Ned Jarrett

Ned Jarrett (2008)

Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932 in Newton , North Carolina ) is a retired American automobile racing driver and two-time champion in the NASCAR Grand National series. He is the father of NASCAR racing driver Dale Jarrett , who also won the championship in 1999.

Jarrett was also known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett" for his reserved demeanor, but he was also a tough opponent on the track.

Career

Jarrett's connection to automobiles was forged early on when his father let him drive the family car to church on Sundays at the age of nine. At the age of 17 he was working in his father's sawmill, but he really wanted to race.

He drove his first race in 1952 at the Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina . He drove a Ford Sportsman that he owned with his brother-in-law and finished tenth. His father didn't like this development and told him to work on cars but not to drive them. Jarrett later took the chance when his brother-in-law was sick and competed under his name in a race that he finished second. Because of the success, he continued to compete in races until his father caught him winning one. His father then told him that if he was racing, he should at least compete under his own name.

Jarrett drove his first real NASCAR race in the 1953 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway after failing to complete a lap at Hickory. The Southern 500 was not very successful either when an oil leak in the engine of his Oldsmobile forced him to give up after ten laps . In the 1955 season, however, he was track champion in Hickory.

In the Sportsman Series, the later Nationwide Series , Jarrett finished second in the championship in the 1956 season and won it in the following two seasons, 1957 and 1958.

From the 1959 season, Jarrett pursued a career in the Grand National Series. He bought a Ford Junior Johnson for $ 2,000 . Since he didn't have the money to cover the check, he waited until the bank closed before writing it, entered two races, both of which he won, and used the prize to pay for the car.

In the 1960 season, Jarrett won five races and finished the championship fifth. In the following season he only won one race, but secured the championship from Rex White . In the 46 races he competed in, he finished 34 times in the top 10, including 23 times in the top 5.

After Jarrett finished the 1962 season in third and the 1963 season in fourth in the championship, he moved in the 1964 season to the team of Bondy Long, which was supported by Ford. He won 15 races that season, including his first victory on a Superspeedway at Atlanta Motor Speedway , but was beaten by Richard Petty in the championship .

With 13 victories, he secured the championship for the second time in the following 1965 season. His victory at the Southern 500 in Darlington would go down in history. With 44 laps to go, Fred Lorenzen and Darel Dieringer were fighting for the lead with a considerable lead over Jarrett when they both had problems with the engine. Lorenzen dropped out and Dieringer was able to reach the goal in third place with a slow driving style. Jarrett, on the other hand, won the race by 14 laps, which is the largest lead by a winner in history.

In the 1966 season, Ford announced that they would be withdrawing from NASCAR. Jarrett then decided to retire at the age of 34. He is the only driver to step down as the reigning champion.

After Jarrett retired from active racing, he first worked as a broker before returning as a commentator.

commentator

In the early 1960s, Jarrett produced a radio program for a local station in Newton , North Carolina . His show was supported by local sponsors, including Earl Holder, the owner of the station, who provided him with a recording studio on favorable terms. Since he also had to race on the side, he often recorded several programs at once.

In 1978 he became a commentator on radio station MRN Radio. In this role, he interviewed the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan , live at the Firecracker 400 at Daytona International Speedway in 1984, the race in which Richard Petty scored his 200th victory.

Jarrett was also a television commentator for CBS , ESPN, and Fox Sports Net .

Web links

Driver statistics on racing-reference.info

• Entry into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
• Talladega Walk of Fame
• biography