NASCAR WCUP: Dale Jarrett Bristol Quotes
27 August 1999
Dale Jarrett carries a 314-point lead in the point standings as he prepares for this weekend's Goody's 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Jarrett, driver of the No. 88 Quality Care Service/Ford Credit Taurus, won this event in 1997 - his only win at BMS. He has seven top-five finishes, including a third-place finish earlier this season in the Food City 500. In 1992, he finished second to the late Alan Kulwicki, Jarrett's first top-five finish at BMS. He considers qualifying at BMS to be 'one of the more exciting qualifying laps we do, even though it's over in a little than 15 seconds.'In 1999, Jarrett has collected four wins (Richmond, Michigan-June, Daytona-July and Indianapolis-Brickyard 400), 18 top-five finishes and 20 top-10s. He has led 592 laps.
The following are his thoughts and comments on this weekend's race at BMS:
"I actually always thought, for some reason, that my first win might come at Bristol. As difficult as the track is and as hard as it is on the driver, I really enjoy racing there. I think it's been a little more of a challenge since they went to the concrete surface, but I've been fortunate to have had some success there. The biggest thing is that I've been lucky to stay out of most of the wrecks. And that's part of the reason for the success - having something to race with for the last 50 laps. "I've always said if I were a fan and I had to choose one race to see, it would be the night race at Bristol. That has to be the most exciting race there is. I remember going there as a kid, watching the races and it's a totally different place now. I used to watch Jack Ingram, Tommy Houston and Sam Ard race late model stocks there. The track today presents one of the greatest challenges in racing. My first race at Bristol I was thrilled just to be in the show. It didn't last long, but believe me; I still had a good time.
"Racing at Bristol can be fun, if you have a good car. If not, then you're in for one of the longest nights. It's pretty difficult to stay out of the way when your car is not working with you. If you sit down and look, anywhere can get you, but if you look at two of the tracks we have left on the schedule, Bristol and Talladega are the ones that are unpredictable. You can be running along in good shape and then from out of nowhere, something happens and you don't have time to react at either place. At Bristol, things happen so quickly, that the leader of the race sometimes gets caught up in accidents. Anything can happen and we just hope that we can complete 500 laps without any misfortune. We certainly are going there with the intentions of winning the race. We've won there and it's been a good track for us but again, going into it knowing anything can happen, is a tough situation."
Crew Chief Todd Parrott on Bristol:
"If you can stay out of trouble and at the end of the race, you still have four fenders on the car, then you've done a good job. Good, quick pit stops are a key. Track position means so much at this track. We're taking a really good car and going there with hopes of winning and gaining more points."
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