 |  | | Dale Jarrett and Todd Parrott celebrate their win last week at Talladega. Credit: Autostock |
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
October 5, 2005
03:25 PM EDT (19:25 GMT)
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Sometimes taking a step away can be the best way for partners to realize they never had it so good -- and crew chief Todd Parrott and Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett might be the latest to find it out and deliver the proof.  |  | | Credit: Autostock |
| |
| Inside the Chase |
| Point standings after 'Dega |
| No. |
Driver |
Pts. |
Behind |
| 1. |
T. Stewart |
5,519 |
-- |
| 2. |
R. Newman |
5,515 |
-4 |
| 3. |
R. Wallace |
5,443 |
-76 |
| 4. |
J. Johnson |
5,437 |
-82 |
| 5. |
G. Biffle |
5,421 |
-98 |
| 6. |
C. Edwards |
5,419 |
-100 |
| 7. |
M. Kenseth |
5,408 |
-111 |
| 8. |
J. Mayfield |
5,407 |
-112 |
| 9. |
M. Martin |
5,381 |
-138 |
| 10. |
Ku. Busch |
5,339 |
-180 |
|
|
 |
After a nearly three-year separation, RYR reunited the pair that scored 26 victories together between 1996 and 2002. Their Dover beginning was inauspicious, Jarrett started and finished 15th, but at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend the veterans delivered a stunning victory, as Jarrett took the lead on the final lap during a green-white-checker finish and won the UAW-Ford 500. It was Jarrett's 32nd career victory, but most telling, his 27th with Parrott on the box. After the race, their mutual respect was apparent. "We do have a huge amount of respect for each other and Todd has brought back a leadership that we haven't seen since he left, really, with the 88 team," Jarrett said. "We're sure now that we're taking the right cars to the right race tracks. "The guys are sure that they have a leader that's gonna be behind what they're doing and when they're not doing it right, he's gonna make sure that it is getting done properly." Parrott concurred and said that anyone who had any inkling that Jarrett's career as a winner in NASCAR's premier division was over was mistaken. "I told Robert (Yates) before Dover -- I went out on a limb and I promised him that I would get this 88 UPS car back in Victory Lane before the end of the year," Parrott said. "I just didn't know it was gonna happen this quick. "Me and this guy (Jarrett) have worked a lot of magic together and we're not done." The win Sunday moved Jarrett up a spot in the standings, to 14th, 51 points behind 11th-place Kevin Harvick. | |
