Jimmy Spencer has two Cup victories. Credit: Autostock

10 Questions: J. Spencer

Jimmy Spencer owns a unique legacy at Martinsville Speedway, as the Pennsylvania veteran is one of three men who have raced in four of the five major divisions that have competed at the Virginia short track.

Spencer gets another crack at the tough concrete and asphalt venue in Sunday's DirecTV 500, serving as a stand-in for rookie Brent Sherman in the No. 49 Dodge.

In addition to 28 Cup starts, Spencer also has raced at Martinsville in NASCAR Modifieds, the Busch Series and the Craftsman Truck Series.

Spencer, who in recent years has expanded his horizons into broadcasting, took a break before arriving at Martinsville to answer 10 Questions not necessarily connected to his racing career.

1. What was your first car?

Inside the Numbers Jimmy Spencer at Martinsville   Cup Busch Trucks Starts 28 8 3 Wins 0 0 0 Top-5s 1 2 0 Top-10s 4 6 2 DNFs 4 0 0 Poles 0 0 0 Avg. Start 24.3 14.4 20.0 Avg. Finish 21.0 9.1 13.7 Jimmy Spencer career   Cup Busch Truck Years 17 20 3 Starts 476 212 31 Wins 2 12 1 Top-5s 28 44 4 Top-10s 80 93 11 Poles 3 3 1 Avg. Start 24.4 17.2 16.9 Avg. Finish 22.4 17.1 15.0 JIMMY SPENCER •   Complete driver stats

Spencer: My first car was a '68 Corvette. I bought it really cheap, because they were real cheap back then. I had it repainted.

My dad owned a big junkyard, so I had a lot of old junk cars, but that was the first one that I actually drove on the road.

Q: Did that give you any kind of status with your buddies?

Spencer: Aaah, it was just a car. Corvettes, Mustangs -- there was nothing special about them, back then in the early '70s.

Seriously, everybody had all kinds of different stuff back then. We were in the car business, so it really was nothing special that I would be buying all kinds of new 1975 and 1976 Corvettes.

That didn't really give me any kind of status, because they were nothing really outstanding back then.

2. You were recently hired as a spokesman for Holiday Inn. What's the biggest benefit of that -- and does it make you want to be on the road more?

Spencer: Well, I'm on the road so much, and I want a nice place to stay so serving in this role is priceless, to me. That was the way that I sold Holiday Inn on my doing the job for them.

People that are on the road all the time want a nice, clean room to stay in. Race teams are on road how many days in a week -- and how many weeks in a year? That was my big selling point to Holiday Inn.

I think they've really up-fitted their new model and they're doing really well, so things have worked out pretty good for me.

3. If you could be U.S. President for a day, what would your greatest accomplishment be?

Spencer: Oh man -- only one day? It would take me a whole lot longer than a day to straighten out this country.

	Credit: Autostock
	SPENCER TO DRIVE 49 BAM Racing announced Jimmy Spencer will drive the No. 49 Dodge Charger at Martinsville Speedway this weekend.  •   Complete story, click here

You know, I would try to figure out how to not have so many people living in poverty. I would try to figure out a way to solve that issue, because too many people are going hungry -- and too many people don't have medical insurance, and stuff like that.

I just think there are ways for us to better serve the people in this country that are starving -- the homeless and the hungry.

4. What's at the bottom of your "Honey Do" list?

Spencer: I think I would probably say touching up paintwork in the house. You know, you get cracks here and there, and I don't like doing that stuff because once it starts, with me, I would have the whole room painted.

If you have a little settlement crack or something like that -- well, I like messing around the house, but by the time I was done with it, it would have to be perfect and for sure it would be a couple day project.

And it's tough to find a couple days to do anything like that, these days.

My theory is, once you start something, you've got to finish. You can't start and come back to it a week later and say, "I can just keep doing this."

5. What's the most embarrassing moment that you'll own up to, either in or out of racing?

Spencer: You know, to tell you the truth, I've never been embarrassed. Oh no, -- I will say this.

One time, on NASCAR Live with Eli Gold -- me and Eli were having some fun and I had made a comment about my wife, Pat.

And it was about how dumb she was for marrying me, or something like that. But for me, it was embarrassing and it always bothered me that I had said it -- because she would be an old maid by now if she didn't marry me.

6. Do you watch the news? Who's your favorite anchor?

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Spencer: I've got to be careful there, because I do watch TV news. Peter Jennings was my favorite TV news anchor.

I really like watching Good Morning America, and I like Charlie Gibson, Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer. I like those guys and I really enjoy them.

7. What is one thing your fans don't know about you?

Spencer: They don't know that I'm not a fighter. I will, if I have to -- but I try not to.

I think a lot of people think I'm a real tough guy, and I'm not. I really respect the family and I think that one of the things that is happening in our country is that family values are losing some of their importance

8. Have you and your wife been to a theater lately to watch a movie, and if not, what are some of your favorite all-time flicks?

Spencer: I tell you what, we don't really go out to the theater much any more -- it's been a while.

My favorite all-time movies, there are a bunch of them, but if we could narrow it down to two or three, I really like Caddyshack and I really like The Blues Brothers.

And I think The Godfather series is just really incredible. Those others are a couple comedies, but I think The Godfather is the best, with the family values there.

Yeah, some of the scenes are pretty bad, but I just like The Godfather.

9. If you could go back in time, in what period in history would you like to live, and why?

Spencer: I'd like to live in the '70s again and buy all the muscle cars I could buy -- and put them away.

Because then I would have realized that with the Hemi 'Cudas and the Mustangs and the Camaros and the Corvettes and things -- when the '90s and then the year 2000 came around I would have had my retirement sitting there in a warehouse.

Because you could have bought those cars for a thousand dollars apiece back then.

But the '70s were just awesome, all the way around, when I was growing up -- with Led Zeppelin and all that stuff. I mean, the '70s were just awesome, when I graduated from school -- the Vietnam War was over and the country was booming.

10. If you were a car owner and had one race to win, who would you want behind the wheel?

Spencer: The race would be the Daytona 500 -- and I'd like to be behind the wheel myself, so I could be the owner-driver. That would be my fantasy.

And my second pick would be Rusty Wallace. I always liked Rusty and he never won the Daytona 500, either.