Hard Charger: Dale Jarrett

MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Luck hasn’t befriended Dale Jarrett much this season. When it has struck, it’s usually been the negative variety, and at the worst possible moment.

But on Sunday, Jarrett and his No. 88 team out-muscled luck. Their fourth-place finish in the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway smacked of perseverance, not serendipity, and considering earlier woes, he was happy to follow winner Bobby Labonte home.

	Dale Jarrett Credit: ASP

“It’s as hard and as tough racing as I’ve seen here, but congratulations to Bobby Labonte,” Jarrett said. “What a great job he did. And it was fun racing. Everybody was beating and banging.”

Sunday’s 500-lap affair was a typical short-track battle: 14 caution periods, lots of crunched sheet metal, and a few bruised egos. Matt Kenseth, the eventual second-place finisher, battled Jarrett door-to-door during the final 10 laps, both cars bouncing off each other, yet staying fender-to-fender. Tony Stewart gradually slipped between them, stealing the third spot. But afterward, Jarrett seemed unperturbed by all the contact.

“It was so difficult to make a pass at anytime no matter how many laps anybody had on their tires,” he said. “It was tough. It just shows how tough this racing is.”

Bouncing off other competitors was child’s play compared to previous obstacles. Stuck with the 31st starting spot, Jarrett had climbed as high as 20th by lap 150. But a broken air wrench combined with a pit-road penalty dropped him a lap behind the leaders at the halfway point, and his chances of a decent finish appeared all but gone.

The situation mimicked last week’s running-out-of-gas episode at Texas, where Jarrett finished 24th despite leading a race-high 134 laps. It also recalled two blown engines -- one at Rockingham while leading, the other at Darlington while running in the top 10.

“After our air wrench broke and got us a lap down, I didn’t have any idea we could be racing for the win,” Jarrett said. “But the guys did a great job and at least got us a top-five.”

It was a team effort: Jarrett picked off his peers one-by-one, and his crew did their part. He’d jumped to 12th with 100 laps left, seventh with 75 laps left, and a high of second with 25 laps remaining.

“We took four tires there, and adjusted on the car, and we had to make up a lot on the race track,” Jarrett said. “Then the guys made me some time up in the pits when we got four the next time. Then when we got two we got good track position and the car just worked well with those two tires -- just didn’t have quite enough there at the end.”

He did have enough to improve in the points standings. Mired in 24th place entering Sunday’s race, Jarrett leaves in the 21st spot.