| | | | | | | 44 - Dale Jarrett | Hickory, NC |
| | Primary Sponsor: UPS
Manufacturer: Toyota
Car Owner: Michael Waltrip
Team: Michael Waltrip Racing In 2007, Dale Jarrett joined Michael Waltrip Racing to help lead Toyota into the NEXTEL Cup Series.
Jarrett’s path to the Cup Series, which he has raced in for 23 years, didn’t begin until he was 20 years old. It wasn’t until 1977 that he first got behind the wheel, but Jarrett was no stranger to racing. He had watched his dad, Ned Jarrett, race during the 1960s. Ned Jarrett was a two-time Cup champion.
With a couple of high school friends, Jarrett began working on a car and eventually wanted to try it out. He got a loan from his father to buy an engine, and soon started competing in the Limited Sportsman Division at Hickory and NASCAR soon followed.
In 1982, he ran 28 of 29 Busch Series races during the inaugural season, and finished sixth in points with 14 top-10s. For the next six season, Jarrett never finished out of the top five in final point standings.
His first win came at Orange County Speedway in 1986, and the next year he ran a full Busch schedule. He also ran 24 of 29 Cup races before he joined the series full time.
In 1988-89 Jarrett drove for Cale Yarborough and then joined Wood Brothers in 1990.
He had his first Cup victory in 1991 at Michigan, and then in 1993, he had a big season. Jarrett opened that season by winning the Daytona 500, and ended the year with 13 top-fives and 18 top-10s. He finished the season fourth in points.
Jarrett paired up with Robert Yates Racing in 1995 and became a top driver in the Cup series. He won seven races – a personal best – in 1997, and in 1999 he had one of the best seasons in NASCAR history. He won four times, finished in the top five in 24 out of 34 races, finished in the top 10 29 times and joined his father as a Cup Champion.
Jarrett has won the Daytona 500 three times, which ties him for third all-time with Bobby Allison and Jeff Gordon.
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