NASCAR Cup

Rockingham: Dale Jarrett preview

"Leaving Daytona to go to Rockingham is a major transition. Everyone says it's where the real season begins primarily because when we're competing at Daytona it's pretty much just putting the pedal down and surviving the big one. At Rockingham the ...

Published: Feb 21, 2003, 3:12 PM

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"Leaving Daytona to go to Rockingham is a major transition. Everyone says it's where the real season begins primarily because when we're competing at Daytona it's pretty much just putting the pedal down and surviving the big one. At Rockingham the driver has a lot more to do with the outcome of the race. It's all about tire conservation, and having a good enough race car during the last 100 miles."
Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Robert Yates Racing Ford

Dale Jarrett on racing at the "Rock"

`The Rock' Is #88 Team Friendly . . . The North Carolina Speedway, more affectionately referred to as "The Rock," has proven to be a nemesis for some teams, and the best friend for others. Dale Jarrett and the #88 UPS Racing Team is one organization that is quite friendly with the 1.017-mile track, scoring one win, 10 top fives and 12 top 10s in 14 starts since the #88 team's inception in 1996. The rough and tumble North Carolina Speedway is a welcome site for Team UPS.

"It is a great track for this team," Parrott said. "It is a little hard to go from the 12 days we spend in Daytona to Rockingham, because teams typically spend all winter getting their Daytona car ready. Fortunately for us we spent a lot of time getting our Rockingham car ready too. The #38 team went to Rockingham and tested and it was real successful. With Elliott and Dale having the same feel for a racecar we should be able to use a lot of what Raymond (Fox, #38 crew chief) and the guys learned there. We're taking the same car we raced at Indianapolis last year, and depending on how that works out for us, we may take it to Las Vegas the next weekend."

Jarrett has left his mark at North Carolina Speedway. He is the track record holder for most laps led in a 400-mile race. He led 321 of the 393 laps raced at the spring race on February 23, 1997. In 31 starts at `The Rock,' Jarrett's total laps led equals 1,036 laps. The #88 team lost a motor during the spring race at Rockingham in 2002, which gave Jarrett a 42nd-place finish. Jarrett started driving for Robert Yates Racing in 1995, and the 10th-place finish he scored at the track's spring race in 2001 had been his lowest finishing position. The blown motor ruined his seven successive top-10 finish record.

Jarrett To Make 500th Cup Start In Darlington . . . With the first race of the season complete, the countdown to Jarrett's 500th start narrows to just four races. The Hickory, N.C. native will make career start number 500 at Darlington Raceway a track where Jarrett has scored three wins, 10 top fives and 12 top 10s.

UPS Trackside Services Enjoys Successful Season Debut . . . UPS Trackside Services started its second year of service at Daytona International Speedway. In just the first race of the season, the Trackside Services booth has matched one-quarter of the volume it did in total during the 2002 NASCAR season.

-ryr-

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