1on1: Jimmy Spencer (cont'd)

Q: You won at Talladega in 1994, driving for Junior Johnson. Were you surprised you're career didn't take off on the Cup side from there?

Spencer: I don't regret driving for Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker and Junior Johnson -- but they were all on the tail-end of their ownerships. When I drove for Junior and we won, he closed down the following year. He was at the age where he had had a enough of it. He had won everything he needed to win, the whole nine yards. I'll never forget him telling me, 'I guess I wish it was five years ago and you were driving for me.' I never forgot that.

Jimmy Spencer thinks Carl Edwards can win a title; as for the former driver of the No. 99, not so much.

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I'm picking somebody that when it comes to crunch time, they get it done. That's one thing Old Man Earnhardt could do. He could get that last little bit out of that car.

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Then I drove for R.J. Reynolds, and that was a great deal. We should have won some races. And just stuff falling off the car -- radiators, fan belts, you name it -- the [crap] that kept happening to that thing, kept us from doing it. And you know, I made a lot of mistakes. But I don't regret 'em. One thing about me, people always knew where I stood. I still have a lot of friends in the garage area. I think the world of Harvick.

Q: But not everybody loves you?

Spencer: People ask me why I would get on Jeff Burton, because I said a couple of weeks ago that I didn't think he could win a championship. I don't feel, in my opinion, that Jeff Burton has showed he can win a championship. A lot of people said, 'You're crazy. He's leading in the points.'

When it comes to crunch time, I'm picking Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards ... I'm picking somebody that when it comes to crunch time, they get it done. That's one thing Old Man Earnhardt could do. He could get that last little bit out of that car. I always admired Dale Earnhardt for that.

In my opinion, that was the best driver of all time -- because he always could get that little extra out of his car. I was a good friend of his. I didn't have that in me. I was a hell of a driver, I thought, but I never had that final kill tactic. He told me I didn't focus enough on it. I find that interesting.

Q: It's interesting that you would say that about yourself. Didn't a lot of folks think you had that mentality?

Spencer: I could do it. But I would let stuff sidetrack me. I could get sidetracked pretty easy. That was my downfall.

I tell people on the show or they come and ask me. I've had a talk with David Ragan; I've had talks with Kyle Busch. Mr. France called me in the [NASCAR] hauler and said, 'You need to go talk to these guys for me.' ... I tell 'em, 'Don't do what I did. Do what I say. And if you focus on that, you'll be further ahead.' So people learn from their mistakes.

It's like a quarterback. What makes a good quarterback? A guy who doesn't throw the second interception; he doesn't throw the same interception that he threw last week. That's what makes a good quarterback.

What makes a good driver is the same thing. Focusing not on what you did last week, but what you can do to get better week in and week out. That's what made Dale Earnhardt so great. I didn't do that. I would very easily get depressed in the car because, dammit, the pit crew is going to let me down or whatever. I would always try to say something. I never was a complainer, but I always had it in the back of my mind. That kept me from being as good as maybe I could have been.