TALLADEGA, Ala. -- When someone from Petty Enterprises calls Steve Grissom, the do-it-all driver for the company isn't sure what they might want.

So when he got the call this week asking him if he wanted to go to Talladega Superspeedway, Grissom wasn't positive they wanted him for Sunday's Winston Cup race.

"You never know, because I test cars for them, I've run trucks, you never know where they want me to go," Grissom said Friday. "So I went over to the shop for a meeting and found out they wanted me in the car."

Petty Enterprises fired Buckshot Jones this week and tabbed Grissom, who was already employed there, to step into the No. 44 Dodge in the Aaron's 499. He'll start 34th.

It will be Grissom's first Cup race since he filled in for CEO Kyle Petty for one event in 2000. The 1993 Busch series champion has not raced a full Cup season since 1997.

"I guess I was hoping another chance would come and I felt like Petty Enterprises was the best place to be while I waited," Grissom said. "I always felt like I would get another shot, it was just a matter of being patient."

His debut in the car couldn't have come at a better track -- Grissom is from nearby Gadsden and is staying with his parents over the race weekend.

"It's pretty cool, mom made me some eggs and bacon and biscuits this morning," Grissom said. "This couldn't have happened at a better place. Knowing the engine is good, knowing the car is good, knowing it's Talladega, I'm tickled to death."

Moving up
Three-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague will run five Winston Cup races this season with a new team owned by Haas Automation.

The team will use engines and cars built by Hendrick Motorsports, who Sprague currently drives in the Busch Series. The team, which will debut next month at Lowe's Motor Speedway, plans to move full-time to Winston Cup in 2003.

"I have been waiting a long time to get the right opportunity to go Winston Cup racing," Sprague said. "I've had opportunities in the past, but they just weren't structured in a way that would give me and the team all the ingredients needed for success.

"This new association with Haas Automation has everything needed to make the deal go, both on and off the track. This deal is worth the wait."

Sprague also will compete at New Hampshire in September; Charlotte in October; Atlanta in October; and Homestead, Fla., in November, and said additional races may be added.

In the field
Jimmy Spencer had little to worry about after qualifying, running fast enough to earn the 32nd starting position.

It was a marked improvement from the first restrictor-plate race of the year, when Spencer failed to qualify for the season-opening Daytona 500.

Still, Spencer wasn't very happy.

"There's not a whole lot you can do, we were out of tests and couldn't test down here," he said. "We didn't have a good run at Daytona by any means and we sure didn't run good here today."

Spencer is in his first season driving a Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing and his new team has yet to figure out its superspeedway program. It bothers Spencer, who is one of the few drivers who actually likes racing at Talladega.

"We're pretty far off, there's no question about it," he said. "We'll get it better. I love this race track and our team has worked really, really hard. We'll get this thing handling good and we won't ever give up because you never know what's going to happen."

Pit stops