Even before a single lap of competition is complete, the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season will have been studied, analyzed and dissected. A champion to-be will have been proclaimed as well as break-out drivers and teams. Sometimes the prophecies come true while others fall to the way side like a bowling ball slipping to the gutter.
While a lot of assumptions are made, a couple of facts about the 2008 season will also be part of the pre-season fodder. The Cup Series is competing under a new name with the title of Sprint Cup Series. The "Car of Tomorrow" becomes the "Car of Today" and the only car raced by teams in the forthcoming season. Finally, the sport will prepare to say good-bye to one of its most respected champions.
Dale Jarrett prepares for his final stand as a competitor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, making just a handful of starts in 2008. Jarrett makes his last starts in the series as the driver of the #44 UPS Toyota owned by his friend and teammate Michael Waltrip. While Jarrett is participating in an abbreviated schedule, he predicts that fans will see a much different Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) in 2008.
"If we needed to improve 100 percent, then we've probably improved 75 or 80 percent to this point," Jarrett said of MWR. "It's amazing the turnaround because we're looking at things so differently. Instead of just talking about getting particular cars to the race track we're talking about how we can make our cars better before we even get to the race track. We now have the time and the people to make those things happen. We have people in place that are organizing. We're not just talking about Daytona, California and Vegas but we're also getting ready for the road courses and getting ready for the upcoming races at Charlotte. That's how far ahead we are now in getting ourselves prepared. There's just no comparison as to what took place last year and what we'll show up with here this year."
The overall improvements made at MWR are part of the greater improvements made by Toyota as a manufacturer. Toyota has been heavily involved in research and development projects to help improve the racing product Toyota teams use and have invested in personnel to create greater depth for all teams competing under the Team Camry banner.
"It's amazing what has happened in a year's time," Jarrett said of Toyota's progress. "There was so much happening leading up to the beginning of last year trying to get prepared. It was an impossible task - impossible for Toyota to think they could be remotely competitive from the beginning because there were too many things involved to make that happen. All of the hard work and effort that everyone continued to put forth is paying off now."
Jarrett considers one of the biggest coups for the manufacturer was the addition of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) to the Toyota family. He believes the addition of the JGR teams to the Toyota camp has helped to accelerate the progress made by Toyota teams.
"We're still not where we need to be, but the addition of Joe Gibbs Racing into the Toyota camp has been a huge benefit already and we haven't even run a race," Jarrett explained. "There isn't any doubt that what I've seen so far, and what I know about talks and discussions that have taken place that everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing has been very helpful, as much as they can be at this point in time. I don't think anyone had the idea that they would just come in and tell you whatever you wanted to know, but they have been very helpful in a number of areas to help get our teams better."
While all of the improvements made by Toyota and MWR have been documented, Jarrett said there is always room for improvement.
"To say there's one particular area where we need to improve probably isn't accurate," Jarrett said. "It's a combination. We're working with their chassis a lot more so that's making it a lot better. That's also going to make the engines perform a lot better when the cars drive better. They worked extremely hard in listening to the drivers last year as we complained about what we wanted with the power. They've done a good job of that and they'll have to continue to do that because everyone else doesn't sit still but they're definitely on the right track."
