Job-hunting Spencer puts up third-best lap

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- For the second straight week, Jimmy Spencer stepped up his efforts in Bud Pole Qualifying, as he scored the third starting position for the Ford 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway.

	Jimmy Spencer Credit: Autostock

On Thursday, Spencer said he was still in discussions with Ganassi regarding the resolution of the final year of his contract, 2003. Friday's performance did nothing to hurt his stock on the job front.

"It's nice to finish on a high note in qualifying," Spencer said. I've driven as hard as I can in every race and qualified as hard as I can every time. They can't say I didn't try."

"We've obviously had a rough couple weeks. I tell you, it's really good for the guys on the team and really good for Jimmy," crew chief Doug Randolph said. "No matter what's going on around you, we've got a job to do and we've got to race.

"Everybody's just put all that behind them and decided to go ahead and finish up the best we can. We feel like we'll have a real good car on Sunday."

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Ganassi cited performance as his reason for releasing Spencer from his contract's final year.

"Given the right set of circumstances, they have proven that they can do the job, no question," Ganassi said.

After failing to qualify for the Daytona 500, Spencer started no worse than 12th in six of his next seven races. However, since the spring race at Martinsville he had failed to qualify in the top 10 until he did it at Phoenix.

When he was released, Spencer cited problems on his 41 team he had pointed out and were not resolved. He declined to go into much detail about it, then or since.

"I haven't changed the way I drive and I haven't changed the way I qualify," Spencer said. "I've been driving hard all year -- it's part of this sport."

Spencer's best finish is second, at Bristol in the spring.