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New opportunity for Jarrett to succeed
2006 Rewind
When we last checked in with Dale Jarrett, everything was going pretty darn well. He'd started the season with a 10th-place run at Daytona, then backed that up with nine consecutive top-20 finishes and a firm hold on a top-10 points ranking.
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Then we went to Darlington for Mothers Day weekend and he announced he was going to join Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007 to help launch Toyota's new Nextel Cup effort.
That's when someone turned the lights out.
Over the next 13 weeks, D.J. never came within a country mile of a top-10 finish, posting an average effort of 29.6 and freefalling from 10th in points all the way to 26th. In the midst of it all, teammate Elliott Sadler also announced that he would be leaving Robert Yates Racing and rumors began to swirl that RYR was going under ... or selling out ... or selling off ... or, well, after a while we lost track.
Crafty pit strategy at Kansas almost provided one last win to wrap up Yates and Jarrett's 12-year run, but they settled for season-high fourth-place finish.
Why He Will Finish 14th
If enthusiasm is truly worth extra horsepower, then Jarrett has the potential to surprise some people in his all-new car with his all-new crew at his all-new team. After one of the great decade-long stretches of NASCAR's modern era, watching the once-proud pair of Jarrett and Yates go through the motions together was getting painful for all involved. One glance at the 1999 Cup champ during Daytona testing and you could see that the old new attitude had returned.
"It was starting to feel like we were in the process of winding down my career (at Yates). I'm not ready to do that yet," Jarrett said. "I feel like I still have some winning left in me and maybe a championship run. With a new team there's new enthusiasm about building something and working up toward a goal. I missed that and it's nice to be around it again. It makes me feel younger to be around it."
Calling the shots for the No. 44 UPS Camry is another man in search of a career oil change, crew chief Matt Borland, who left Penske Racing after his once-successful partnership with Ryan Newman had stalled out. If these two winners truly get on the same page, look for success earlier than scheduled.
The All-Telling, All-Knowing Stat: 23
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That's how many races it took Dodge to finally win a race during its much-hyped comeback season of 2001, coming at Michigan compliments of Sterling Marlin and Chip Ganassi Racing. Jarrett has openly challenged the notion that Toyota will take that long to win a race and rebuts predictions that the world's largest carmaker may win one or two races by saying the Camry could win "a lot more than that." The race is on.
Fantasy Lock: Michigan
It doesn't seem to matter what car Jarrett drives in the Irish Hills or whose name is on the nose, he always manages to find the front. In 40 career starts he owns career-bests with four wins (tied with Daytona), 15 top fives, and 20 top 10s.
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