Teams are heading to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend for the Aaron's 499. As usual, they'll keep their fingers crossed and hope to avoid the "big one," the inevitable pileup of cars due to the extremely close racing. Talladega has grown to be a fan favorite over the years because of the constant lead changes and intense racing action. It's also an exciting chance for the #44 UPS Team to bring out a newly-built car that shows off a commemorative Kentucky Derby paint scheme.
"I'm excited to get to Talladega," Dale Jarrett said. "It has been a good track for me and I like driving there. We've been fine-tuning our superspeedway car and implementing a few new things that we've learned. We feel like these Toyota engines have been getting stronger and hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of TRD's hard work this weekend. Hopefully, with a few small adjustments we'll be able to get ourselves in the upper half of the speed chart."
The Aaron's 499 is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. CDT start this Sunday.
Dale Jarrett Discusses Racing at Talladega Superspeedway
Does the fact that this will be an impound race affect your strategy for the race?
"No, it doesn't really affect our strategy for the race as much as it affects how we prepare for the race. With no happy hour practice, we can only make a few minor adjustments to the car after qualifying. So it has to be setup in race trim all weekend long. It's important that we can put together a competitive car that will last the entire race. So I'll leave it to Matt (Borland) and the guys to get the car ready to race. It'll be my job to keep us in the race. I've been fortunate to stay out of trouble at Talladega in recent years, so I'll try to do that again this weekend. We know going in that this is going to be a crapshoot. You just have to find a way to avoid the big wreck. You know it's going to happen at some point, so you just hope you're not in the middle of it. That's why I lay back at times, to avoid those big wrecks because you aren't going to have a chance to win if you aren't around at the end."
Are you excited about the special paint scheme for this weekend?
"Yeah, this is a really neat deal here. We're running a special paint scheme to commemorate the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby. UPS has a relationship with Churchill Downs and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. They wanted to do something to combine that relationship with the one we have here in NASCAR at Michael Waltrip Racing, so they put this deal together. They have a lucky winner who won a trip to Talladega this weekend and then to the Kentucky Derby next weekend. It sounds like a lot of fun and should be a lot of fun for the sweepstakes winner. I've always enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby, but I've never had the opportunity to attend. So it's great to be able to be a part of it with our car this weekend. I think the fans will really like it."
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
- Dale Jarrett has led at least one lap in exactly half of the spring races at Talladega Superspeedway since 1987.
- Jarrett has finished on the lead lap of the last six spring Talladega races and last 10 Talladega races overall.
- Since his first race at Talladega in 1987, Jarrett has amassed two wins, two poles, 11 top fives, and 16 top 10's.
- Jarrett's most recent career win came at Talladega in the fall of 2005.
