Race Fan's Reflections ~ Son Of A Gentleman: Dale Jarrett, Part II
3/26/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
Jarrett was selected by NFL Coach Joe Gibbs, who had formed
his own new team, to drive his No. 18 Chevrolet Lumina, with sponsorship from
Interstate Batteries. This was the birth
of the No. 18 team which is still in existence today, some twenty-plus years
later. Jarrett’s tenure in the car began
a bit on the downside, however, as he was one of
thirteen cars involved in a crash in the Daytona 500. The team’s next few starts were hit or miss, but
a second place finish to Alan Kulwicki at Bristol was a good sign. There was also a seventh place at Talladega
and a third place at Daytona, with good runs at Michigan, Darlington, Dover,
North Wilkesboro, and a 10th place finish in the Greatest Race Ever
Run, the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta. In
29 starts for the young team, there were 2 top-five runs and 6 more in the top
ten, which equated to a 19th place in points. Jarrett and his No. 18 team would not be ranked in 19th
after the 1993 season. In fact, they
would never drop out of the top ten all season.
It all started at the 1993 Daytona 500, which is often referred to as
the “Dale
and Dale Show.” Jarrett passed Dale
Earnhardt as the final laps ticked off, and was able to hold The Intimidator
and the rest of the field at bay to win the Daytona 500, the first race win for
Joe Gibbs, and the second and biggest career win for Jarrett. He and the Gibbs team used 1993 to serve
notice to the rest of the garage that the No. 18 was here, and it was going to
be seen, a lot. In the next five races,
there were two top-fives and another sixth place at
Rockingham. And then, there was
Bristol. Jarrett usually ran rather well
at Bristol, and this year was no different.
He had a run in with some other drivers earlier in the event, but was
clawing his way back and had already led 30 laps. On Lap 209, there was contact with Bobby
Hillin, Jr., and, well, Jarrett was not happy.
There were no more victories that season, but a solid 13 top-five finishes and another five more in the top-ten kept Jarrett a contender all season long, and he would eventually finish fourth in the Championship standings after a seventh place effort in Atlanta.
The 1994 season started on a sour note with a sour engine at Daytona, and the promising season of 1993 was quickly forgotten with the troubles of 1994. After a crash at Bristol, the team was 22nd in points. But there was a fourth place at Darlington and then another at Charlotte, and then a tenth place at Pocono to give the team some hope. Michigan was up next on the schedule, a place Jarrett had won, and where he usually ran well. It wasn’t what happened during the race, but what occurred before it which would once again have a hand in the direction the career of Dale Jarrett would turn. In practice on Saturday morning, Ernie Irvan would crash his car, and barely escape with his life. He would be on the sidelines for more than a year before he would be able to get back into a race car, leaving the seat of Robert Yates’ No. 28 Havoline Ford without a full time driver. Jarrett would finish the season with five more top-ten finishes, including a fifth place at Martinsville, and a win two weeks later at Charlotte. It had already been announced, however, that Jarrett would be leaving the Joe Gibbs Racing team at the end of the season if favor of taking the ride in Yates’ No. 28.
At The Daytona 500 in 1995, Jarrett and the Yates crew came out of the box hot, winning the pole for The Great American Race, and would back it up with a fifth place finish. A week later at Rockingham, anther fifth place followed, then a 25th at Richmond, and then another fifth at Atlanta. Found throughout the early to middle parts of the season however, was inconsistency. Top-ten finishes were intermingled with those in the bottom half of the field, including and engine failure at Charlotte and Daytona, and a crash at Dover. The team arrived at Pocono in July, where just four races before, Jarrett had wrecked five laps into the race and finished 38th. This time around would be just the opposite, as Jarrett scored his fourth career win, and his first with Robert Yates. A week later at Talladega, they scored a runner-up spot, and then a third place at Indianapolis. Then the see-saw effect returned and a promising finish one week was rewarded with a disappointing one the next. The high points were a 3rd at Bristol, a 4th at Richmond, a 7th at North Wilkesboro and a 5th at Charlotte. What was not known to many, however, was what was going on behind the scenes with Jarrett and the team. Ernie Irvan had been working hard through his rehabilitation to return to the sport, and did so that October, in a No. 88 Robert Yates Havoline car while Jarrett was still in the No. 28. During the season, it was known that if Irvan was to return, the No. 28 was still “his” car. That left the 1996 season looking bleak for Jarrett, so he began to make his own plans, and was getting Robert Yates’ assistance to do it. Yates promised Jarrett he would supply him with cars and engines, and Jarrett was close to agreement in negotiations to bring Hooters on as a sponsor on his car, which he would drive after vacating the seat of the No. 28. Late in the season however, everything began to unravel and roll into a different ball. Ford approached Yates about starting a second team, with the Quality Care/Ford Credit labels as sponsors. He brought the deal to Jarrett, who agreed to the deal. The Hooters sponsorship eventually went to Richard Jackson and his driver, Rick Mast.
As 1996 began, Jarrett, armed with a shiny red, white, and blue Ford, a Robert Yates engine, and Crew Chief Todd Parrott, came off the line like a shot, scoring a win in the Busch Clash, and finished third in his Daytona qualifying race. Then, to cap it all off, he pulled off the ultimate upset, and with a brand new team, scored his second career Daytona 500 victory. That was followed with back to back second place runs at The Rock and Richmond, setting Jarrett firmly atop the point standings early in the season. A 29th place finish at Martinsville, however, sent him back to third place, behind Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon. A second place finish a week later at Talladega was helpful, as was the victory scored at Charlotte two weeks later. As Jarrett had won the Daytona 500 and the 600 at Charlotte, he was now eligible for the Winston Million Bonus, collectable should he win The Southern 500 at Darlington. Jarrett could have also won the bonus by winning the Winston Million at Talladega two weeks prior. A 36th at Dover and a 38th at Pocono did nothing to help the team except to perhaps motivate them. Jarrett scored nine top-ten finishes in the next eleven races, including wins at Indianapolis and Michigan. After the win at Indy, Jarrett and the team came out to the “brick yard,” the three foot strip of brick which serves as the start finish line, got on their knees, and kissed the bricks. This began a tradition for the winning team which still stands today. As for the Winston Million bonus, at Darlington, Jarrett started on the pole, but not long into the race, slid his car up into the wall, which resulted in a 14th place finish. Jarrett ended the season with five straight top ten finishes, including two second place runs and two third place efforts, and finished the season third in points behind Jeff Gordon and Champion Terry Labonte.
(Check back tomorrow for Part III)
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