November 5, 2006 - It was a long day in Texas for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series as rain threatened to force the cancellation of the event. The day was even longer for Dale Jarrett and the UPS Team as they struggled early in the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite a solid team effort to make major adjustments to the car, trouble found Jarrett and company, which resulted in the team leaving Texas with a 29th-place finish.DJ at Texas
The start of the Dickies 500 was delayed by nearly one hour due to rain showers that had fallen over the speedway during the mid-morning hours on Sunday. Once the event started, it appeared that it was going to be a tough day for Team UPS, which was racing for the Toys for Tots program with the specially painted #88 The UPS Store®/Toys for Tots Ford Fusion.
After starting 20th, Jarrett fell through the field quickly as an extremely tight-handling condition plagued the car early. By the time the competition yellow waved on lap 40, Jarrett had dropped to 38th. Adjustments made to the car did not help and the team lost a lap to the race leader on lap 81. During the next stop, the team made extensive adjustments to the car, going underneath the car to manually adjust a chassis bar which helped to "free up" the handling on the car. The hard work was rewarded when Jarrett was scored as the first car one lap down on lap 173 during the fifth caution period, allowing the team to earn the "lucky dog" award and get back on the lead lap.
Problems resurfaced for Team UPS on lap 240 as Jarrett, while running in 18th position, started having problems with the UPS Ford. The team elected to make a pit stop during green-flag racing conditions. While trying to make his way onto pit road, Jarrett missed the pit and had to make a second stop. The team changed right side tires and sent the UPS Ford on its way only for Jarrett to have to make another trip down pit road due to a speeding penalty levied by NASCAR. By the time Jarrett was able to return to competition, the UPS Ford was scored as three laps down to the leader.
"The car was the worst it had been all weekend at the beginning," Jarrett said after the race. "It was so tight it wanted to keep going straight no matter how hard I was turning the wheel. We made some pretty major changes there that helped a ton but that problem there at the end of the race really hurt us. It was just a tough day."
Jarrett's rookie teammate David Gilliland started the race from the seventh position and quickly climbed as high as third before falling slightly through the field. Gilliland battled minimal handling issues during the event as the track changed due to darkness. He finished his Texas debut in the 21st spot.
Tony Stewart cruised to the win at Texas Motor Speedway for his second victory in a row after winning at Atlanta last weekend. With his win in Sunday's Dickies 500, Stewart becomes the 12th different winner at Texas. In the Chase for the Championship battle, Jimmie Johnson climbed to the top of the battle with his second-place finish at Texas. He now leads Matt Kenseth by 17 points.
Phoenix International Raceway hosts a trio of races next weekend as the NASCAR Nextel Cup, Busch and Craftsman Truck Series all visit the one-mile track. The Nextel Cup Series Checker Auto Parts 500 is scheduled to start next Sunday at 1:25 p.m. MST. NBC is carrying the live broadcast of the event beginning at 1 p.m. MST.
