NSSN Correspondent

Dale Jarrett considers his final race at Bristol Motor Speedway in March as the last race of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career.
But it won’t be the last time Jarrett goes to battle in a race car against Cup competition. That will come in Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and it gives Jarrett a chance to say farewell to those that matter the most.
“The All-Star Race is an opportunity to say goodbye to the fans,” Jarrett said. “The fans that you see come to that All-Star event are the fans that really make up what this sport is about. That is really my opportunity to get in front of a huge crowd in a place that means a lot to me. When I looked at what

DJ'S MEMORABLE	MOMENTS
April 29, 1984: Makes first NASCAR Winston Cup start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, finishing 14th
	Aug. 18, 1991: Dale Jarrett scores his first victory —the Champion 400 — at Michigan Int’l Speedway driving for the Wood Brothers
Feb. 14, 1993: Dale Jarrett wins the Daytona 500, the first victory for Joe Gibbs Racing
	1995: Dale Jarrett joins Robert Yates Racing to replace Ernie Irvan in the No. 28; scores his first pole Feb. 11 for the Daytona 500
	Feb. 18, 1996: Wins his second Daytona 500
Aug. 3, 1996: Dale Jarrett goes to victory in the Brickyard 400
1999: Wins his second Brickyard 400 en route to capturing the series title
	Feb. 20, 2000: Dale Jarrett begins title defense by winning his third Daytona 500
	Oct. 2, 2005: Scores his 32nd and final victory at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
	2007: Leaves Robert Yates Racing for newly formed Michael Waltrip Racing; announces he will retire after the 2008 Sprint All-Star Race
March 16, 2008: Dale Jarrett makes his 668th and final start in a points-paying Cup event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway

UPS needed from me for this year and what their wishes were, I was the one that threw the All-Star Race in there, simply for the fact that if we would have not qualified for the final race on our schedule and I would have gone out there and had some type of problem and not made this race — how do you want to finish like that? I figured the All-Star Race, I’m in, and that was kind of an insurance policy there. 
“Even though I know that after the All-Star Race that I won’t get back in a race car again, this is really the competition side of me and the competitor inside of me knows that the Bristol race was the last time I’ll compete with a lot on the line. I think the emotions are much greater.”
Jarrett parked his race car and moved into the broadcast booth where he is the color analyst for ABC/ESPN telecasts of the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He will serve in that same role when the network takes over Sprint Cup telecasts, beginning with the AllState 400 at the Brickyard at the end of July.
“It’s almost as if my broadcasting career has come full circle to my racing career because two of my biggest moments came at the Brickyard,” Jarrett said.
Jarrett drove to victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 1996 and 1999 Brickyard 400s, and won three Daytona 500s and the 1999 Cup championship.
“It’s one of the major things that happened to me and my career,” Jarrett said of his championship. “I feel very, very fortunate that I had that time in my life and my career, that I not only won a title but battled for three or four others. I knew what that was like. I knew what it was like to lose one and come close to winning, and I knew what it was like to get out front and hold that lead for an entire season in 1999.
“That’s a very special memory.”
Although Jarrett had instances when he was involved in a dust-up on the race track and carried over his displeasure into the garage area, those occurrences were rare. He evolved into an elder statesman in the sport and is prepared to take that experience and insight into the broadcast booth.
“So far, I’ve been very fortunate that ESPN has put me in a position to work with people that I’ve known for a long time like Jerry Punch and Andy Petree.
“I’m talking about something I know about, so it’s not that hard. I’ve tried to keep it as simple as I can and inform the fans of something that might not be totally obvious to them.”
He hopes to keep the respect of his fellow drivers when he has to criticize them during future telecasts.
“That’s tough, but I hope they understand there are always two sides to the story,” Jarrett said. “When you see things on TV, they do look different from what happens inside the race car and as I get into those situations that they hear me say that. I’ll try to give them the benefit of the doubt as much as possible, but I have a job to say what I see. I know how difficult it is to drive these race cars and try to win races, but I hope they understand I have to be critical at times, too.
“They can come to me if they see something different, or if I say something that gets to someone, I’ll go to them and tell them I hope they understand that.”
This will be the second time in Jarrett’s life that he will follow his father’s career path. Ned Jarrett was a champion race driver in 1961 and 1965, but retired in 1966. He went on to a successful career in the broadcast booth for MRN, ESPN and CBS.
“My dad tried to keep it as simple as possible in the broadcast booth,” Jarrett said. “He was himself and didn’t come up with words and phrases that people didn’t understand; he tried to explain things the best that he could from his standpoint.
“Keeping it simple is what I’ve tried to do and that’s what I’ve taken from him.”
Young Dale was only 10 when his father retired from racing in 1966.
“I remember being at Rockingham when he ran that last race,” Jarrett recalled. “He retired that day and they had us all out there. I knew it was a big deal, but it was like ‘OK, he’s going to move on to something else.’ I remember my dad being emotional about it.
“Now I understand why.”
Jarrett has appeared relaxed and at peace with the decision he announced last October at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., when he said he would compete in the first five Sprint Cup races of the season along with the Budweiser Shootout and the All-Star Race before taking off the helmet for good.
Even he is surprised with how well he has taken the end of his career.
“I’m not sure exactly why because my wife always told me, ‘Do you realize how hard it’s going to be for you to quit this whenever that time comes?’” Jarrett recalled. “I’ve always felt like I have been in control here most of the time; I think I can do that. But I wasn’t really sure because I didn’t see that end in sight, so I didn’t have to worry.
“Everything has come together as you would want it to, so I am very happy right now. These guys that are driving these race cars fast, I have the utmost respect for them, but these cars are horrible to drive right now. It’s only because of the talents of the guys driving them because they don’t drive that good. Each time I get in it I realize that I feel pretty good about my decision.”
Jarrett said he didn’t wake up one day and realize it was time to walk away; it came from a series of sleepless nights that led him to that decision.
“Actually, just waking up in the middle of the night a few times,” Jarrett said. “It was close to Bristol last year when I woke up in the middle of the night and it seemed that it was the right thing to do. I was thinking about it. Did I want to complete 2008 like my contract said and like we set out to do? Or could I be just as beneficial to everyone outside the car and then move on?
“When I talked to my wife about it, things started to line up and that’s when I realized it was the right decision. That’s how I lived my career. It has been from one thing to the other with signs there saying this is the direction to go.”
For Jarrett, the right way was the only way he knew how to conduct himself.
“There isn’t much I would do differently,” Jarrett said. “The way it played out has been almost perfect.”