunday's race - 400-miles at the difficult Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

"I think our team is good enough to win, and if it's here or if it's Martinsville or if it's Chicago, wherever we are," Spencer said. "In order to sit on the pole today you had to have a mistake-free lap and we had a mistake-free lap, so we were lucky there. I think we can win, I really do. I love this race track, and to me this is a race track where you can't get too aggressive at but you have to drive on the edge.

"I love driving on the edge. That doesn't scare me. So, I think that's important."

Drivers in the Indianapolis 500 have often said winning a pole for that race is bigger than winning most races. But, is winning the pole for the Brickyard 400 bigger than winning most other NASCAR Winston Cup events?

"Oh, there's no question that the pole here is bigger than anywhere else but, no, it's not as big as a race win," Spencer said. "When you win a Winston Cup race, it's pretty damn big. I think winning poles is pretty neat. I've never been known to do it. I mean, I just do some things wrong when it comes time to do it.

"Today, (crew chief) Donnie Wingo told me, 'I know you're not going to do anything wrong today,' and it worked out for us. But winning a pole here is really special. There's no question that winning the pole at any race is big, but not as big as the Brickyard -- not with the history behind this track."

Jimmy Spencer, Ford, 50.093s, 179.665mph
Bill Elliott, Dodge, 50.121s, 179.5655mph
Casey Atwood, Dodge, 50.178s, 179.361mph
Ricky Rudd, Ford, 50.214s, 179.233mph
Ryan Newman, Ford, 50.269s, 179.0368mph
Dale Jarrett, Ford, 50.322s, 178.848mph
Ricky Craven, Ford, 50.436s, 178.444mph
Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 50.503s 178.207mph
Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 50.55s, 178.041mph
Todd Bodine, Ford, 50.644s, 177.711mph
Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 50.716s, 177.458mph
Andy Houston, Ford, 50.776s, 177.249mph
Steve Park, Chevrolet, 50.794s, 177.186mph
Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 50.807s, 177.140mph
Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 50.809s, 177.134mph
Jeremy Mayfield, Ford, 50.895s, 176.835mph
Rich Bickle, Chevrolet, 50.916s, 176.761mph
Brett Bodine, Ford, 50.923s, 176.737mph
Ward Burton, Dodge, 50.933s, 176.702mph
Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 50.945s, 176.661mph
Robert Pressley, Ford, 50.966s, 176.588mph
Jeff Burton, Ford, 50.991s, 176.501mph
Matt Kenseth, Ford, 51.006s, 176.449mph
Dave Blaney, Dodge 51.031s 176.363mph
Mark Martin, Ford, 51.037s, 176.342mph
Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 51.053s, 176.287mph
Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 51.084s, 176.18mph
Ron Hornaday, Pontiac, 51.109s, 176.094mph
Jason Leffler, Dodge, 51.113s, 176.080mph
John Andretti, Dodge, 51.146s, 175.966mph
Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 51.17s, 175.884mph
Hut Stricklin, Ford, 51.173s 175.874mph
Stacy Compton, Dodge, 51.185s, 175.833mph
Kurt Busch, Ford, 51.19s 175.815mph
Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 51.222s. 175.705mph
Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 51.237s 175.654mph
Rusty Wallace*, Ford
Elliott Sadler*, Ford
Bobby Hamilton*, Chevrolet
Ken Schrader*, Pontiac
Jerry Nadeau*, Chevrolet
Robby Gordon*, Chevrolet
Buckshot Jones*, Dodge

* Provisional


Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet
Derrike Cope, Pontiac
Mike Wallace, Ford
Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet
Ed Berrier, Ford
David Keith, Ford
Rick Mast, Pontiac
Dave Marcis, Chevrolet
Kyle Petty, Dodge
Andy Hillenburg, Pontiac
Shawna Robinson, Ford
F Flintstone, B Rubble-sponsored I-Rock