Spencer

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- New year, new team, new result.

In what would have been his debut with Chip Ganassi last season, Jimmy Spencer missed the field for the 2002 Daytona 500. But the 45-year-old veteran (he turns 46 on Saturday) from Berwick, Pa., finished 12th in the first of Thursday's Gatorade 125 qualifying races, good enough to secure a spot in Sunday's race.

Spencer had been running near the top-five with just 10 laps remaining but was shuffled toward the back in the waning laps.

"Jeff (Gordon) tried to make a run there. I don't think Jeff's car was handling quite as good as it needed to be," said Spencer, who now drives for Jim Smith's Ultra Motorsports. "I just turned underneath him and a bunch of cars caught us. And when they did they punched into me in the left rear-quarter."

Driving just a couple of spots in front of 15th-place -- the final spot to make the field -- with a dangerously small margin between his No. 7 Dodge and the outside of the field, Spencer drove to the middle of the track and split Kenny Wallace and Ricky Craven.

Spencer's strategy at that point? Just drive hard.

"No lift, man," he said. "You don't lift when you are running (back there). Hell, we were up in the fifth spot there and guys can't stay patient with seven or eight laps to go. They pushed up out of the way, knocked us up. We got all the way back there and worked our back back up. Hell, coming to the checkered or wherever it was. I don't even remember. I just said, 'I ain't lifting.' I don't get paid to lift and I didn't lift and I drove that son of a gun through there and we came out in the top 15."

Craven, who is in the field after finishing one spot behind Spencer in 13th, wasn't surprised when Spencer drove his No. 7 to the middle, forcing the cars to go three-wide on the final lap.

"Actually, I was wondering why it took so long (for someone to make a move)," Craven said. "Everything is on the line here and there are guys that weren't in the race that had to do that."

Spencer's boldness wasn't lost on Wallace, either.

"Well, it got me a little bit braver. We did that a lot today. But when you make it three-wide you need to get it right back to two-wide," said Wallace, who finished 11th. "He did what he needed to do then I did what I had to do. But right there at the end going for the checkered flag, Jimmy just kind of moved up for some reason. I think his car might have picked up a big push. I was able to get underneath him and get 11th out of it."

When Spencer went high, he appeared to make contact with Craven's No. 32 car. Whether he actually did is up for debate.

"Did I hit him? Well, there's not a mark on my car on the right side, so I did not hit him," Spencer said.

Craven had a different take.

"I got run into (by Spencer)," Craven said. "I got a big dent in the back of the car. But I don't have any problem with that. If we get the Tide Pontiac driving better, then they won't be able to get to us to hit us."

Spencer did have some late help when he made his move, as 14th-place finisher Greg Biffle followed him in.

"Greg Biffle really helped me out there," Spencer said. "We all got together and it was just a racing deal. I just thank him for pushing me across the line."

After starting the '02 season on such a low note, driving a car which likely is weaker than last year's Ganassi machine into the 500 could be seen as a bit of vindication for Spencer, who is suing Ganassi over his dismissal from the team. But Spencer wasn't taking that angle.

"No, these races are just for the fans, in my opinion," he said. "They're just a lot of fun for them. I think that's why we got a crowd. That's why our sport's No. 1 in my eyes. That was an exciting race. It was a situation last year where a person that didn't know what the hell they were doing smashed into us. That took us out. Today, everybody used their head, there was no accident and that's why you saw a good finish there for the top-15."

This team struggled with Casey Atwood behind the wheel last season. But Spencer thinks he can take this team further than it went in 2002.

"I'm excited about this year simply because even if we didn't make the race, I really respect Tommy Baldwin and the people he put underneath me here," he said. "I'll be the quarterback. I'll take this team to the Super Bowl if we can."

Rookie Casey Mears, who replaced Spencer at Ganassi, was the 15th and final driver to race his way in via the first Gatorade 125. Robby Gordon won the race, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the checkered flag in the second 125.

Schrader races in

	Schrader

Ken Schrader moved to BAM Racing's No. 49 car this off-season, a car which struggled mightily with several drivers during the '02 campaign. But Schrader turned some heads with a strong Bud Shootout last weekend and continued his strong Speedweeks by finishing 15th in the second of Thursday's 125s and qualifying for the Daytona 500.

"We wanted to get in and that was the most important part, but we didn't want to get in by ourselves in 15th," Schrader said. "We got up there then when Kurt Busch messed up on pit road it messed up our pit stop. But we've got a starting spot for Sunday. 1-800-CALL-ATT will go to the front."

Schrader ended the race well behind 14th-place finisher Mark Martin and easily ahead of 16th-place Kyle Petty. And while most of the field ran in bunches, drivers can't necessarily count on having a consistent drafting partner.

"These are all your buddies off the track, but any of us ... you'd screw your mom over out there," Schrader said. That a different deal."

Schrader's prospects for Sunday's race?

"We'll be fine. We've got nice speed."