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A Good Man Says Goodbye
March 14, 2008
Lisa Fowler - SCR
At the end of the Food
City 500 in Bristol this Sunday we will say goodbye to a gentleman and one of
my personal favorites. I am always warned against showing favoritism in my writing but in this case I believe it is an
opinion shared by most everyone that has followed NASCAR racing.
Dale Jarrett will make
his 668th and final start in a points paying race in the Sprint Cup Series Sunday. Throughout his racing career, he has
been one of the most respected and most loved of all the drivers. He has worked tirelessly for the Susan G. Komen Foundation
helping to raise millions of dollars for breast cancer research.
He began his racing career
in the late 1970’s at Hickory Motor Speedway in NC, a track owned by his father, Ned Jarrett a champion in his own right. He
moved on to race in the Busch (now Nationwide) Series in the early 1980’s and began a limited schedule in the Winston
Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series in 1984.
He often jokes about running
against and losing the Rookie of the Year title to Davey Allison in 1987 although there were a few years difference in their
ages. He had his first full season in Cup in 1988 when he drove for several different teams.
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In 1990, he took over
driving the Wood Brothers #21, replacing Neil Bonnett who had been severely injured in a crash at Darlington. He got his first Cup win the
following year at Michigan International Speedway.
The next year, he was
asked to join the newly formed Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Interstate Batteries team. This seemed to be a match made in heaven. Joe
Gibbs and Dale Jarrett were cut from the same cloth and complemented each other perfectly.
Their first win came
at the Daytona 500 in 1993. Dale’s dad, Ned Jarrett, was in the announcer’s booth that day. As D.J.
passed Dale Earnhardt (in what became known as the Dale and Dale Show) Ned could not contain his emotion as his son took his
first checkered flag. To this day, when you ask about the best Daytona 500 finishes, this race is one of those at the
top of everyone’s list.
In 1995, in one of those
strange twists so often seen in our sport, Dale left Joe Gibbs Racing to join Robert Yates Racing as a replacement for Ernie
Irvin, who had replaced Davey Allison after his death. Ernie had suffered what appeared to be a career ending brain injury
in a wreck at Michigan.
In 1996, when against
all odds, Ernie Ervin returned to racing, Yates started a 2nd team with the #88, sponsored by Ford Motor Credit for Jarrett. This
seemed to be when his career really took off. The red, white and blue #88 became a regular in victory circle. In
three seasons, Dale won 13 times and started a steady climb in the points.
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In 1999, he took the
points lead after winning at Richmond
and managed to hold on to it for the rest of the season. He was crowned the Winston Cup Champion with a lead of 201 points
over Bobby Labonte who was driving Jarrett’s former Joe Gibbs Racing # 18.
In 2000, in what was
a surprisingly tough year for Jarrett, Ford Motor Credit pulled out of their sponsorship deal with Robert Yates Racing. They
were replaced by UPS and Jarrett then drove what was thought of as one of the most unattractive race cars of the time. That
brown may be a good color for their trucks, but it didn’t look too good on the track.
Jarrett and UPS wasted
no time in getting back to victory lane. With three wins in the first eight races of the season, we soon learned that
the brown car looked much better covered with champagne and confetti.
Over the next six seasons,
there were good times and not so good times but the fans and UPS stayed loyal to this driver that had shown himself to not
only be a gentleman but one heck of a race car driver. When Jarrett announced that he would leave Yates to join a brand
new team, Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) in 2007 and that he would drive a Toyota,
some were stunned, others were downright mad. UPS agreed to move to MWR with Jarrett, showing once more how much value
they placed on Dale Jarrett, the man.
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Things didn’t go
so well in 2007. MWR and Toyota
faced trials and tribulations greater than the most harden skeptic could have predicted. After a season of missing more
races than he made, I guess no one was surprised when he announced that he would retire after running five races in 2008. I’m
sure that he was hoping to end his racing career on a much higher note but I expect the challenges have taken away some
of the pleasure of racing.
So far this season, Jarrett
has managed to qualify for each race. If he makes the field at Bristol on
Sunday and gets a decent finish, he will leave the team in the top 35 in owner points as he turns the #44 UPS car over to
David Reutimann. Jarrett speaks very highly of Reutimann, of course, he speaks well of everyone.
He also speaks
well, so just as his father before him; he will head to the broadcast booth. I have enjoyed having D.J. as an analyst
for the Nationwide Series and I am sure he will be very successful in his next career. From the many fans that have learned
to love that ugly brown car, we will miss you but we wish you only good things. Thanks for all that you have given as
a driver and as a wonderful human being.
Questions, Comments:
The views and opinions in this article are that of the writer(s) and not necessarily
that of SCR
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2006 StockCar Review.
