Thanks Dale! Part II

In our last entry, we looked at the early stages of Dale Jarrett’s NASCAR career, in which he started driving for small time teams with superteam skills to his initials years with the powerhouse team of Robert Yates Racing. Some of the early highlights of Respectful Dale included his first career win at Michigan International Speedway, when he traded paint with the late Davey Allison in August of 1991, the big upset over Dale Earnhardt in 1993 to capture that year’s Daytona 500 and thus creating the Dale and Dale Show, and his move from Joe Gibbs Racing’s #18 team to Yates’ Texaco team as a fill in driver for the then injured Ernie Irvan.

1995 looked like a promising year for DJ, who looked to improve from his struggles of 1994 which included a lowly 16h place finish in the points standings, a missed show at North Wilkesboro and a late season win (after the fact that he announced his move to RYR). He was going to drive Yates’ powerful #28 entry, which in ‘94 when Irvan was behind the wheel, looked nearly unbeatable. No way on Earth that a good driver, great team, and a tremendous horsepower package would struggle to make the top 10 in points…no way!

Unfortunately, sometimes what looks good on paper doesn’t always produce what’s expected by fans, critics and even the drivers and teams. That’s not to say that bad luck and the mere factor of orientation had any say on their season in ‘95. The 28 team started off on the right foot with five top tens and a pole position for the Daytona 500. Then the wheels fell off for the Yates faction, from a 19th place finish at Talladega to two DNFs at Charlotte and Dover (engine and crash related DNFs). Fans expressed their disproval and frustration over seeing the 28 team looking like the prizefighter whose only reason for competing was its name, not performance. DJ would experience mixed results, but salvaged his season of struggles with finishes of first, second and third at Pocono, Talladega and and Indy. His win at Pocono was probably a career saver for Respectful Dale, and why he was able to net the second ride with Robert Yates’ then powerful team.

1996 came and Yates was beaming with the return of his top driver, Ernie Irvan, who recovered miraculously from life threatening injuries from a practice crash for the August Michigan race. DJ, now a year under the Yates regime, had a firm idea of what to expect from his equipment and superior engine. Ford also made huge gains in the offseason, bolstering its engine program and updating the nose on the Thunderbird to cut the air as well as their rival in the Chevy Monte Carlo camp. Yates was standing tall and pretty happily for all of ‘96 and went to victory lane six times in the 31 race season that year, nearly won the championship that Irvan and the late Davey Allison came close to tasting, and oh yea, won that highly coveted Daytona 500 and the already popular Brickyard 400.

Surprisingly, if you thought it was Irvan who netted those huge wins and was teased by the Winston Cup in ‘96, well, it’s a bit understandable to assume the 28 camp returned to true prominence. That’s not to say that a 10th place finish in points, 2 wins (which came at Loudon and Richmond) and a handful of poles wasn’t impressive. However, DJ experienced what a kind of renaissance that truly cemented his place as his OWN Jarrett. He captured two of the sport’s crown jewel events in the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600 and beat his teammate Irvan to win the Brickyard 400. Under the guidance and mentorship of Todd Parrott, who defected from the Penske racing camp of Rusty Wallace, a Gordon-Evernham-like chemistry was built for Ford’s leading team. Fans would get used to seeing the blue, red and white #88 Quality Care T-Bird at the track, often leading bulks of laps in events, a perennial frontrunner that’d trade paint with Earnhardt’s menacing black Chevy, Gordon’s rainbow moving billboard and the cereal box of Labonte’s Monte Carlo. Ford had its answer to Chevy dominance and the promises of a championship for Yates AND Jarrett would be answered in time.

From ‘96 to ‘98, the 88 team finished 3rd, 2nd and 3rd in the points chase.  DJ would claim the Winston No Bull bonus at the ‘98 Winston 500 at Talladega, pull off an impressive come from behind win at Phoenix in ‘97, and JUST miss the Cup in ‘97 by 14 points. Like nothing. DJ would also win at Darlington in ‘97 and ‘98 (the spring events), continuing the proud tradition that his father Ned had at the track when he whooped the field in ‘65 by winning the Southern 500 by more than 10 laps. If critics and fans though the Jarrett Juggernaut couldn’t trump their successes of that 3 year span, they didn’t know 1999 was coming at full song.

About the only thing missing on DJ’s magnificent season in ‘99 was that third Daytona 500 win. It might’ve been his that year, if you’re superstitious and all (winning in ‘93 and ‘96). And had he not been wiped out (and flipped out) by the Big One that occured just about 60 laps from the finish that year, fans might’ve not witnessed the daring pass that Gordon pulled off on sentimental pick Rusty Wallace. No matter, that crash and bitter defeat at that 2.5 mile arena stung the 88 team…or more like leaving the stove on with a pot full of now steaming water. Not only did DJ win the Brickyard 400 (convincingly, might I add), he drove about one of the most consistent seasons ever in the modern era. He had a few blemishes along the way in what was otherwise a near pefect season, with four wins, twenty four top 5s and twenty nine top 10s.

All of that translated into Yates and Jarrett’s first NASCAR Winston Cup championship, a moment that proved very popular and emotional amongst long time fans of the sport, who witnessed the agonies and tragedies that befell Allison and Irvan. In a decade that was as revolutionary as its predecesor in the 1980s for NASCAR, the sport witnessed two second generation races capturing titles, the indepedent warrior in Alan Kulwicki who proved you could do it all alone, a rejuvenation for the Iceman’s career, and a young driver whose triumphs will probably not be fully appreciated until Driver 24 hangs up his helmet for a final time. 1999 epitomized all those characteristics of the championship, and rewarded “one of its own” with a title.

While he didn’t reach the 40+ win plateau, Jarrett’s accomplishments speak for itself and he did not obtain his success with his looks, his name or money. In a day and age in racing that’s now changed and all about the almighty dollar, DJ didn’t have that back then and received very little help on his way to the top. Sure his career wasn’t quite the same after ‘99, although he had a great season in 2000 with his third Daytona 500 win and a 4th place finish in points, a terrific 2001 (and switchover to his probably lifelong sponsorcast as the UPS guy), and decent 2002 season. And fans of the new NASCAR probably thought of DJ as just a ran in from 2003 til now. The results will show that he wasn’t spectacular after ‘02. Was it the car, was it the driver?

Hopefully, fans won’t remember the DJ that only won twice after the 2002 season, the DJ whose only true claim to fame was his commercials in this time span. We’ll be able to remember the hard work and the grit and determination that Respectful Dale gave from his first day as a racer to the the checkered flag of this year’s Sprint All Star race. I hope fans will remember how competitive and dominant that Quality Care Ford was in the 90s, or the jelopies that DJ drove before ‘92 in which old school fans probably thought, man if he just got a break, he’d SHOW these guys. DJ was like that determined veteran racer, who never asked and got his rides by saying he was a Jarrett. He’s a true NASCAR legend for doing all the things that Dale Jarrett accomplished and the sport will always have an ambassador and strong leader in DJ for as long as he’s in that garage area, even when he transitions to the world of broadcasting. As a fan of NASCAR and of your career, my hats are off to DJ, a true champion and true racer.

- Rob