(born
November 26 ,
1956 in
Newton, North Carolina ) is an
American Race Car driver. Jarrett currently races in the
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series exclusively, driving the #44
Toyota Camry for
Michael Waltrip Racing . He is the son of two-time
NASCAR Grand National champion
Ned Jarrett , and the father of former Busch Series racer
Jason Jarrett . Upon graduation from
Newton-Conover High School in 1974, he was offered a full
Golf scholarship from the
University Of South Carolina , which he declined. He is a cousin of Todd Jarrett, the 1996
International Practical Shooting Confederation World Shoot Champion. Beginning in 2007, Jarrett will join the
ESPN /
ABC Sports broadcasting team as an announcer in select
Busch Series races.
Broadcaster Schedule
Jarrett began racing in 1977 at
Hickory Motor Speedway , a track his father owned and operated. In his first race, he started in last place but finished in the ninth position. He competed in the Limited Sportsman Division at Hickory, before moving up to the NASCAR
Busch Series .
Jarrett began racing in
1982 in the #24/32
Ford for
Horace Isenhower . His best finish was a third at Hickory and he finished sixth in points that season, finishing in the top-ten fourteen times over the course of the season. He did not win a race in
1983 , but won four poles and had seventeen top-fives moving into fifth in the standings. In
1984 , the team received sponsorship from
Econo Lodge ,
Valvoline , and
Budweiser and had six front row starts and nineteen poles, finishing a career-best fourth in the final standings.
That same year, Jarrett made his Cup debut. Driving the #02
Chevrolet for
Emanuel Zervakis at
Martinsville Speedway , he qualified 24th and finished fourteenth. He made two more Cup starts that season, at the
Firecracker 400 for
Jimmy Means , and the
Warner W. Hodgdon American 500 . In
1986 , Jarrett won six poles and his first career Busch race at
Orange County Speedway in the
Nationwise Auto Parts . He won his second career race at Hickory the next year, his final full-time season in Busch.
In
1987 , Jarrett replaced
Tommy Ellis in the #18 Chevrolet owned by
Eric Freelander early in the season. Running a primarily-unsponsored car, he had two tenth-place finishes and ended the season 26th in points, second to
Davey Allison for
Rookie Of The Year honors. He ran every race of the
1988 , despite running with various teams. He made most of his starts in the #29
Hardee's Oldsmobile owned by
Cale Yarborough , finishing eighth at
Riverside International Raceway . He also ran races for
Buddy Arrington and
Hoss Ellington that season, finishing twenty-third in the final standings. He ran the entire season for Yarborough in
1989 , posting five top-ten finishes, including two fifth-place runs.
Jarrett began
1990 without a ride before taking over the #21
Citgo Ford Thunderbird for
Wood Brothers Racing at the
Valleydale Meats 500 , replacing the injured
Neil Bonnett . He finished in the top-ten seven times during the season and finished 25th in the final standings despite missing the first five races of the season. The following season, Jarrett won his first career Winston Cup race at
Michigan International Speedway , and finished a then career-best 17th in the final standings.
Despite the win, Jarrett left
Wood Brothers to drive the #18
Interstate Batteries Chevy for the fledging
Joe Gibbs Racing team. In their first year of competition, Jarrett had two top-fives but dropped to nineteenth in points. Jarrett won the
1993 Daytona 500 over
Dale Earnhardt (commonly referred to as "The Dale and Dale Show") in a race called by his father Ned. While he did not win again that season, Jarrett had a total of thirteen top-fives and finished fourth in the final standings. The next season, Jarrett won the
Mello Yello 500 , but chose to step down from the Gibbs organization at the end of the season.
Jarrett signed to drive for
Robert Yates in
1995 , piloting the #28
Texaco Ford. He won his first race for Yates at
Pocono Raceway and finished 13th in the final standings. When it was announced
Ernie Irvan would return to the ride after a year-long absence due to injuries, Yates had planned to help Jarrett compete in his own team with
Hooters sponsorship, but that deal fell through, allowing Yates to create a second team, the #88 with sponsorship from
Quality Care &
Ford Credit . In
1996 , Jarrett won the Daytona 500 for a second time, and finished in the top-2 in each of the first three races of the season. He also won the
Coca-Cola 600 and the
Brickyard 400 and finished third in the final standings. The following season, he won a career-best seven races and lost the championship to
Jeff Gordon by fourteen points.
In
1998 , Jarrett won three races, and finished second in the last two races of the year despite suffering
Gallbladder problems. After an offseason surgery, Jarrett returned in
1999 and took the points lead after his first win of the season at the
Pontiac Excitement 400 , and held it for the rest of the season, when he won his first career Winston Cup title by 201 points. He also retired from the Busch Series to become a part-time owner, partnering with NFL quarterback
Brett Favre to field the #11
Rayovac Ford for his son Jason, Yates teammate
Kenny Irwin, Jr. , and
Steve Grissom .
winning car on display at
Daytona USA , taken January 2001]]
Following his title in 1999, Jarrett won the Daytona 500 for the third time in
2000 , but after only winning one other race and dropping to fourth in the standings,
Ford Credit departed the team at the end of the season, and was replaced by the
United Parcel Service . He won three of the first eight races of the season and resumed the points lead, but faded back to fifth in the standings. After that season, Jarrett's long-time crew chief
Todd Parrott departed and was replaced by
Jimmy Elledge . After seven races, Parrott rejoined Jarrett, who clinched two victories and rebounded to ninth in the final standings.
In
2003 , Jarrett began the season by winning at
North Carolina Speedway , but only posted five more top-ten finishes, relegating him to 26th in the final standings. He rebounded in
2004 to finish 15th in points, despite not winning a race. In
2005 , Jarrett got his most recent win at
Talladega Superspeedway .
During the
2006 season, Jarrett had four top-ten finishes, with a best finish of fourth at
Kansas . His best starting position was second and he finished 23rd in points.
For the 2007 season, Dale Jarrett and his sponsor
UPS left Robert Yates Racing and joined the newly formed team of
Michael Waltrip Racing . He now drives the number #44
Toyota Camry . Jarrett started the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season on a high note as he drew pole position for the annual exhibition race, the
Budweiser Shootout , at the
Daytona International Speedway . He finished 18th out of 21 cars. Jarrett qualified for the 2007
Daytona 500 in 50th position but received a past champion's provisional and started 43rd. He finished 22nd in the race. Dale used his last champions provisional at the Spring Talladega race, Aarons 499. For the rest of 2007, Jarrett now must get into that weekends race on time. If at any point Jarrett reaches the top 35 in points, he will automatically be locked into a race. Jarrett has thus far missed seven races in 2007 as a result.
During an interview on
Speed , Dale said after his contract is up with MWR (which is an expected 2009 season), he will retire.
