Jarrett Saddles Up for One Final Spin

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Winston Cup Champion, will run his last competitive points race Sunday afternoon at the Bristol Motor Speedway, putting an end to a career that spans 24 years and 32 career wins.

Jarrett will climb from behind the wheel of the No. 44 UPS Toyota Camry enabling the start of another career. Michael McDowell, who finished second to Frank Kimmel in the ARCA RE/MAX Series point standings last season, will move into the No. 00 Toyota, for Michael Waltrip Racing. David Reutimann will move from the No. 00 car into Jarrett’s vacated entry. Jarrett plans to run one more event this season, the non-points All-Star event in May. He also will take on the duties as full-time broadcaster during the Nationwide Series events for the ESPN network.

“This week has been a lot more different than what I’ve thought all season,” Jarrett said on Friday at Bristol. “I’ve always been able to say, ‘I’ve got a few more weeks,’ or ‘I’ve got a couple of months before that comes.’ It was easy to say at the time but we’re here. This is it this week.

“I’ve found myself thinking about a lot of the things that have happened over the last 20 years. It’s been fun thinking about it but kind of difficult to see now that it’s coming to an end. It’s been great. I’ve had a wonderful time.

“As I’ve said a number of times, it’s been a privilege and an honor to drive to the car owners that I have and represent the sponsors that I have,” he continued. “As I look at it now, I’m going out with the best sponsor in the business in UPS. I couldn’t have asked for a better scenario. If you gave me a chance to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it.”

Jarrett began his career in 1984 in Martinsville, Virginia. Ironic, as it is the next stop on the Cup Series tour following the Easter off-weekend. His first full-time ride wasn’t until 1987. In 1991 Jarrett was called upon by Wood Brothers Racing to fill in for the injured Neil Bonnett. He scored his first career win at Michigan the following season and a year later moved to Joe Gibbs Racing’s new team, with whom he won the1993 Daytona 500.

In 1995 Jarrett moved to Robert Yates Racing where he stayed for the next 12 years and experienced the bulk of his Cup success. Together the Yates/Jarrett partnership produced 29 wins, including two Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 victories. In 1999 they won the series championship.

Then in 2007 Jarrett moved from RYR to Michael Waltrip Racing to help the new Sprint Cup operation usher Toyota into Cup competition. The debut year for MWR in the Cup Series was a struggle. Despite his past champion’s provisional availability, Jarrett failed to make 10 events.

Jarrett made his initial retirement announcement in October of 2007. Running the first five races of 2008, the goal was for the veteran racer to lock the No. 44 Toyota into the top 35 in car owner points, securing a position in the field before handing over the reigns to Cup sophomore Reutimann.

Jarrett enters the Food City 500 with 43 career starts on the half-mile track. He has nine top-5 finishes and 19 top 10s with one career win.

“It’s amazing when you sit back and think about all of it,” Jarrett reflected. “It didn’t enter my mind and this race was picked because of the five for UPS and what was important for them. I have thought about it this week. It’s kind of amazing how things have come around. As I raced here over the years I really thought this would be a place where I could win a lot of times because I really enjoyed racing here. One time in the Cup Series was all that I got to this point but that was a very memorable night. If you stay around here long enough like I’ve been, I guess things really do come full circle.”

Qualifying was rained out on Friday, setting the field based on 2007 owner points. Jarrett will roll off the grid from the 32nd starting position.

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