Just when things can't get any worse, they always do. That sums up the day for Dale Jarrett and the #44 UPS Racing Team during the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday. In spite of a decent start, lost track position and penalties dropped Jarrett in the running order, giving the UPS Team a 36th-place finish.
The #44 UPS Racing Team was optimistic about the Kobalt Tools 500 despite having a difficult weekend from qualifying through the first two practice sessions. During the last practice on Saturday, they adjusted the handling on the UPS Toyota to a comfortable position for Jarrett. Although they didn't see a victory in the future, the team believed it could run in the top 25 on Sunday, and during the first 35 laps, Jarrett's car was one of the better ones on the long run. He was just a bit loose during the start of the run so the team elected to adjust the air pressure and track bar on the UPS Toyota during the first caution on lap 35.
It was downhill from there. The adjustments sent the UPS Toyota to the extreme tight side and by lap 70 Jarrett was scored a lap down. The team encountered more trouble during a green-flag pit stop on lap 191 when Jarrett was tabbed as too fast on pit road. The sting from that penalty intensified when Jarrett was again scored as too fast while serving the penalty. The end result was a difficult day for Jarrett and Team UPS.
"I don't know if we set the pit road speed as too fast or what but I made sure to see what I was going as far as the RPMs," said a frustrated Jarrett. "I'll be interested to see what they had me clocked at. It was just a tough day. We weren't bad at the beginning, just a little loose. After that first run we were all over the place. This is just a bad finish to a bad weekend."
Jarrett's rookie teammate David Reutimann continues his education in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and learned another difficult lesson on Sunday. Reutimann had kept his nose clean for most of the event but made contact with the outside wall on lap 231 when Greg Biffle got loose in turn three and collected Reutimann as well as a number of other cars. Reutimann finished the day in 40th position.
With a late-race pass, Jimmie Johnson secured the win in Sunday's race. With his second consecutive victory, Johnson remains fourth in the points standing while Mark Martin holds his ground in the top spot. Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and rookie Juan Pablo Montoya round out the top-five finishers.
The NASCAR Nextel Cup Series races at Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend when the Car of Tomorrow makes its debut in the Food City 500. FOX will provide live television coverage of the racing action that is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. EDT.
