Two races are in the books for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. For Dale Jarrett only three races remain before he makes his final career start at the All-Star race in May. One of Jarrett's final races takes place this weekend in Las Vegas - a place he considers one of his favorite to visit.
"Las Vegas is one of my favorite places to visit for a number of reasons," Jarrett said. "It's a place where literally, there is something for everyone. This will be my last race in Las Vegas and it will be a sentimental one just because of the fun we've always had racing at this track and being in town for this event."
The UAW-Dodge 400 is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. PST start. FOX will provide the live television broadcast while PRN will provide live radio coverage.
Jarrett Discusses Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
What will you miss most about racing in Las Vegas?
"Aside from the fact that it is another opportunity to visit the city, it's just a great facility with great fans. The staff at Las Vegas does a tremendous job of getting the fans out to that race and that's a pretty considerable accomplishment when you consider all there is to do and compete with in a city like Las Vegas. But the track itself is a fun place to race. It's changed a lot since we first started racing there in 1998 but it is still one of the places I look forward to racing and I am glad that it is one of these five races I am running in 2008."
How did you feel about the team's test session in Las Vegas last month?
"It went pretty well. Our organization did a lot of work during the winter. In particular, Michael Waltrip, Michael McDowell, David Reutimann and Mark Green - they all did a lot of testing and just made a lot of progress because Las Vegas and other tracks like it are places where we really struggled in 2007. I think it is all part of the changes that were made at Michael Waltrip Racing. Bringing a guy like Dr. Eric Warren (Vice President, Technical Director) in was a tremendous accomplishment and he has done a terrific job at organizing all of the testing that has taken place. I was pleasantly surprised when I got in the car for the test and made the first few laps because the cars are now doing things that we couldn't get them to do last year. We have speed and the car drives well for a number of laps. I think the information gathered at that test will only help us when we are back in Las Vegas for the race."
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
- Dale Jarrett has participated in all 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races that have taken place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway since the series started racing at the track in 1998.
- Jarrett's best finish at Las Vegas is a second-place effort he achieved at the track in 2001 after starting the race from the pole.
- Jarrett has one top-five and three top-10 finishes in 10 starts at Las Vegas.
- Jarrett will participate in a press conference with his sponsor UPS in the infield media center at Las Vegas on Friday, February 29 at 9:45 a.m.
