Motorsports

Spencer pumped for busy weekend in three series

By wire services
Published March 10, 2005

Jimmy Spencer will try for a trifecta next week, attempting to compete in three NASCAR races in three days at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The man known as "Mr. Excitement," a nickname he earned in his modified racing days, will begin his busy weekend Friday, March 18, with the Craftsman Trucks race. The former Nextel Cup regular returned to trucks full-time this season.

With no points or provisionals to fall back on in the other series, Spencer also will try to qualify on speed for the Busch race that Saturday and the Cup race on Sunday.

"It will be a full slate, especially on Friday with two truck practices in the morning, two Cup practices in the early afternoon, two Busch practices right after that, truck qualifying and Cup qualifying in the late afternoon and then the truck race that night," Spencer said. "I'll sleep well that night, I can promise you that."

Spencer said he is particularly looking forward to the truck race after being a spectator last year.

"It's one of the best races we'll have all year, with the speeds we reach and the intensity on the track," he said. "Anybody who watched last year's race knows that. You had two trucks pretty much door-to-door as they took the checkered flag. ... There are a lot of competitive trucks and drivers in the series right now and, when you get us on a wide-open, fast track like Atlanta, it's kind of like turning the kids loose on the playground."

IMPROVING F1: The managing director of the Renault Formula One team says the globe-trotting series needs a new direction.

"I think we need to start talking about F1 as a sport again," said Flavio Briatore, whose team got the first victory of 2005 from Giancarlo Fisichella on Sunday in Australia. "Recently, the discussion has been only about finance and bureaucracy. But I don't think the public is interested in how much we spend or whether we sign the Concorde Agreement (a new contract).

"They want to be entertained. And, at the moment, we are not doing anything to make our customers happy."

[Last modified March 10, 2005, 01:15:14]