Dale Jarrett

Dale Jarrett

status	not active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement	1st - (1999)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 668 32 16 260
NASCAR Xfinity Series Statistics
Best placement	4th - (1984, 1986)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10 329 11 15th 173

Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956 in Newton , North Carolina ) is a former NASCAR American racing driver and champion in the 1999 Winston Cup . He is the son of two-time Grand National Champion Ned Jarrett and father of the former Bush Series driver Jason Jarrett . His cousin Todd Jarrett is World Shoot Champion of the International Practical Shooting Confederation of 1996. With the start of the 2007 season, Jarrett became a broadcaster for ESPN / ABC for selected races in the Busch Series. After retiring from active motorsport after the Food City 500 in Bristol in 2008, he became Chief Analyst for the Nationwide Series races .

Early years

After graduating from Newton-Conover High School in 1975, he was initially offered a golf sports scholarship from the University of South Carolina , which Jarrett declined. Instead, he began racing in 1977 at Hickory Motor Speedway , which was owned and operated by his father. In his first race he started from last place on the grid and finished the race in ninth place. Before moving to the Busch Series later, Jarrett competed in the Limited Sportsman Division in Hickory.

Busch Series

Jarrett made his debut in the Busch Series in the 1982 season in a Ford for Horace Isenhower with starting numbers 24 and 32 respectively. His best result was a third place in Hickory and at the end of the season he finished sixth with 14 top 10 results in the championship. In the following 1983 season, Jarrett did not win a race, but achieved four pole positions and 17 top-10 results, which ultimately earned him a fifth place in the championship. With the support of Econo Lodge, Valvoline and Budweiser , the team started six times from second place on the grid and 19 times from pole position in the 1984 season. Fourth in the championship would remain the best result of Jarrett's career in the Busch Series.

That same year, Jarrett made his Winston Cup debut in the # 02 Chevrolet for Emanuel Zervakis at Martinsville Speedway . From starting position 24 he finished the race in 14th. During the season, Jarrett completed two more starts in the Winston Cup at the Firecracker 400 in Daytona for Jimmy Means and at the Walter W. Hodgdon American 500 at the North Carolina Speedway . In the 1986 season, Jarrett scored six pole positions and his first ever Busch Series win at Orange County Speedway . In his last full Busch Series season in 1987, he then scored his second win at Hickory Motor Speedway.

1987-1991

1989 racing car

In 1987, Jarrett replaced Tommy Ellis in the number 18 Chevrolet for Eric Freelander early in the season . Despite largely lacking support from sponsors, he achieved two tenth places and finished the season 26th in the championship. In the ranking of the Rookie of the Year he finished second behind Davey Allison . In the 1988 season Jarrett took part in every race in the Winston Cup, but started for various teams. Most of the races of the season he completed in the number 29 Oldsmobile from Cale Yarborough , in which he was eighth on the Riverside International Raceway . Jarrett also drove for Buddy Arrington and Hoss Ellington . At the end of the season he finished 23rd in the championship. In the following season, 1989, he drove the entire season for Yarborough and achieved five top 10 results, including two fifth places.

At the beginning of the 1990 season, Jarrett was initially without a cockpit before he took over the Ford Thunderbird with the starting number 21 for Wood Brothers Racing at the Valleydale Meats 500 in Bristol as a replacement for the injured Neil Bonnett . Over the course of the season he scored seven top 10 results and ended up in 25th place, although he did not drive the first five races of the season. The following season, 1991, Jarrett won his first race in the Winston Cup at the GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway . At the end of the season, he finished 17th in the championship.

1992-1999

Despite his victory, Jarrett left Wood Brothers to drive the number 18 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing in 1992 . In his first year he achieved two top 5 results, but deteriorated in the championship to 19th place. In the 1993 season Jarrett reported back with his second win in the Winston Cup at the Daytona 500 , when he relegated Dale Earnhardt to second . Despite not winning another race that season, Jarrett ended up securing fourth in the championship with 13 top five results. In the 1994 season he scored only one win at the Mello Yello 500 and slipped to 16th place in the championship standings. He then left Joe Gibbs Racing.

From the 1995 season, Jarrett drove for Yates Racing in the number 28 Ford. His first win for Yates Racing was the Miller Genuine Draft 500 at Pocono Raceway . In the end, he finished 13th in the championship. When it became known that the long-injured Ernie Irvan would be returning to Yates Racing, Yates initially planned to assist Jarrett in building his own team with Hooters as a sponsor. When the contract was not concluded, Yates set up a second team with starting number 88. With this team, Jarrett won the Daytona 500 for the second time in 1996 and the two subsequent races in Rockingham and Richmond . He also won the Coca-Cola 600 , the Brickyard 400 and the GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 . At the end of the season he finished third behind his two Hendrick teammates Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon . In the 1997 season, Jarrett achieved his record of seven wins in one season, but in the end lost the championship by 14 points to Jeff Gordon.

In the following 1998 season, however, it was enough for Jarrett only to three wins. In addition to the two second places in the last two races, it was enough for third place in the championship despite problems with the gall bladder . After an operation during the winter break, Jarrett took over the lead in the table in the 1999 season after his victory at the Pontiac Excitement 400 and did not give it up. With a margin of 201 points, he won his first and only championship title in the Winston Cup and became the second driver after Richard Petty to have won the championship title like his father. In the same season he stepped out of the Busch Series back and teamed up with NFL - Quarterback Brett Favre together a team with the starting number 11 for his son Jason, Kenny Irwin Jr.. and Steve Grissom .

2000-2005

2007 racing car

After his title win in the 1999 season, Jarrett won the Daytona 500 for the third time in his career in 2000. It was his only win that season and Jarrett slipped to fourth in the championship standings. In the 2001 season he won three of the first eight races and temporarily took the lead in the championship, but slipped to fifth at the end of the season. At the end of the season, his longtime crew chief Todd Parrott left the team and was replaced by Jimmy Elledge. Parrott returned after seven races and together they achieved two wins and ninth place in the championship.

The 2003 season began for Jarrett with a win at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham. But with only five more top 10 results during the season, he slipped to 26th place in the championship. Despite not winning a race in 2004, Jarrett improved to 15th place before taking the final career win at the UAW Ford 500 in 2005 at Talladega Superspeedway . At the end of the season it was again enough to make 15th place.

2006-2008

Racing car of the 2008 season

Jarrett on a parade lap before his final championship race

During the 2006 season, Jarrett posted four top 10 results, including fourth place in the Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway . In the end, it was enough for 23rd place in the championship.

For the 2007 season, Jarrett left with his sponsor UPS Yates Racing and switched to the newly formed Michael Waltrip Racing team , where he competed in a number 44 Toyota Camry . The season began with a pole position at the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway , in which he was only 18th in the race. He only managed to qualify for the Daytona 500 by claiming his Past Champion Provisional . After starting the race from position 43, he finished in 22nd place. He used his last past champion provisionally to qualify at Aaron's 499 in Talladega, for the rest of the season he had to qualify over time. As a result, he was unable to qualify for eleven races.

In October 2007, he announced in the wake of the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord , North Carolina that he would be stepping down in 2008. In the 2008 season he will only drive seven races: five point races, as well as the Budweiser Shootout and the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race , which will be the last race of his career. His best result in the five point races he took part in the 2008 season was a 16th place in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway . In his last point race, the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway , Jarrett crossed the finish line, ten laps behind, in 37th place. The performance was enough to get the car into the top 35 owner points, so that David Reutimann , who took over Jarrett's car from the race in Martinsville, had a secure starting position.

At the drivers briefing before his last race, Jarrett said, “Enjoy this. We all have our time in this, and mine has been fantastic. To me, it has been an honor and a privilege to be able to race in this series and say I raced with and against and sometimes beat the best in the world. Thanks for allowing me to do that. Enjoy it. It's a great sport, and you guys make it what it is. " ( " Have fun in the race. We all just have our time here, and mine was fantastic. For me it was an honor and a privilege to drive in this series and I have to say, I rode with and against the best in the world and sometimes I beat them. Thank you very much for allowing me to experience that. Have fun with it. It's a great sport and you make it what it is . " )

Web links

Commons : Dale Jarrett  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Driver statistics on racing-reference.info

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jarrett Retires After 24 Years . In: Tampa Tribune . March 16, 2008. Archived from the original on April 10, 2008. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.