Bump-Drafts.com

Intelligent, well-spoken and athletic, Dale Jarrett probably could have chosen any career he wanted. The son of a two-time NASCAR champion (Ned Jarrett), he grew up with several advantages, including a knowledge of the dangers of moving a 3,500 pound machine around a race track with other vehicles of the same size at speeds 3 times greater than most of us drive on an interstate.

Coming of age in the early 70’s the Hickory, North Carolina native garnered all-conference honors at Newton- Conover High School in football, basketball and golf. The strapping man who now stands 6?2? also played baseball, and was ultimately offered a golf scholarship at the University of South Carolina. Think about it, if not for auto racing, Jarrett would have been competing with the likes of Tom Kite, Corey Pavin and maybe even Tiger Woods instead of The Intimidator and the Rainbow Warrior.

Dale Jarrett was also exposed to the world of TV broadcasting at an early age. When Dale was 8, his father retired at the age of 35 to become one of NASCAR’s early signature voices. It’s life not nearly the extreme excitement that driving is, but speaking from experience, I can tell you it is a lot of fun to watch and describe sporting events from the broadcast booth. Testament to Jarrett’s speaking skills is the fact that he will be trading in his helmet for a headset at ESPN, where we’ve already experienced his insights first hand. Like anything else, it will take Jarrett time to get his chops up, and I will tell you now, than in my opinion, the 51 year old is good and will only get better.

Jarrett has also used the platform he’s been blessed with to do good works. In 2000, he was named NASCAR’s USG Person of the Year on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for his charity work. Jarrett was also very involved in fundraising efforts for Brenner’s Children’s Hospital, and for Carly Brayton, the son of driver Scott Brayton, who was killed in accident practicing for the Indy 500 in 1996.

Oh yeah, Dale Jarrett was a pretty good driver, too. He debuted at the Cup level in 1984, seven years after he started running in the Late Sportsman division at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jarrett won his first Cup race at Michigan in August, 1991, en route to 32 career victories. From 1996 to 2001, Jarrett was one of the top drivers in NASCAR, racing for Robert Yates, whom he signed on with after piloting the #18 Interstate Batteries car for Joe Gibbs from 1992 to 1994. During that 6 season stretch at the turn of the century, Jarrett finished in the top 5 in points, including a Cup championship in 1999 and a second place finish in 1997.

The man most famous for driving the #88 at Yates also mastered NASCAR’s biggest stage. He took the checkered flag at the Daytona 500 three times- in 1993, 1996 and 2000. The most famous win was his first- his dad was calling that race on television that day- and though they couldn’t communicate, it almost seemed as if Dale was getting some kind of vibe from Ned as Dale almost seemed to respond to what his dad thought he should do.

During his illustrious career, Jarrett also raced for Cale Yarbrough, and the legendary Wood Brothers among others before helping his buddy Michael Waltrip launch a racing team in 2007. Back in the days when his hair was darker and he sported a mustache, Jarrett won 11 races in what is now called the Nationwide Series.

By the way, Ned and Dale Jarrett are one of only two father-son duos to win cup titles at the Cup level. The other? Lee and Richard Petty- some pretty fast company.

Jarrett will always be remembered for racing clean and for his bright smile. He has always been counted on as a driver who would not put a wheel on you to get a win.

There are many things Dale Jarrett could have done with his life, but he chose a road (or a track) less traveled.

For that, NASCAR fans are grateful. Thank you, Dale Jarrett. We look forward to seeing you in the booth.
May you raise the standard in the booth the way you did on the track.

(A Special Weekly edition of bump-drafts.com)

Now how’s that for a race? Old schoolers looking for the NASCAR they fell in love have got be happy with all the paint tradin’ we saw today. I’m really beginning to love short track racing. I can’t wait ’til Martinsville.

I’m getting a little humble pie from Richard Childress Racing- I really wasn’t impressed with their 2007 finish and predicted that RCR would have a rough ‘08. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The whole dang team goes 1-2-3, after it looked like we might have a 1-2-3 Joe Gibbs’ finish.

Congratulations to NASCAR’s respected ambassador Jeff Burton. You have to enjoy seeing one of NASCAR’s class acts win one. The fact his teammates Happy Harvick and Clint Bowyer finishing second and third respectively makes it all the sweeter.

Tony Stewart sure looked good early. Kyle Busch rallied quickly from the back, and Denny Hamlin looked like a winner today. In all, The JGR trio led an incredible 372 of 500 laps. The disappointment has to be palpable.

Let’s be sure we understand the Harvick-Stewart crash was a race incident. Stewart and Harvick are buds, and Smoke has even run for Harvick in the Nationwide, so there was no malice intended there. Harvick showed class by taking responsibility. Stewart showed world class restraint, by not going off during his post-race interview. Harvick just crawled up the track. That’s all.

Hamlin said something about the JGR cars not taking fuel well. Toyota’s still a work in progress, but they’re by no means a laughingstock.

OK, so Shrub shows he’s still mortal. There’s no truth to the rumor Busch took the first flight out. Between today’s loss of steering and yesterday’s mishap in the Nationwide, this weekend was a cluster for Rowdy.

While the RCR crew chiefs made great calls at the end, Tony Eury blew it for Junior. I will give Lil “E” credit for his class in the post-race interview. In a twist of irony, Junior said it was Eury’s fault for getting him a good enough car to run up front, so that we can even speculate what Earnhardt would have done at the end with fresh tires.

Props have to go out to Aric Almirola. In his 7th Cup start, on a hellacious track, Mark Martin’s back-up pulled out a top 10 for DEI. David Gilliland ran a heck of a race as well.

The Rocky Balboa Award for the Fighter of the Week has to go to Hamlin. #11 overcame a number of adversities to be in a position to win at the end.

We saw today why I LIKE the Car of Tomorrow. Look at all the cars we had out there at the end- including the #84 of Mike Skinner AFTER HIS CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE. These cars look like those old cracker tins, but man, they are tanks!

Other random thought include:

What was with Paul Menard today? That whole bit with crashing Franchitti was very uncool. I also blog at Fanboom, and in a post yesterday where I had a top 10 overrated drivers list, Menard made it. I swear if it weren’t for the fact that Menard’s is a major DEI sponsor, I don’t think he’d be here. I’m not to keen on this guy right now.

The Dodge Boys have sure fallen back. After promising starts, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Elliott Sadler have fallen off the radar. Kasey Kahne’s still looking good. I’ll maintain Bobby Labonte was a victim of bad luck.

The Top 35 will sure look different next time out. We’ll have to sort through that soon. I really question how effective the points swap for Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish was. I hate to see Dave Blaney fall below NASCAR’s “Mendoza Line.”

Dale Jarrett rides off into the sunset with a respectable finish See ya in the broadcast booth, my friend. Thanks or the memories. Papa Ned must be proud.

Good race today. Keep it up boys!

If you hang out with sports fans long enough and you disclose that you follow NASCAR, this issue is sure to come up. I’m a relative neophyte to what Jim Rome referred to as the “Left Turn League,” but in the short time I’ve been around the sport on more than a casual level, I can tell you this discussion gets spirited in a huge hurry.

See if you haven’t heard this before.“All they do is drive around in circles for four hours.” “All the drivers do is turn their steering wheels and push their feet to the floor. Anybody can do that.” “NASCAR stand for Non-Athletic driverS Circling Around Rednecks.” The list doesn’t end there, but the point they make is that the likes of Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, Tom Brady and just about anyone else you can think of will be held up as examples of those being more athletic than your average NASCAR racer.

THEY’RE WRONG- AND I KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.

To establish credibility,let me quickly give you my background. I’ve been a player of sports, a fan, a coach, and a commentator for 30 years. My current job as a radio sports guy requires me to be conversant on all of them. I’ve become quite familiar with the skills necessary to make a jump shot, hit a baseball, successfully complete a forward pass and yes, successfully take the checkered flag in a race.

With that out of the way, let’s consider the skills need to compete as a NASCAR driver. First you need good vision. Imagine driving 180 miles an hour, about 3 times faster than you will on the freeway on a typical day. Now, imagine 42 other guys are doing the same thing in a confined space.

Then, you need cat-quick reflexes. When you’re driving at break neck speeds, things come at you fast. Thankfully, besides the great vision, you have a crew chief and spotters to help guide you around the track. Nonetheless, if a driver 6 car lengths ahead of you wrecks, you will need to respond, very quickly to something you may not yet see yet. That’s where the advice to drive to the spot of the wreck comes in handy. You figure any collision in front of you at great speed and impact will result in scattering cars and debris. A flick of the steering wheel in the wrong direction and you may just find yourself collected into the collision.

Third- you must be conditioned for endurance. Let me paint a picture for you. The average race is 500 miles. That distance spans a trip from my home near Medford, Oregon to San Francisco. Now- do that with 40+ other guys driving at excessive speeds. Stressful- isn’t it? Not only that, there’s extreme heat inside your car….in excess of 100 degrees. You have no air conditioning. On top of that, you’re in a fire suit. Not real comfortable is it?

On top of that, there’s no rest stops, and no time to eat. If you’re lucky, you’ll get enough fluid to get you through the race. Not too much, though. Yeah, you need to time you’re eating just right so you don’t pee your pants during the race. OR worse.

Believe it or not, some strength is needed too. From time to time, a driver’s power steering will go out. You ever drove a car with manual steering? You’ll get a workout.

I haven’t even delved into the athleticism needed to be a member of the pit crew. Many are former college athletes. Think about the agility needed to get over the wall, the strength to carry tires, the quickness to get the tires on, pump the jack and the speed to perform the other tasks. And you say this isn’t a sport?

Many current NASCAR have excelled at other sports. Dale Jarrett has enough golf skills to be a PGA golfer. Kyle Petty was recruited to play college football and baseball. Elliott Sadler was headed for a college basketball career at James Madison before a knee injury changed that. Michael Waltrip has run marathons. Have you ever seen Mark Martin lift weights? Pretty buff for a guy 5-6. Carl Edwards is ripped and displays his athletic ability by doing a celebratory back flip when he wins.

Yes- things have changed since the days of Junior Johnson. Heck- even Bobby Allison had a training ritual. He’d hone his endurance by driving around rural Alabama with the windows up and the heat running full blast in the summertime.

Another illustration of challenging driving a “stock” car is comes from the ABC series last summer, “Fast Cars and Superstars.” Greats from other sports, namely John Elway, John Salley, Bill Cowher, and Serena Williams- among others- tried their hand at making their way around Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a number of challenges. Elway and rodeo champ Ty Murray got the hang of it, Salley and Williams looked thoroughly lost.

All of that to say, it takes athleticism to compete in NASCAR. I won’t deny that the machinery is a part of it in a way no other sport is, but like golf, I think it takes a different TYPE of skill from a stick and ball sport.

Can we agree on that? Heck, even Jim Rome has come over to our point of view.

(Prepared Specially for NASCAR_Nation)

What’s Next- The Food City 500, Bristol, Tennessee, Sunday, March 16, 2008, 2:20 p.m. EDT, 11:20 Pacific, Broadcast on FOX.

Track History- This is a .533 mile oval track affectionately known as a “bull ring” or short track with 36-degree banking in the turns and 16 degree banking on the straights. The track surface is concrete, though it started out as an asphalt track.

The first NASCAR race ran here on July 30, 1961. Jack Smith took the checkered flag that day. In the last race ran here, Carl Edwards won on August 25, 2007.Kyle Buschwon the first 2007 race, when the “Car of Tomorrow” made its debut. Shrub will be remembered for saying he thought the car sucked.

Flyin’ Ryan Newman owns the qualifying record at the “Volunteer State” track with a time of 14.908 seconds on March 21, 2003. Cale Yarborough has earned the most poles with 9.

The immortal Charlie Glotzbach ran the fastest race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 101.074 m.p.h. (2 hr. 38 min. 12 sec.) on July 11, 1971.

20 caution flags flew at Bristol in the Spring of 2003, 0 flew on July 11, 1971.

It’s gotta be a bummer knowing that your racing team was the punch line in the joke that was your manufacturer’s season in 2007. Sad to say, that was the case for Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007.

It all started at Daytona, when the team owned by the legendary Darrell Waltrip’s younger brother was penalized for an illegal fuel additive. It pretty much went downhill from there. Team owner Michael Waltrip’s failure to qualify became so legendary he began to joke about it in his Napa auto parts commercials. The champion’s provisional is meant to be a safety net, but the automatic qualifier became a lifeline for 1999 Cup champion Dale Jarrett. Once he ran out of provisionals, Jarrett had qualifying troubles of his own. About the only bright spot for the fledgling team enjoyed is when Waltrip took the pole for the fall Talladega race, and the performance of NASCAR rookie David Reutimann- who also made the top 5 in the Busch Series.

The good news for Michael Waltrip Racing is things can only get better in 2008. “Mikey” won the outside pole for the Daytona 500 Sunday, and the younger Waltrip ran very well at the Bud Shootout. Reutimann ran 4th best in qualifying last Sunday, and Jarrett also scratched and clawed his way into the field. As 2007 wore on, one certainly got the impression that Toyota got the hang of building a better engine, the question for 2008 is one of whether or not Toyota has engine built to last the long race distances. Before petering out late in races, Waltrip, Reutimann, and Jarrett all had great early race runs in the late schedule.

Despite calls to leaves the cockpit to assume full-time ownership duties, “Mikey” returns to the #55 Camry in 2008. It will be interesting to see how the 43 year old Kentuckian does at Daytona. In fact, all 4 of Waltrip’s victories have come at restrictor plate races- 3 of them at Daytona Super Speedway. Waltrip’s first victory in 2001 was marred by the death of his employer at that time-Dale Earnhardt.

2008 is the season Dale Jarrett rides off into the sunset- actually the broadcast booth- following in his father Ned’s footsteps. After the first handful of races, Jarrett will turn over the wheel of the #44 UPS car to David Reutimann, who will in turn hand over the #00 ride to Michael Mc Dowell. It’s been tough to watch the former champion and owner of 32 victories who rose to greatness at Joe Gibbs struggle the way he has, especially when you suspect that the lousy runs have been the result of crappy equipment and not any diminishing driving skill. Jarrett will replace Rusty Wallace in the broadcast booth at ESPN, something I think we all are look forward to.

Look for good things from David Reutimann. “Ruty” has been a winner wherever he’s gone- including the NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Southeast Series where he never finished lower than 7th from 1997-2002, as well as the Busch Series (where he finished 3rd in the 2007 standings) and the Craftsman Truck Series. The Floridian has it in his blood. His father “Buzzie” ran a Cup race at Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa in 1963, and was also a competitor in DIRT modifieds. He’ll make a slightly unusual switch by changing rides for the same team in the same season.

Jarrett’s retirement has the net effect of opening a door for Michael McDowell. The 23 year old has enjoyed success as a go-kart racer and 4 races and 9 poles in the ARCA series in 2007. Michael made his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series with one 2007 start. What’s interesting about Mc Dowell is he will be one of the few rookies of the 2008 class to take the more traditional path to Cup competition.

The beauty of starting from the bottom is you can only go up from here. In spite of the struggles, Waltrip and Jarrett have a faithful legion of fans cheering them on to greater success.

Anybody looking for good story lines in NASCAR need look no further than Joe Gibbs Racing. There’s more potential here for high drama than National Treasure with a combustible mix of personalities, a switch in manufacturers and a heightened presence of the team owner, who just gave up his day job as coach of the Washington Redskins. There’s more question marks here than there are for the presidential primaries for one of the sport’s most successful, yet colorful teams.

Tony Stewart is without a doubt the most recognized figure on the team. As one writer has put it, the driver known as “Smoke” (for his ability to smoke the competition) has 12 personalities, nine of whom are likable and funny and three that would like to punch you in the month. A solid late season run, including one in his home state of Indiana, helped temper an otherwise frustrating season that included more run-ins with the press and teammate Denny Hamlin- plus a tactical mistake at Kansas that cost a shot at a third Cup title.

All eyes are on Stewart as his current contract will be up faster than you can say Dale Earnhardt. Some have intrepreted his “wait and see” stance on negotiations as a sign of unrest or perhaps unhappiness with JGR’s switch to Toyota- a rumor chiefly perpetuated by fans who can’t fathom the Rushville Rocket in anything but a Chevy.

Me? I’m predicting a third Cup title for Stewart in 2008. Because of those looming contract talks, I think he wants to pull down maximum money, and nothing would solidify his high profile stock more than a third Cup trophy, and a first for JGR’s new manufacturer.

Where things will really get interesting is what happens with the younger drivers in the Gibbs’ garage. Denny Hamlin was firmly cemented in the role as the up and coming golden boy until the arrival of Kyle Busch. Hamlin had his ups and downs of late. Hamlin picked up a win and rced well enough to make the Chase. On the other hand, Hamlin faded down the stretch and the driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet got into with Tony Stewart at Daytona, and also mixed it up with the otherwise calm and collected Kyle Petty in a late season skirmish. No doubt Hamlin would like a strong start to demonstrate that HE is the most promising young driver at Gibbs, not the driver known as “Rowdy”, or “Shrub” by his detractors.

Kyle Busch could certainly make things interesting in either good or bad ways at Joe Gibbs. Many NASCAR insiders, including the aforementioned Petty, think that Busch the younger is the most promising driver of the younger set. No doubt the guy who’ll be driving the #18 M&Ms Camry in 2008 had his moments of brilliance in 2007. By the same token, Busch is given to moments of immaturity- leaving the track early after a wreck at Texas (ironically, the already knocked out Dale Jr. finished the race in Busch’s car), and negative comments about his team after a narrow loss in the Pepsi 400 did nothing to enhance his image in a positive way. Still, Busch put on a good face down the stretch (for the most part), and finished with solid performances.

This little battle could play out a number of ways. The question is- will the two youngsters fight like Cain and Abel? or will this be a friendly team rivalry like that of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson that brings out the best in each other? Inquiring minds want to know.

If the truth is known, it could go either way. With Busch and Hamlin, you want to believe that they get it, but there’s as good a chance that they don’t.

This team has a lot riding on it. Joe Gibbs couldn’t have timed his return to his racing team any better. If he can’t hold this bunch together, no one can. Personally, I wouldn’t bet against the team that has helped put Stewart on the champion’s podium twice and made a 2000 Cup champion out of Bobby Labonte. For all the drama and hijinx, these guys know a thing or two about winning.