It is the time of year that drivers speak of the upcoming season with a renewed optimism because of being able to start the year with a clean slate. No points toward the championship have been accrued yet, a single lap of competition has yet to be run and everyone is a championship contender. For Dale Jarrett and the #44 UPS Team, two words best describe their approach to the upcoming season of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series competition - restrained optimism.
Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion, knows full well the experience of being a championship contender and is well aware of what it takes to be in that position. He starts this season with a brand new race team in addition to being with a manufacturer that is brand new to Nextel Cup Series competition. Critics have been on both sides of the subject suggesting that the first-year organization will struggle but also arguing that Toyota's past performance suggests early success.
While Jarrett doesn't rule out the possibility of the #44 UPS Toyota Team being a championship contender in 2007, he is taking a realistic approach to the upcoming season.
"As we explained to sponsors, thinking that we could make the Chase in this first year would be up there pretty far," Jarrett said of the team's goals. "Can it happen? Sure it can, but a more realistic goal would be to be around that top 15 in the points in the first year. I think that is attainable."
"It'd be easy for us to go in and say, 'Well, I think we can finish in the top 25,' but that's not setting your goals very high and you tend not to work as hard," he added.
Crew chief Matt Borland is the man preparing the #44 UPS Team for competition, hiring individuals for specific positions and overseeing their progress. It is a process that can be and usually is ongoing during a team's first year of competition - a fact with which he became acquainted while building a team at Penske Racing in 2001.
"Getting our team together is our biggest challenge," Borland said. "It's a matter of getting our road crew together and getting time off for them which means we have to have a shop crew that can have everything done ahead of schedule. It's a lot of people and a lot of coordination to make happen. With a new team it takes time and it takes making those mistakes for everyone to see where their shortcomings are. It will take a lot of learning and determining the who best fits the different roles.
Borland experienced a great deal of success during his time at Penske and is well acquainted with the practices of being a championship contender. The process for perfecting the people behind the mechanics of the race car is what makes him prepare for 2007 in a cautiously optimistic mode of operation, and that thought process defines his idea of a successful inaugural season for the #44 UPS Team.
"I'm not going to put any numbers on it but I see the biggest thing as getting the team together and having everyone working together," Borland said. "If we can get through the year without having mechanical failures and putting ourselves out of races, that's big. Then, hopefully by the end of the year we are getting cars that consistently run in the top five or top 10. I don't think we'll be there at the very beginning in February but you want to get the organization to perform where everything is operating together."
Even with a cautious outlook to the 2007 season, Jarrett believes that the Toyota teams are going to have the opportunities to visit victory lane, especially at the restrictor-plate tracks - Daytona and Talladega.
"You come to a place like Daytona where the racing is close, and I think that it gives you an idea that anybody can win there if you get yourself in the right position, regardless of how little experience the team may have," Jarrett said. "I honestly think that we can get to victory lane and I've stated a number of times I'd like to be that driver to give Toyota their first win."
