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NASCAR WCUP: Jarrett guns for 2nd Coca-Cola 600 victory

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
May 23, 2001

Dale Jarrett
CONCORD, N.C., May 22, 2001 - The Coca-Cola 600 has the distinction of being the longest race on the Winston Cup schedule. And for #88 UPS driver Dale Jarrett, it may also turn out to be the most lucrative.

Noteworthy items heading into Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 (FOX; 5:45 p.m. EDT):

Jarrett has tasted victory once in the Coca-Cola 600. That came back in 1996. The 44-year-old resident of nearby Hickory, N.C., also has two wins in the track's fall race (1994 & 1997) to give him three in 28 career starts at LMS.

Jarrett started 8th and finished 5th in last year's Coca-Cola 600.

By virtue of his second-place run at Las Vegas earlier this year, Jarrett is one of five drivers eligible to win Winston's "No Bull 5" bonus on Sunday at LMS.

The "No Bull" incentive is no joke as Jarrett would earn an additional $1 million on top of an already generous winner's share from this year's record purse at Lowe's Motor Speedway (more than $9 million for all Speed Weeks activities).

And Jarrett is no stranger to the "No Bull" bonus. He's cashed in on two $1 million payouts previously, winning the Daytona 500 last year and the Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in 1998.

Both of those bonuses, you'll note, came in "plate" races. For Jarrett to complete hockey's version of the "hat trick," he'll have to do it on a 1.5-mile intermediate track that'll change dramatically as day turns to night. The 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup champion offered views on the significance of this race and his keys to success on Sunday:

"(The Coca-Cola 600) means a lot to me and to this team," Jarrett said. "That's why we were here testing a couple of weeks ago. Even though we've been here so many times in the past and we'll be here for another two weeks of race activity this month, we still thought it was important to come out and test at LMS. It's really a sign of just how much this race means to us."

Jarrett added, "With 600 miles, you really have to be patient and be ready to make continual adjustments on your car. And as a driver, it's critical to give your crew chief good information, so he can make those changes. The track changes so much going from day to night and you might want to change the line you run as a result of that. I think guys who have run this race before might have a little bit of an advantage in dealing with those changes. The bottom line is it's very important to understand how the temperature change is affecting the track and the car. And then be able to explain that to Todd (Parrott), so the guys can adjust accordingly on pit road."

Text provided by Kris Johnson

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.