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NASCAR Cup News
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Written by Kathy Loan
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Tuesday, 13 May 2008 19:00 |
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 By: Kathy Loan
Mooresville Correspondent HardcoreRaceFans.com
Dale Jarrett knew just how Patrick Gadsby felt when the Anderson, SC fan found it hard to believe Jarrett was calling him as the winner of a ride-along Saturday in the UPS delivery truck before the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.
Jarrett, driver of the No.44 UPS Toyota Camry, said he had the same “You're kidding” moment years ago when Coach Joe Gibbs called him to ask him to drive for him. The call to Gadsby was part of Tuesday afternoon ceremonies at Lowe’s Motor Speedway honoring Dale Jarrett and his father, Ned Jarrett, as the first father-son inductees into the LMS Court of Legends. “This is going to be my one chance to drive the truck and you\'re going to go with me,” Jarrett told Gadsby. Speedway officials had earlier asked Gadsby to stand by his phone, but had only told him he was a finalist, not that he was, indeed, the winner. The Jarretts join fellow NASCAR legends Richard Petty, David Pearson, Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison, Junior Johnson, Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte in the Court of Legends, located near the speedway’s main entrance. Each Jarrett signed their names into blocks of freshly poured concrete then added their footprint and handprints as fans such as Dana Snow of Rock Hill, SC -- who works for a Toyota dealership and brought a bright yellow 44 UPS-Jarrett T-shirt along in hopes of getting an autograph -- looked on. The younger Jarrett’s disbelief at the break Gibbs was calling to give him was just one of several racing stories shared during the ceremony. Dale, retiring this Saturday after 32 victories in 668 NASCAR Cup Series starts, listened intently as his father spoke of how proud he was to be calling the race when his son won the 1993 Daytona 500. Ned Jarrett, who racked up 50 victories and two championships in 352 Cup Series starts, was a TV commentator but easily slipped back into his father role as he coaxed his son to the finish. Fans across the nation constantly tell the Jarretts how much that moment resonates with them and on Tuesday, “Gentleman Ned” spoke of what it meant to him “when they turned it over to me and said ‘Call your son home and be a daddy.'" “That particular event is mentioned more than any other by fans and we appreciate that,” Ned Jarrett said, calling it the highlight of his own career. Dale Jarrett said although he could not hear his father’s broadcast, it now appears he was doing exactly as Dad told him to do. “It was a great day. When I had the opportunity to see and to hear (the recording of the event), it was pretty uncanny that I was doing the things he was saying. To be here (at the induction ceremony) with my dad is very special to me,” Jarrett said, adding he was honored to “look at the names and realize what a select group you are a part of.” Dale Jarrett said the reality of his retirement from NASCAR is more real to him as the All-Star race nears than his last points race at Bristol and that he is “Just realizing that I won't compete at this level ever again… Knowing when I climb out of the car, that that’s going to be it.” “It is sinking in when Saturday night is over, everything is going to be finished,” Jarrett said. The 1999 Cup Champion leaves the sport a three-time Daytona 500 winner, with two Brickyard 400 wins and the 1996 Coca-Cola 600 to his credit as well. Like father, like son, the younger Jarrett now moves full-time to the broadcast booth as a race commentator for ESPN/ABC broadcasts and said he plans to take his dad’s advice, which was to “Just be myself.” First things first, ‘though. After Saturday’s All-Star Race, Jarrett will take five to six weeks off and use that as a time to reflect on his career, celebrate his daughter’s high school graduation and get some golfing in. Tickets for Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race can be purchased at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling 800-455-FANS.
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