This season Dale Jarrett has found himself in many situations he has never dealt with previously in his career. At many races he's worked harder than he's ever had to work with no rewards or accolades for the extra effort. Now with the schedule heading to Michigan, Jarrett is eager more than ever to see a boost in his performance. He hopes the experience and success he's found at Michigan in the past will help get him and his #44 UPS team headed in the right direction.
"I really love racing at Michigan," Jarrett exclaimed. "This is a track that I think has the best racing we have all season. I know how to get around the track and I know (crew chief) Jason (Burdett) knows what the car needs to get around there. So I'm really eager to see if we can get all the tools working together this weekend to not just make the race but be a little sporty as well."
The Citizens Bank 400 is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. EDT start this Sunday.
Dale Jarrett Discusses Racing at Michigan International Speedway
Do you like racing at Michigan?
"I love racing at Michigan. It's my favorite track that we go to. Michigan was where I got my first career Cup win back in August of 1991, so it really is a special place for me. I truly love to race here. It's a great facility with wonderful people and it's just a fun place to race. Even if you don't in the race, you get out of the car thinking, 'that was a pretty fun day' because you can race on it. The track has multiple grooves and you can race through the corners from all the way down on the line near the apron to all the way up next to the wall if you want to. The corners are just so wide and I think it makes for a more interesting race when you have guys working different lines and you can find what works best."
How important is track position and starting position at a place like Michigan?
"Obviously with the aero package we run today clean air is the best remedy for a tight-handling race car, so ideally you want to be out in front. It's probably more important at the end of the race because from everything we've seen this year it's hard to get by the guy leading late in the race. Having said that though, if you have a good enough car, I think Michigan is the type of track where you could win whether you're starting first or 43rd.
Obviously, if you don't qualify well, it's indicative that something isn't exactly right. But if you just had to change engines and go to the back of the field, I wouldn't consider that a big blow to the chances of winning here because it is a very wide track. You can run on the bottom and you can run on the top and anywhere in between, so I think that's why most guys would classify this as one of their favorite tracks. If it's not their favorite track, it has to be near the top."
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
- Dale Jarrett has earned four victories at Michigan International Speedway, tied with Daytona International Speedway for the most victories at one track in his career.
- In 40 career starts, Jarrett has 15 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes.
- In those 40 starts, Jarrett has also led 326 laps and completed 90.54 percent of the laps run.
- During a stretch of nine races from August 1996 to August 2000, Jarrett had an incredible six top-five starts and eight top-five finishes, including two wins.
