Spencer, Finch, Ganassi agree to go separate ways

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR Busch Series owner James Finch wants to compete for the series championship in 2004, so he recently made one of the most difficult decisions he's had to execute in his long career in the sport.

	Jimmy Spencer

He had to tell veteran driver Jimmy Spencer there wouldn't be a place for him on his Phoenix Racing team in 2003. Spencer is attempting to rebuild his Busch season with his own Spencer Motor Ventures team.

"We have an agreement to operate an alliance with Ganassi Racing, starting with this year," Finch said. "I want to run for the Busch Grand National championship.

"I've done it with Winston Cup drivers and you get penalized on all the money plans. So, after this year I am going to pick me a driver and run for the championship in 2004."

The deal with Chip Ganassi will pay off for Finch, but was a bitter pill for Spencer to swallow, after winning four times for Finch in two seasons.

Spencer had a handshake deal to drive a limited schedule of Busch Series races in 2003 for Finch, for whom he drove in 23 races in 2002, winning at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"I had agreed to drive for (Phoenix) this year and then Chip got involved," Spencer said. "He just offered them a lot of money and bought me out of my deal. That's life and I'm a big boy and I'll go on -- I'm still good friends with all the people down there."

Spencer would like to race his own Spencer Motor Ventures Chevrolets in as many as 15 Busch Series races held in conjunction with Winston Cup events -- if he can secure sponsorship. At any rate, he plans to open that program on March 22 at Bristol, where he nearly won in Winston Cup as well.

	James Finch

"We really enjoyed racing with Jimmy Spencer," Finch said, "and we never would have changed if it wasn't for it being a monetary deal for this team. That was a decision I had to make and like I told Jimmy, 'I felt as bad as you did when you had to tell Travis (Carter) you had a better deal and you were going to have to take it.'"

That deal occurred near the end of 2001, when Spencer told his longtime Winston Cup car owner he was leaving to drive for Ganassi in 2002.

"That's the bottom line," Finch said. "Hell, the Miami Dolphins would still like to have (quarterback Dan) Marino, but it was time to make changes."

Finch has changed to Dodges in both Winston Cup and the Busch Series, matching Ganassi's Cup team. Ernie Elliott is doing the engines for both programs, which curtailed Finch's long and successful Busch relationship with Ron Hutter.

Tuesday evening, before leaving for Daytona Beach for the second two-day test for the Busch Series for NASCAR Preseason Thunder, Phoenix team manager Marc Reno confirmed that Yellow would be the primary sponsor for between 20-25 races, with Jamie McMurray the primary driver.

Ganassi's other Winston Cup driver, Casey Mears, ASA driver David Stremme and young Pennsylvanian Ryan Hemphill, who won races in two NASCAR Touring series as well as making a handful of Craftsman Truck Series starts, round out the lineup.

While at Daytona International Speedway for Winston Cup testing, Reno classified the business decision as one of the toughest that Finch had ever had to make.

	Chip Ganassi

"Racing has always been more of an emotional deal for James and the rest of us, -- that's why we're in Panama City, Fla., because it works best for us," Reno said. "The money puts us on a funding level with RCR, and we couldn't pass that up for what it enables us to do in terms of being competitive."

"The afternoon we finalized the deal, James called me four times," Reno said. "I finally asked him, 'James, are you going to change your mind?' He said no, but that he had never been as upset about any decision he's ever made in terms of his racing program."

"Jimmy Spencer is one of the most enjoyable drivers I've ever had," Finch said. "If it was going to be a deal where I was just going to spend my money and didn't have one dime of sponsorship to do a few races, I would race them with Jimmy Spencer if he would race them with me."

A sponsor might also hold the key to Spencer doing a few races for the Busch team owned by his Winston Cup crew chief, Tommy Baldwin. Baldwin has already announced a partial program for 2003 with Damon Lusk, backed by STA-RITE.

"I love racing in the Busch Series," Spencer said. "We have enjoyed a lot of success in Busch, and I plan to win more races, especially with my own team, like I did several years ago.

"Besides the talent we have here at Spencer Motor Ventures, I've got my Winston Cup team (Ultra Motorsports) and Tommy Baldwin to share data with, and that helps both teams. I can promise a sponsor they will get their money's worth this season."

Near the end of last season, Ganassi informed Spencer that he would be released as the driver of the No. 41 Target Dodge, as of the end of the Winston Cup season.

When Spencer was selected to drive Jim Smith's No. 7 Sirius Dodge in the Winston Cup Series, he also revealed he had lost the Busch ride with Finch.

He formed Spencer Motor Ventures in 1995 with his wife Pat, and has won three times since then in a limited program of races.