CONCORD, N.C. — Dale Jarrett will have a little more time to drive the “Brown Truck.”
The 1999 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series champion is retiring. He will run the Bud Shootout and the first five point races of the 2008 season in an effort to help Michael Waltrip Racing establish itself in the top 35 in points and will then be replaced by David Reutimann.
Jarrett, who made his first Cup start at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in 1984, will run his last Cup event in the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway May 17.
Jarrett, who has won the Daytona 500 three times and owns 32 Cup triumphs, will continue with the team as a consultant and hopes to focus his energy toward a career in broadcasting, although, he stresses he hasn’t signed any contracts.
His work with MWR will be primarily helping to tutor Reutimann and up-and-coming drivers Josh Wise and Michael McDowell.
The son of two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett has been contemplating retirement for much of this season.
“I have nothing else to prove in this sport,” Jarrett said in explaining his decision Friday afternoon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
The Michael Waltrip Racing team and Jarrett have struggled in the first season for Toyota, and Jarrett has failed to qualify for 10 of the 30 races this season. Still, he says that is not the reason he is quitting.
“That showed me that they were going to run these races whether I was there or not,” Jarrett said, acknowledging that qualifying days are extremely stressful, knowing he had to make the race on time.
“I had to make sure that we had a mix of weekends where we missed the race and weekends where we still ran good in order to make the proper decision,” Jarrett explained.
Always humble, the 50-year-old Jarrett remains grateful for the opportunities that auto racing has created for him.
“I feel like the luckiest person on the face of this earth,” Jarrett said. “I get to do what I enjoy doing in driving a race car and I have gotten to make a lot of good friends along the way. I’ve been fortunate to do it without serious injury and I am able to walk away from it on my own terms and that’s a good thing.”