Spencer disappointed with race's ending

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The disappointment was evident in Jimmy Spencer’s voice after he nearly captured his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory since 1994.

He had come so close. Close to ending the losing streak that has hung over his 45-year-old head.

He’s been close before. He also had second-place finishes in 1999 in the Bristol night race and in 1998 at Talladega, where his second and last career victory had occurred four years earlier.

But this year is different for Spencer. He is unarguably driving the strongest car he’s had in years. It is exactly the type of situation Spencer expected to be in when he joined Chip Ganassi Racing after the 2001 season.

He was racing for the win, and he was hungry.

But Kurt Busch got the better of him. Busch’s pitch-black No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford bumped Spencer’s No. 41 Target Dodge with just 45 laps remaining in Sunday’s Food City 500, and Busch never looked back as he took his first Winston Cup win.

“It hurts. It is so hard to win races,” Spencer said. “ I just really am very upset, but that is life.”

Spencer was running in the top 10 for 484 of the 500 laps. He led 54 laps, and the second-place run catapulted him from 35th to 23rd in the standings.

“We will win,” Spencer said. “No question in my mind.”

Busch’s hit sent Spencer onto the apron of the track. Spencer manhandled the wheel and saved the car, but he had nothing left for Busch -- not even after a late caution came out that created a restart with 15 laps to go.

“Kurt just smashed into my back bumper,” Spencer said. “The good Lord saved it. I never touched him. He just hit me. I am sure he said he checked up.

“We don’t forget. When I smash back, he won’t finish.”

Busch had a different view.

“That’s racing,” Busch said. “Veterans have a different opinion than second-year drivers. He has not won since 1994.”

At Phoenix last year, Busch had a top-10 car when he and Spencer tangled in Turn 4. Busch recovered and stayed on the lead lap, but he never challenged again and finished 22nd.

Busch says he never forgot the incident.

“Last year, he dumps us, and that was in my mind,” Busch said. “I set the stage for it.”

“He was the one who never forgets, and I never forgot what happened in Phoenix.”