After enjoying a successful Speed Weeks at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Jarrett and the #44 UPS Racing Team turns their attention to the upcoming Auto Club 500 race weekend at California Speedway. California is a track at which Jarrett has competed since it opened for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing in 1997. Jarrett said when thinking of California, nothing stands out more than the first time the series raced at the two-mile track.
"I think the thing that stands out the most to me is when we first went there and all the comparisons of how it was built just like Michigan," Jarrett said. "Certainly as you drove in and looked at it, it looked a lot like Michigan but then once you got on the race track it was totally different and had its own personality. Really to me, it's probably a more difficult speedway than what Michigan was to drive. So that stands out. It's a very nice facility and it gave us the opportunity to get closer to that LA market again."
The Auto Club 500 is scheduled for this Sunday, February 24 with a race time of 1 p.m. PST. FOX will go live with its pre-race show at 12:30 p.m. PST.
Jarrett Discusses Racing at California Speedway
Is there anything that you haven't done yet that you would like to accomplish?
"Sure there are some places I'd like to have won at. The road courses come to mind as places where I would like to have won. I probably had a couple of opportunities to make that happen where the car was right and I was able to do what I needed to do but that didn't happen. The only track that I didn't win at where I probably would have liked to have won is California. I obviously have one more chance to do that this weekend but I also am happy with what I was able to accomplish and do in this sport."
Has it started to set in that you are making your last starts as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver?
"Yeah, obviously with Daytona last week that made the whole concept very real and while it is somewhat sad it's also very exciting for me. I have reached that point in my career where I feel like I can walk away with the sport happy with what I was able to accomplish and do during these last 20 years or so. I never could have imagined the kind of career I would have and just to win one race was such a thrill and I've been able to win 32 races in my career as well as a championship. So I feel very good about this being my time to walk away from the sport."
What will you miss about racing in California?
"Oh, just that this is a fun race track for a competitor and that this is a place I've been able to enjoy racing at and visiting. Of course I'll still be coming back to visit when we're back here in September and that will be from the broadcast booth but it will be different. When this track was built it was designed to be somewhat of a sister track to Michigan which is my favorite track to race. I won't have the opportunity to race at Michigan, and although the tracks aren't exactly the same, I guess California would be the next best thing. This track has changed a lot since it was first built and it has started to get some aging to it. One of the reasons I enjoy racing at Michigan is because the track is so wide with multiple racing grooves. California isn't quite as wide with its racing grooves but it is getting there and I think it's a place where we'll be able to enjoy good races for many years and that's what is most important."
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
- Dale Jarrett has competed in 14 of the 15 races that have taken place at California Speedway since the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series started racing at the two-mile track in 1997.
- Jarrett earned a career-best California Speedway finish of fifth place during the Sprint Cup Series race in the spring of 1999. Jarrett started second in the race and led one lap before walking away with his only top-five finish at the track.
- Jarrett has earned six top-10 finishes at California and has failed to finish a race there only twice - once for an engine failure in 199 and the other the result of an accident in 2003.
- Jarrett has a lap completion rate of 94.5 percent in his 14 starts at California Speedway
