Spencer

I think everybody looks forward to Charlotte because you have three weeks at home. You do a lot of charity things at that time. There are a lot of things to do but the bottom line is your home every night. You get up in the morning, you send your kids off to school and then you go to the racetrack. To me, I think it's pretty neat to be close to home and just drive 20 minutes to the track everyday.

I really felt Chip Ganassi Racing should have had two cars in The Winston. I feel that if Kurt Busch hadn't hit me at Bristol then we would have been in The Winston.

The new format to The Winston is a format that allows you no pit stops. You've got to get your car handling good and drive it to the front. Last year, I felt like I should have been in the race. We experimented with some different types of suspension parts and it bit us in the butt. Doug Randolph and myself didn't experiment with anything this time around.

This year, we raced a brand new No. 41 Target Dodge that had not tested or competed before. It turned out to be a pretty good car. We had some setup problems, but we're bringing it back this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 and hopefully we'll have it dialed in for a win.

On Friday night, we qualified for The Winston Open in fourth position. I thought I could have gotten the pole, but I didn't run my second lap as well as I wanted. Fourth was an OK place to start.

On Saturday night, within the first couple laps of the race, I knew the car was not as good in the corners as it needed to be. We came in early during a caution to make some adjustments, which helped us. Unfortunately, that pit stop put us toward the back of the field but we consistently moved up during the remainder of the race and finished sixth. Jeremy Mayfield had a dominating car and moved on to The Winston. We had to get ready for the No Bull Sprint -- our last chance to make it in the big race.

During the caution period between The Winston Open and the No Bull Sprint, we came in for a four-tire pit stop with a track bar adjustment. Team Target got me out in second position to start the 16-lap shootout. Unfortunately, the tires didn't seem to grip for the last race and we fell back through the field. We didn't have enough time to pit, adjust the car, and win the No Bull Sprint in order to make it into The Winston.

I was disappointed with not making the final race but I'm really looking forward to Sunday's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Team Target is so close to a win. Chip Ganassi's driver, Bruno Junqueira, has the pole for the Indy 500 and two more of his cars are in the Indy 500 as well. I wouldn't be surprised if we had great finishes in both races. This team is one unit and we're all striving for the same goal. It's only a matter of time before we get there.

Jimmy Spencer is the driver of the No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T. He will be providing a regular diary to ESPN.com throughout the Winston Cup season.