Jimmy Spencer | |||||||
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Spencer in 1997
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Born |
Berwick, Pennsylvania, United States |
February 15, 1957 ||||||
Achievements | 1982, 1983 Shangri-La Speedway NASCAR Modified Division track champion 1986, 1987 NASCAR National Modified champion |
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Awards | Named ninth on NASCAR's all-time Top 10 Modified Drivers 1979 Shangri-La Speedway NASCAR Modified Division Rookie of the Year |
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Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
478 races run over 18 years | |||||||
Best finish | 12th (1993) | ||||||
First race | 1989 Budweiser 500 (Dover) | ||||||
Last race | 2006 Pennsylvania 500 (Pocono) | ||||||
First win | 1994 Pepsi 400 (Daytona) | ||||||
Last win | 1994 DieHard 500 (Talladega) | ||||||
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NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
212 races run over 20 years | |||||||
Best finish | 7th (1988) | ||||||
First race | 1985 Sandhills 200 (Rockingham) | ||||||
Last race | 2005 Aaron's 312 (Atlanta) | ||||||
First win | 1989 Mountain Dew 400 (Hickory) | ||||||
Last win | 2002 Food City 250 (Bristol) | ||||||
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
31 races run over 3 years | |||||||
Best finish | 12th (2005) | ||||||
First race | 2003 Virginia Is For Lovers 200 (Richmond) | ||||||
Last race | 2005 Ford 200 (Homestead) | ||||||
First win | 2003 New Hampshire 200 (New Hampshire) | ||||||
Last win | 2003 New Hampshire 200 (New Hampshire) | ||||||
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Jimmy Spencer (born February 15, 1957) is a former American racing driver, team owner, and television commentator. He is best known for competing in NASCAR. He hosted the NASCAR-inspired talk show, What’s the Deal?, on Speed, and was co-host, with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace, of the Speed's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane. Before retiring, Spencer had segment on Speed's NASCAR Race Hub offering commentary and answering viewer questions (Tuesdays and Thursdays). During his days racing modifieds, he was nicknamed "Mr. Excitement" for his aggressive racing style. Spencer is one of the few drivers to have won a race in all three of NASCAR's top series: Sprint Cup, Xfinity, and Camping World Truck Series
Jimmy Spencer followed his father, Ed Spencer, Sr. (Fast Eddie), in racing. Spencer started in Late Models in Pennsylvania. He captured his first racing win in the Late Model division at Port Royal Speedway in 1976. He moved to NASCAR Modifieds at Shangri-La Speedway (Owego, New York), then branched out to bigger events throughout the Northeast.
In 1984, Spencer was one of the top contenders for NASCAR's National Modified Championship, at a time when all sanctioned races counted toward that title; after running over sixty races, he was second to Richie Evans in the final standings. When NASCAR changed the National Modified Championship into the smaller-schedule Winston Modified Tour (now Whelen Modified Tour) in 1985, Spencer continued to run, and won the title in 1986 and 1987.