Early Life
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.
Spencer debuted in the Busch Series in 1985, finishing 19th at North Carolina Motor Speedway in the #67 Pontiac for Frank Cicci Racing, which was also his Modified team. The team ran twice in 1987 with a best finish 36th, then ran the full season in 1988, finishing seventh in the point standings in the #34. In 1989, Spencer won his first career Busch race at Hickory Motor Speedway, then won two more races over the course of the season, finishing fifteenth in the final standings.
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