When Kurt Busch Muscled Past Jimmy Spencer

When looking back on Bristol’s most significant moments, Kurt Busch vs. Jimmy Spencer is up there. The winning move at the 2002 Food City 500 and the intense rivalry it sparked will be talked about forever. Including right now, continuing our week of looking at famous incidents in Bristol history, now onto this one!

Heading into the 2002 Bristol Food City 500

You couldn’t find two drivers on more opposite career paths heading into 2002. Jimmy Spencer was a veteran of the Cup Series who, until this year, had never driven competitive equipment. But for 2002 he signed for Chip Ganassi Racing the year after they finished 3rd in points with Marlin and was teammates with him the year he was a championship contender until his tragic back injury.

While Kurt Busch was heading into his 2nd year at what was at the time the 2nd best team in NASCAR, Roush Racing, rebounding from a tough rookie season, he finished 27th in points, and he was still chasing his 1st career win heading into Bristol. Despite their opposite paths, the 2002 Bristol event wasn’t even the 1st time these two drivers had crossed paths.

In 2001, at Phoenix late in the season, Kurt Busch tried a classic slide job on Jimmy Spencer and made the move work. But for reasons only Spencer knows, he didn’t like that and accelerated into the back of Kurt Busch, which caused a 3-car wreck and brought out the caution. It was without a doubt intentional, and it was something the young hotheaded Kurt Busch had forgotten when he was battling hard with him for his 1st career win.

The Battle for the Win at the “World’s Last Great Coliseum”

Late in the running, Spencer had caught up to Kurt Busch and took a peek at his inside. The always bullheaded Spencer wasn’t cutting the young gun any slack and made contact with the ’97 quarter panel, then went by him in turn 3. If Kurt Busch was already mad at him, now he was seeing red, and the red Target logo on his car began to look like a bullseye for Kurt Busch to hit.

So in turn 1, he didn’t only hit Spencer once but twice. Running into his back bumper, which moved Spencer up the track, and then hit him in the door for good measure. He almost wrecked Spencer as he used all of his talent to save the car below the apron and get back on the track slowly. Pulling away with the lead, he earned his 1st career win at Bristol!

Post-Race Gets Heated

Kurt Busch after he won in the Sharpie win 1,000,000 dollars car he felt like a 1,000,000 bucks. While Spencer was fantasizing about putting him in a headlock, he was honest about how he felt. “When racing for victories or top fives, you have to respect the leaders,” Spencer said. “When you don’t, it will come back to haunt you. I didn’t do that to him, and he shouldn’t have done it to me.”

Kurt Busch, however, was not letting everyone forget Phoenix. “Last year at Phoenix, he dumped us flat out. He was a lapped car, and we were racing for eighth place,” Busch said. “That was in my mind. He was the one who never forgets. I guess we can say I don’t forget what happened in Phoenix.” But like how Kurt Busch didn’t forget Phoenix and Jimmy Spencer didn’t forget Bristol, their rivalry continued from here.

Later that year at Indy, Spencer turned the older Busch brother on purpose again, and he would make angry gestures towards Spencer under the yellow flag. Then there was Michigan, where things got so heated that after the race, Kurt Busch threatened Jimmy Spencer’s family, and in response, he gave the Vegas young gun a bloody nose. That actually earned Spencer a suspension for Bristol in ’03. But that’s 1 of the many feuds Bristol has played a role in. Thanks a bunch for reading!