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65-513: The NASCAR Modified Division was formed as part of NASCAR's creation in December 1947. NASCAR held a modified race as its first sanctioned event, on February 15, 1948, on the beach course at Daytona Beach, Florida. Red Byron won the event and 11 more races that year, and won the first NASCAR Modified Championship. (The Strictly Stock Division, which evolved into today's premier Cup Series, did not race until 1949.) Post- World War II modifieds were

130-471: A sports car racing team for much of the 1950s. Declining health forced him to hang up his goggles in 1951, but he remained active in racing. He worked with Briggs Cunningham , who was trying to develop an American sports car that could win Grand Prix races, then become manager of a Corvette team with the same goal. Neither project succeeded, but Byron enjoyed sports cars. On January 19, 2018, Byron

195-444: A Cup car. By rule, tour-type modifieds weigh at least 2,610 lb (1,180 kg) (with additional weight for engines 358 cu in [5.9 L] and larger) and have a wheelbase of 107 in (270 cm). They are powered by small-block V-8 engines, usually of 355 to 368 cu in (5.8 to 6.0 L) of displacement, although larger or smaller engines can be used. Engine components are largely similar to those used in

260-601: A best-finish 36th, then ran the full season in 1988 , finishing seventh in the point standings with 5 top-5's and 13 top-10's in the No. 34. In 1989 , Spencer won his first career Busch race, the Mountain Dew 400 at Hickory Motor Speedway . Spencer later won another two that season at Orange County and Myrtle Beach , finishing 15th in the final standings. In 1989 , he moved to the Winston Cup Series, driving

325-559: A career best eighth place finish twice, once in 1993 and again in 2008. His 371 starts place him eighth all time since the series inception in 1985. Cole died in a home accident on March 15, 2020. In 2020 a race on the tour was renamed for him. Click here for a list of all champions including 1948–84 National Modified champions. NASCAR stopped awarding the Most Popular Driver Award in the Modified Tour from

390-505: A decal displayed on the cars and with Woody Pitkat driving Ted Christopher's modified. Stafford Motor Speedway retired his number 13 from its weekly modified racing. The NASCAR Cup Series and Truck Series dropped a race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in favor of Las Vegas . New Hampshire replaced the series with the "Full Throttle Weekend", with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Musket 250. It became

455-556: A driver gets the crying towel and a fake cigar if they complain about something that cannot be punishable. In 2012, Spencer named his "Crying Towel" segment as "(Driver) Radio Sweetheart." In a tweet on May 16, 2012, Spencer stated that he was retired from driving. He continued to co-host Race Hub , mainly alongside Steve Byrnes and Danielle Trotta , until the end of 2013. Spencer quietly left NASCAR on Fox ( Speed became Fox Sports 1 in August 2013) and NASCAR Race Hub after

520-804: A form of "stock car" (contrasted against purpose-built AAA championship cars , sprints, and midgets) which allowed some modification, typically substitution of stronger truck parts. Most cars were pre-WWII coupes and coaches. This pattern continued through the 1960s, with aftermarket performance parts and later-model chassis (such as the 1955–57 Chevrolet's frame) becoming more common. Modifieds became known for technical innovation, both in homebuilt parts and in adapting components from other types of vehicles. By 1970, many modifieds featured big-block engines, fuel injection, eighteen-inch-wide rear tires, radically offset engine locations, and other technologies that made them faster on short tracks than any full-bodied race cars including Grand National cars. The predecessor to

585-715: A part-owner, when he leased his shop to Bang! Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2004. He began 2004 with Ultra's Cup team at the Daytona 500, but when the team closed down due to a lack of sponsorship, he replaced Kevin Lepage at Morgan-McClure Motorsports , which had also been running unsponsored. Spencer's best finish that season had been 17th at Dover after gaining sponsors in Featherlite Trailers and Lucas Oil , when on October 25, he

650-525: A step which could bend in hard impacts rather than passing the force to the driver. The death of Tom Baldwin, Sr. in 2004 led to more safety modifications, with HANS devices (or equivalents) and left side headrests becoming mandatory. For the 2008 season, rear bumpers were shortened in response to the 2007 death of John Blewett III . After a severed wheel caused a fatality at an Indy Racing League event at Lowe's Motor Speedway , NASCAR, in July 1999, required

715-797: A very successful career. Coby would form his own team in partnership with Steve Pickens, scoring one win at WMMP. Jon Mckennedy showed great speed on his way to second in points driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing , while Craig Lutz had a breakout year scoring wins at Jennerstown and Thompson. 2021 saw the WMT return to two popular southern venues in Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway , as well as an additional race at both Oswego Speedway and Riverhead Raceway . Lancaster Raceway and Beech Ridge Motor Speedway also made their returns after long stretches without WMT races. Patrick Emerling proved

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780-514: A worthy competitor to Justin Bonsignore, as the two ran head to head right down to the wire at the final race of the season at Stafford Speedway . Bonsignore would celebrate a long awaited win at the storied CT race track as he clinched the 2021 title on the strength of 2 wins. Cup series regular Ryan Preece would have a solid year, scoring wins at New Hampshire, Stafford, and Richmond. Tragically his car owner Eddie Partridge would pass away in

845-444: Is a "manufacturers" logo placed on the car, and a logo indicating the type of road car it is alleged to be. Neither logo is actually associated with the actual manufacturer of the race vehicle. Whelen Modified cars are also largely fabricated from sheetmetal, with the front wheels and much of the front suspension exposed. A NASCAR Whelen Modified car is 11 in (280 mm) shorter in height and over 23 in (580 mm) wider than

910-724: Is an American former racing driver, team owner, talk show host 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 Speed's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane . Before retiring, Spencer had a segment on Speed's NASCAR Race Hub offering commentary and answering viewer questions (on Tuesdays and Thursdays ). During his days racing modifieds , he

975-527: Is considered one of the best drivers of the era. He won the first NASCAR race at Daytona Beach and Road Course and won the inaugural NASCAR Strictly Stock driver's championship. Born in Washington County, Virginia , he moved to Colorado at a young age, and then to Anniston, Alabama , which he considered his hometown. Byron began racing in 1932 and was successful in racing in Talladega by

1040-557: The NASCAR RaceDay pre-race show and NASCAR Victory Lane post-race show. In 2010, he was also was the host of his own show What's The Deal? along with Ray Dunlap . The show only lasted one year. Spencer also became a co-anchor on NASCAR Race Hub on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In his television commentary, Spencer talked about the NASCAR highlights while he often feigning sobs with his gag called "The Crying Towel", for which

1105-628: The Brickyard 400 , forcing him to sit out the next two races to recover and fall to 14th in points. During the season, Spencer formed his own NASCAR team, Spencer Motor Ventures , which fielded the No. 12 Zippo -sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the Busch Series for himself and Boris Said , Steve Grissom , and Rick Mast . The team expanded to two cars in 1999 , fielding the No. 12 and the No. 5 Schneider National -sponsored Chevy for Dick Trickle . In 2000 , he moved his team up to Cup to run

1170-907: The Chevrolet Cavalier and Monte Carlo , the Dodge Avenger and Stealth , the Ford Mustang and Escort , the Plymouth Laser and Sundance , and the Pontiac Sunbird , J2000, and Grand Prix . Richie Evans ' 1985 death at Martinsville, along with other asphalt modified fatalities such as Charlie Jarzombek (in 1987), Corky Cookman (1987), Tommy Druar (1989), Don Pratt (1989), and Tony Jankowiak (1990), led to questions about car rigidity with tour modifieds, and safety changes. In particular, straight frame rails were phased out, with new chassis required to have

1235-530: The NASCAR All-Star Race schedule at North Wilkesboro Speedway (which hosted a standalone race in October 2024 that became part of a CARS Tour and SMART Modified weekend because of Hurricane Helene). Typically, a name driver is recruited to participate in the race to pique the interest of casual fans. For example, Cup Series driver Carl Edwards and defending Cup champion Tony Stewart raced in

1300-414: The 2013 season. Spencer has been largely inactive in the NASCAR community since then aside from an appearance on The Dale Jr. Download in 2021 and appearing on the last episode of Race Hub on June 11, 2024. In 2017, Spencer was quoted as saying “I still watch some races, it’s not a top priority anymore, but I miss it." Spencer is married to his wife Pat and has two children and five dogs. He also had

1365-432: The 2017 season. Red Byron Robert Nold "Red" Byron (March 12, 1915 – November 11, 1960) was an American stock car racing driver, who was successful in NASCAR competition in the sanctioning body's first years. He was NASCAR's first Modified champion (and its first champion in any division) in 1948 and its first Strictly Stock (predecessor to NASCAR Cup Series ) champion in 1949. Along with Bob Flock , he

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1430-592: The 21st century, several books about historical modified drivers have been published. The series was featured in the EA Sports NASCAR series starting in NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup , though beginning with NASCAR 08 , the series became exclusive to PlayStation 2 releases; additionally, all Whelen Modified Tour drivers in the aforementioned games (and NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona , the first video game to feature

1495-568: The Cup Series, but Whelen Modified Tour engines use a small four-barrel carburetor (rated at 390 cu ft [11 m] per minute, about half the airflow of previous modified carburetors), which limits their output to 625 to 700 hp (466 to 522 kW). On large tracks such as New Hampshire Motor Speedway , the engines must have a restrictor plate between the carburetor and intake manifold, reducing engine power and car speed for safety reasons. Approved "body styles" for 2006 include

1560-581: The Cup level. Other WMT veterans such as Ryan Preece , Mike McLaughlin , and Jeff Fuller have advanced to become race winners and championship contenders in the Xfinity Series, the top minor league under the Cup Series. Two-time Xfinity Series champion Randy Lajoie also began racing modifieds in Connecticut before moving on the NASCAR. Randy’s son, Corey Lajoie has also won in the Modified Tour. Son of Mike McLaughlin, Max has also competed in

1625-662: The Featherlite Modified Series teams (and eventually all NASCAR teams) to add steel cables as tethers linking each front spindle to the chassis, the steel cables were later replaced with marine rope which is stronger and weighs less. The series has been a minor league with a strong and loyal regional following. Most national media attention has appeared in racing-centered publications (magazines such as Stock Car Racing Magazine and Speedway Illustrated , and newspapers such as National Speed Sport News and Speedway Scene ) rather than general mass media. In

1690-537: The Grand National series, Winston Cup, and the modern-day NASCAR Cup Series . With Parks in tow, Byron was equally successful in the inaugural eight-race season. Just as in 1948, he won at Daytona Beach, and also won at a dirt track in Martinsville . Byron, as with his previous year in a modified, ended the year as the series' first champion. Byron raced sparingly after his two championships. He owned

1755-654: The July 2006 race. In the past, they have raced at Bristol Motor Speedway and been part of INDYCAR races at Richmond and New Hampshire. Certain drivers are notable specifically for their NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour careers. The following drivers were named to the NASCAR Modified all-time top 10 list in 2003: Wade Cole (March 9, 1953 – March 15, 2020) was a fixture in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Between 1985 and 2019, Cole competed in 371 NWMT races, achieving 7 top ten finishes. He earned

1820-534: 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

1885-582: The Modified Tour. Cup Series crew chiefs that started in WMT include Tommy Baldwin Jr. and Greg Zipadelli . Flosports has live coverage of all races, with some tape-delayed on CNBC. In 2023, the Modified Tour has support races with the New Smyrna Speedway meeting that is part of Daytona 500 ancillary events, and is part of Cup Series at Richmond Raceway , New Hampshire Motor Speedway , and Martinsville Speedway . Starting in 2025, they will join

1950-483: The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was NASCAR's National Modified Championship, which was determined by total points from weekly NASCAR-sanctioned races as well as a schedule of national championship races. Parts of the northeastern and southeastern US were hotbeds of modified racing in the 1950s and 1960s; some racers competed five nights per week or more. Often the same car was raced on both dirt and paved tracks, changing only tires and perhaps springs and shock absorbers. In

2015-543: The No. 7 Sirius Satellite Radio -sponsored Dodge. After some on-track incidents with Kurt Busch , Spencer confronted Busch after the GFS Marketplace 400 while Busch was still in his car. He was suspended for the next week's race, the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway while Busch was placed on probation. Despite the events that took place at Michigan, he had four top 10s and ended the season 29th in points. He

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - Misplaced Pages Continue

2080-463: The No. 88 Crisco -sponsored Pontiac for Buddy Baker 's team in 17 of the 29 races. He posted three top 10's and finished 34th in points. He then ran full-time in 1990 , finishing in the top 10 twice for Rod Osterlund Racing in the No. 57 Heinz -sponsored Pontiac and finished 24th in points. In 1991 , Spencer moved to the No. 98 Banquet Foods Chevrolet for Travis Carter Motorsports . Despite six top-10 finishes, Spencer dropped one position in

2145-810: The North Wilkesboro races part of the Cup weekend. To enable more than a few teams to contend seriously for the championship, it was decided to reformat the Modified Division's championship to a limited schedule of races not conflicting with one another. This change mirrored similar format changes to the Grand National Division starting in 1972 and the Late Model Sportsman Division (now Xfinity Series ) starting in 1982. Richie Evans ran 66 NASCAR modified features (and several unsanctioned events such as

2210-565: The Race of Champions) in 1984, the final year of the old system. The modern-day NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was first held in 1985 with 29 races, named the "NASCAR Winston Modified Tour". It switched sponsorship to the Featherlite Trailers brand in 1994, and was renamed the "NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series". Two major changes to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour came in 2005. In 2005, Whelen Engineering took over sponsorship of

2275-591: The USAAF, and with the war intervening, did not return to racing for five years. When he returned from the war, Byron, limp and all, returned to racing, and with the help of race engineer Red Vogt, was still successful. He won his first race following the war at Seminole Speedway , near Orlando, in 1946, beating Roy Hall and Bill France. In 1948, Byron became a part of the newly-formed NASCAR Modified Series racing with Raymond Parks' team. In 1949, Byron began racing in NASCAR's newly formed Strictly Stock series, which became

2340-466: The final lap at Daytona, Spencer won his first career Cup race passing Ernie Irvan for his only scored lap lead. He also won his first career pole award for the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway . Other than that, the season was a huge disappointment, as he would only score two further Top 10 finishes and finished the season 29th in the standings. After finishing 29th in

2405-660: The final standings. When NASCAR changed the National Modified Championship into the smaller-schedule Winston Modified Tour (now the Whelen Modified Tour ) in 1985, Spencer continued to run, and won the title in 1986 and 1987. Spencer debuted in the Busch Series in 1985 , finishing 19th at North Carolina Motor Speedway in the No. 67 Pontiac for Frank Cicci Racing , which was also his Modified team. The team ran twice in 1987 with

2470-457: The first time since the merger of the northern tour and the southern tour . Beginning with 2019, all NASCAR modified events will be live on Fanschoice.tv . The 2020 season was one of constant change, as the planned season was temporarily put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many races were postponed or cancelled, while others were added to help fill the schedule. Justin Bonsignore, on

2535-495: The hours after the win at Richmond. The loss was huge for the modified racing community, as Partridge was one of the strongest supporters of modifieds over the years, fielding cars in many series, as well as saving the Riverhead Raceway. Doug Coby made a bold move to miss the first race at Oswego to run in the inaugural Superstar Racing Experience race at Stafford - a move that proved fruitful as he would go on to beat

2600-531: The last four races of the season. He signed to drive Allison's No. 12 Meineke -sponsored Ford Thunderbird full-time in 1993 , and finished in the top 5 five times, resulting in a career-best 12th-place in the final standings. In 1994 , he drove the No. 27 McDonald's -sponsored Ford for Junior Johnson and won his first two and only career Cup races, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, and the DieHard 500 at Talladega. On

2665-539: The late 1960s and early 1970s, the technology of dirt and pavement modifieds diverged to make them separate types of race car. NASCAR was no longer sanctioning dirt tracks which held modified races, so the NASCAR modified rules became the standard for asphalt Modifieds. (Starting in the early 1970s, northeastern US dirt modified racetracks began to join the DIRT organization founded by Glenn Donnelly.) Most unsanctioned tracks used similar modified rules to NASCAR's, or specified

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour - Misplaced Pages Continue

2730-492: The lead late in the race and held off 2004 series champion Bobby Hamilton until just before the caution came out on the last lap. Assuming he was in the lead when NASCAR froze the field, he completed the caution lap then pulled into victory lane, only to be told by an official that, in fact, he had finished second. He also ran part-time in Cup, running nine races in the No. 50 Arnold Motorsports Dodge, and one race apiece for Peak Fitness Racing and R&J Racing . When Arnold

2795-695: The longest race on the tour (250 laps, 264.5 miles (425.7 km)). The weekend also featured the NASCAR K&;N Pro Series East with the Apple Barrel 125 (which featured a driver from the Euro series and another from the Mexico series , and, for the first time since its formation in 2007, a NASCAR Pinty's Series race outside of Canada (the Granite 100). For 2019, the tour went back to South Boston for

2860-560: The managing partners of the speedway decided to hold open tour type modified races instead. This did not prove popular amongst fans and teams alike, however TSMP returned to the WMT schedule for the 2022 season. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars are substantially different from their NASCAR Cup Series counterparts. Today's cars are based on tubular chassis built by fabricators such as Troyer Engineering, Chassis Dynamics, Spafco, Raceworks and Fury Race Cars / LFR Chassis. Bodies are related to their passenger car counterparts in only two ways. There

2925-423: The merger and Myrtle Beach was added to start the season. During the 2017 season, Ted Christopher died in a plane crash near North Branford on September 16 enroute to race at a tour event that night at Riverhead Raceway . The car owner later dropped out of the event and Christopher was credited with a Did Not Start and last place position. Christopher was honored during the next race held at New Hampshire with

2990-583: The most NASCAR championships in the Modifieds, won his last championship posthumously in 1985, the first year of the Winston Modified Tour. Driving his own designed and built cars and maintained in his own shop in Rome, NY for sponsor concrete magnate B.R. DeWitt, Evans won 12 of his 28 starts on the tour, including five consecutive victories at five tracks in July and August. Billy Nacewicz was

3055-543: The pole positions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway and advanced to 16th in points. For the 2002 season , Spencer would join Chip Ganassi Racing and drive the No. 41 Target -sponsored Dodge Intrepid . He began the season by failing to qualify for the Daytona 500 , then had a streak of four top-5 qualifying efforts, including at Bristol Motor Speedway , where he started fourth and

3120-461: The road course races with Boris Said in the No. 23 Federated Auto Parts -sponsored Ford Taurus . The team ceased operations at the end of the season. After a 20th-place finish in 1999 , Winston left the team, and Kmart became the team's new sponsor, causing Spencer to switch to the No. 26 to accommodate the new sponsor, who was already backing the No. 66 car driven by Spencer's teammate, Darrell Waltrip . Spencer had two Top 5's and in 2001 won

3185-462: The same cars with cost-limiting rules such as smaller engines or narrow tires. In the 1980s, it became prohibitively expensive for modified teams to tow long distances to sixty or more races per year, including Watkins Glen International and Daytona International Speedway , Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, North Wilkesboro Speedway , and Martinsville Speedway , with

3250-703: The season ended in tragedy when Evans was killed in an accident while practicing for the final race of the tour season, the Winn-Dixie 500 at Martinsville Speedway. He had already clinched the title; Mike McLaughlin, driving for Len Boehler, finished second in the points standings. Following the 2016 season , the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour ceased operation and was merged with the Whelen Modified Tour. For 2017 , Bristol and Charlotte were brought over in

3315-460: The series) are fictional characters specifically created for the games. No full-time Cup Series driver competed regularly in Whelen Modified Tour events until 2010, when Ryan Newman won at Bristol and won twice at New Hampshire driving for Kevin Manion . However, Ron Bouchard , Geoff Bodine , Brett Bodine , Steve Park , and Jimmy Spencer went on from WMT competition to become race winners at

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3380-501: The series, which was renamed the "NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour". Beginning in 2005 NASCAR sanctioned a new modified division in the southeastern United States known as the Whelen Southern Modified Tour . The two tours agreed to run a combined race at Martinsville Speedway . Richie Evans , the first NASCAR national touring division driver to capture nine national championships is tied with Mike Stefanik for

3445-437: The standings due to twelve DNFs. He began 1992 with Carter, but moved down to the Busch Series to drive the No. 20 Daily's 1st Ade -sponsored Oldsmobile for Dick Moroso after Carter's team folded early in the season. He responded with his second career wins at both Myrtle Beach Speedway and Orange County Speedway . Late in the 1992 season, Spencer joined Bobby Allison Motorsports ' Cup team and posted three top-fives in

3510-462: The standings in 1994, Spencer left to reunite with Travis Carter , who was then fielding the No. 23 Smokin' Joe's -sponsored Ford. He finished in the Top 10 four times in 1995 and in 1996 , Spencer had two Top 5's en route to a 15th-place finish in points. He fell to 20th in 1997 . In 1998 , Winston/No Bull became his team's new primary sponsor and he was 11th in points when he suffered injuries at

3575-458: The star studded field in front of a live national TV audience. The win parlayed Coby to his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck series start, scoring a 12th place finish at Bristol driving the GMS Racing 24 truck. A large story line was the absence of any races at the fabled Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park . After being on the WMT schedule every year since the tours inception in 1985,

3640-723: The start of the 1940s. His racing career was interrupted when he served in the United States Army Air Forces as a flight engineer on B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II . During combat, Byron suffered a serious injury to his left leg. The doctors helped partially heal his leg, but he needed a special setup to race. Before World War II, Byron raced in the AAA Indy series, mainly in Sprint Cars and Midgets. He achieved his first Stock Car victory in July 1941, while on two-day liberty from training with

3705-582: The strength of 3 wins, won the championship. Jennerstown returned to the Tour for the first time in 2006, hosting two races, while New Hampshire's White Mountain Motorsports Park hosted back-to-back races that were the WMT's first ever visit to the beautiful bullring in White Mountains. 6 time champion Doug Coby saw his Mike Smeriglio III Racing team close as Smeriglio chose to retire after

3770-418: The team's crew chief. Other strong contenders on the tour included Stefanik, George Kent, Jimmy Spencer , Brian Ross, Reggie Ruggiero , Brett Bodine , Charlie Jarzombek , Jeff Fuller , George Brunnhoelzl, Doug Heveron , Jamie Tomaino, John Rosati, Corky Cookman, Greg Sacks , Mike McLaughlin , and Bugs Stevens. Many other top racers focused on their local tracks but ran limited tour schedules. In October,

3835-478: Was also hired to drive three races for in the No. 2 Team ASE Racing Dodge Ram for Ultra's Truck Series team, winning the pole and the race in his second start at New Hampshire International Speedway . He became a part-owner of the Cicci organization that season, when he put Stuart Kirby in Cicci's No. 34 United States Air Force -sponsored Chevy, but that partnership soon dissolved. He continued to remain involved as

3900-414: Was arrested after trying to interfere with the police, who had a warrant to arrest his son for vandalism. The incident cost Spencer his job at Morgan-McClure, and he sat out the rest of 2004. Spencer returned to the No. 2 Ultra truck in 2005 . While he failed to win a race, he had nine top-10 finishes and finished 12th in points. He came close to a victory, however, in the season opener at Daytona. He held

3965-558: Was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame 's Class of 2018. When he died of a heart attack in a Chicago hotel room on November 11, 1960, at the age of 45, he was managing a team in the Sports Car Club of America competition. ( key ) ( Bold  – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics  – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ) Despite his brief career, he

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4030-624: Was leading the race when he was bumped by Kurt Busch to win, starting a long rivalry between the two. After another DNQ at Watkins Glen International , Spencer was released from the ride at the end of the season, causing him to file a lawsuit against the Ganassi organization, saying his dismissal was a violation of his contract. Also in 2002, Spencer won his last career Busch Series race, the Food City 250 at Bristol driving for Phoenix Racing . Spencer joined Ultra Motorsports in 2003 , piloting

4095-769: 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: the NASCAR Cup Series , the Xfinity Series , and the Truck Series . Spencer's Cup wins both came in summer 1994 at the restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega . Jimmy Spencer followed his father, Ed Spencer Sr. , commonly known as "Fast Eddie", in racing. Spencer started driving Late Models in Pennsylvania . He captured his first win in

4160-2551: Was selected to the National Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1966. In 1998, as part of NASCAR's 50th Anniversary celebration, he was selected as one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers . He is announced as a 2008 inductee in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame . He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America on March 17, 2020. 1949   R. Byron 1950   B. Rexford 1951   H. Thomas 1952   T. Flock 1953   H. Thomas 1954   L. Petty 1955   T. Flock 1956   B. Baker 1957   B. Baker 1958   L. Petty 1959   L. Petty 1960   R. White 1961   N. Jarrett 1962   J. Weatherly 1963   J. Weatherly 1964   R. Petty 1965   N. Jarrett 1966   D. Pearson 1967   R. Petty 1968   D. Pearson 1969   D. Pearson 1970   B. Isaac 1971   R. Petty 1972   R. Petty 1973   B. Parsons 1974   R. Petty 1975   R. Petty 1976   C. Yarborough 1977   C. Yarborough 1978   C. Yarborough 1979   R. Petty 1980   D. Earnhardt 1981   D. Waltrip 1982   D. Waltrip 1983   B. Allison 1984   T. Labonte 1985   D. Waltrip 1986   D. Earnhardt 1987   D. Earnhardt 1988   B. Elliott 1989   R. Wallace 1990   D. Earnhardt 1991   D. Earnhardt 1992   A. Kulwicki 1993   D. Earnhardt 1994   D. Earnhardt 1995   J. Gordon 1996   T. Labonte 1997   J. Gordon 1998   J. Gordon 1999   D. Jarrett 2000   B. Labonte 2001   J. Gordon 2002   T. Stewart 2003   M. Kenseth 2004   Ku. Busch 2005   T. Stewart 2006   J. Johnson 2007   J. Johnson 2008   J. Johnson 2009   J. Johnson 2010   J. Johnson 2011   T. Stewart 2012   B. Keselowski 2013   J. Johnson 2014   K. Harvick 2015   Ky. Busch 2016   J. Johnson 2017   M. Truex Jr. 2018   J. Logano 2019   Ky. Busch 2020   C. Elliott 2021   K. Larson 2022   J. Logano 2023   R. Blaney 2024   J. Logano Jimmy Spencer James Peter Spencer (born February 15, 1957)

4225-406: Was unable to locate a sponsor and Ultra closed its doors following a fallout with the Ford Motor Company , Spencer began working on the Speed TV network . He had run both Cup races at Pocono Raceway for Furniture Row Racing in 2006, finishing 32nd and 36th, respectively, which ended up being his last NASCAR starts as a driver. Spencer then worked full-time as an analyst for NASCAR on Speed on

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