It was an emotional day at Bristol Motor Speedway where Dale Jarrett made the 668th and final start of his illustrious NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career in Sunday's Food City 500. After battling hard early, a loose, rear tire forced the former champion to make a pit stop under green-flag conditions, dropping him several laps off the lead lap. He eventually finished the day in 37th position.
Although he didn't get the finish he would have liked, Jarrett says he has no regrets in regards to a career in which he won 32 races and the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
"I have absolutely no regrets and I feel very fortunate to be able to finish my career on my own terms," Jarrett said.
Jarrett started the race from the 37th position and was making decent progress in the event but fell victim to the torrid pace set by race leader Clint Bowyer during the first 50 laps. Despite losing a lap early, the UPS Team was able to make adjustments to the UPS Toyota that allowed Jarrett to keep up with the lead lap cars during the next 50 laps.
Misfortune struck the team on lap 165 when the right-rear tire on the UPS Toyota came loose and Jarrett had to make a pit stop under green-flag race conditions. Jarrett lost three laps during the pit stop, a crushing blow at the half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway where track position is hard to overcome.
The last caution of the day waved with less than two laps remaining forcing NASCAR into its version of "overtime" with the green, white, checkered-flag finish. Jarrett, who had reported "misses" in the engine prior to the final restart, lost second gear on the final restart but was able to finish. He was scored with a 37th-place finish.
"It's not the way I wanted to end the day here," Jarrett said. "I'm very fortunate to go out with the best sponsor in the business with UPS and certainly, I'd like to have had a better finish but I'm still very lucky to have had the career I had. It's been a privilege and an honor."
Jarrett's heir apparent, David Reutimann, left Bristol with a 16th-place finish that allowed him to move to 23rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. Car owner and teammate Michael Waltrip finished the day in 24th place which allowed him to move up three spots in the point standings to 30th.
Jeff Burton scored the win in a thrilling finish at Bristol which saw three different leaders during the final five laps. He was followed across the finish line by his teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, respectively. Kyle Busch continues to lead the driver point standings by a margin of 24 points over Greg Biffle.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enjoys a rare weekend off next week for the Easter holiday. Racing action resumes in two weeks at Martinsville Speedway. The March 30th race is scheduled for a 2 p.m. EDT start. FOX will provide live television coverage of the event beginning with its pre-race show at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
