Jarrett & Daytona: New Look, Same Desire; Number 88 UPS Driver Defends Daytona 500 Crown
DAYTONA, Fla.--(BW SportsWire)--Feb. 8, 2001--As he prepares to wear the brown, gold and white colors of UPS for the first time in actual race competition, Number 88 UPS driver Dale Jarrett has an ally in history at Daytona International Speedway.| -- | The last time that Jarrett and the Number 88 team came to Daytona with a new sponsor was in 1996. The newly formed second team at Robert Yates Racing proceeded to win both the Busch Clash and the Daytona 500, marking a stellar debut for Jarrett and crew chief Todd Parrott. |
| -- | Last season, Jarrett's display of dominance at Daytona produced a near sweep of Speedweeks 2000 activities when he captured the Bud Pole along with wins in the Bud Shootout Qualifier, Bud Shootout and the Daytona 500. |
| -- | Jarrett is one of only four drivers to win three Daytona 500's in a career (along with Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison). |
| -- | Should he win the "granddaddy" of all races again, Jarrett will tie Yarborough for second place with four Daytona 500 victories. Petty leads all drivers with seven. |
"There's a lot of time off between that last race in Atlanta and our first one here in Daytona," Jarrett said. "Because of that, for me anyway, I get excited just thinking about getting back in the racecar and competing again. And then there's the fact that this is our biggest race of the year. The long layoff coupled with the magnitude of this event makes for a ton of excitement."
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HAVING THE BIGGEST RACE OF THE YEAR FIRST? "I think it's only appropriate...it's like giving teams two weeks off before the Super Bowl," Jarrett said. "Everybody's fresh and everybody's healthy, so you've got the very best racing at their very best. When you win a 500, it gives you even more a feeling of accomplishment because of that."
IS THERE ADDED PRESSURE TO SUCCEED BECAUSE OF UPS's NEW SPONSORSHIP? "There's really not," Jarrett said. "There's no way that any sponsor or any outside entity could place any more pressure on us than we as a race team put on ourselves. We expect ourselves to perform and perform at the highest level. We want to do well, we've got a lot to live up to and the last time we came here with a new sponsor, we won the Busch Clash and then the Daytona 500 the next week. We would like nothing better than to do that for UPS and get them off to a fast start. UPS knows we're going to do everything we can to sit on the pole and win."
HOW DO YOU THINK THE AERO CHANGES WILL AFFECT THE RACING AT DAYTONA? "I think we'll see a measure of that same excitement we saw at Talladega last time," Jarrett said. "NASCAR's done a good thing, bringing the draft more into play. Can we live up to what we did at Talladega? I don't know. We can't run four and five wide because the corners are much sharper here at Daytona, they're not nearly as wide and sweeping. But, the addition of the roofstrips will knock a bigger hole in the air and help promote more passing. I think it'll be an excellent race."
Dale Jarrett's Winston Cup Record at Daytona International Speedway
(1984-2000; Points Events Only)
Year Event St Fn Laps Led Status
1984 Pepsi 400 39 23 155 (160) Running
1987 Pepsi 400 41 23 156 (160) Running
1988 Daytona 500 36 16 200 (200) Running
Pepsi 400 17 14 159 (160) Running
1989 Daytona 500 20 32 131 (200) Running
Pepsi 400 30 31 108 (160) Accident
1990 Pepsi 400 24 8 160 (160) Running
1991 Daytona 500 17 6 199 (200) Running
Pepsi 400 31 18 160 (160) Running
1992 Daytona 500 35 36 91 (200) Accident
Pepsi 400 10 3 160 (160) 26 Running
1993 Daytona 500 2 1 200 (200) 8 Running
Pepsi 400 13 8 160 (160) 3 Running
1994 Daytona 500 41 35 146 (200) 3 Engine
Pepsi 400 11 11 160 (160) Running
1995 Daytona 500 1 5 200 (200) Running
Pepsi 400 7 42 38 (160) Engine
1996 Daytona 500 7 1 200 (200) 40 Running
Pepsi 400 3 6 117 (117) 14 Running
1997 Daytona 500 3 23 200 (200) Running
Pepsi 400 16 5 160 (160) Running
1998 Daytona 500 5 34 196 (200) Running
Pepsi 400 3 23 159 (160) 38 Running
1999 Daytona 500 8 37 134 (200) 14 Accident
Pepsi 400 12 1 160 (160) 40 Running
2000 Daytona 500 1 1 200 (200) 89 Running
Pepsi 400 1 2 160 (160) 56 Running
DALE JARRETT
DAYTONA 500 SUMMARY
Starts: 12
Wins: 3
Top 5: 4
Top 10: 5
Poles: 2
Laps Led: 154