Jarrett calling it quits on his own terms, as an All-Star

CONCORD, N.C. -- Dale Jarrett's march to his final checkered flag is almost complete.

Ending all speculation about his future, Jarrett stood in the infield media center at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon and confirmed what most everyone already had reported, plus a few little tidbits that qualified as news.

Jarrett will retire next season after running the Bud Shootout -- a non-points event -- and the first five points races, including the Daytona 500. But his final race will be the All-Star Challenge next May at Lowe's Motor Speedway

Dale Jarrett

Career Stats

Years	23
Starts	663
Wins	32
Top-5	163
Top-10	260
Poles	16
Laps Led	7,047
Avg. Start	18.9
Avg. Finish	17.1

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Ironically, Jarrett arrived at the decision to make that race his last based in large part on the struggles he has endured this season while driving the No. 44 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing.

After switching to the startup team that had no owner points to fall back on, Jarrett has made only 20 of this season's first 31 races (he failed to qualify for the Bank of America 500 at LMS; he made four of the final five races in 2007). That includes six races he made using past champion provisionals, which he is entitled to as the 1999 Cup champion.

Next year, after running those first five races, which he will be guaranteed to make as a past champion, Jarrett will turn over the No. 44 and all its owner's points to David Reutimann, who will begin the season driving the first five races in the No. 00. That, in theory, should help ensure that both Reutimann and whomever replaces him in the No. 00 will be in better shape to be in the top 35 in owner's points after the first five races, increasing the chances that both MWR cars make more races.

Jarrett called it "an insurance policy," and explained then how the scenario also affected his decision to run his final race in the non-points All-Star event.

"There were a lot of considerations there -- knowing that it couldn't end with the Daytona 500 because of what we need to accomplish for Michael Waltrip Racing and UPS, we needed to run those first five," said Jarrett, who will turn 51 on Nov. 26. "The next consideration was to possibly run my last race at Indianapolis and another consideration was to make the Coca-Cola 600 here in Charlotte my last race -- but I realized that was somewhat selfish on my part because what that would do to allow me to be in one of those races would only knock someone else out who is trying to run all those races.

"I know what that is like this year. I didn't want to put someone else in that position, so the All-Star race seemed like a good fit. That is the plan and it has been a difficult decision, but I knew it was coming. I just felt like with the things that have transpired this year, I am ready to do this."

It's not a decision he took lightly. In typical fashion, he thought about how it would affect all those around him -- and as with the decision to make the All-Star race his last, he put the considerations of others before himself.

Jarrett talked with Reutimann first about possibly replacing him in the No. 44 car sponsored by UPS, and then talked with UPS officials about his idea of having Reutimann carry the torch for him with his longtime primary sponsor. In fact, Jarrett was the only driver UPS has sponsored during its seven-year run in the sport.

There was a time, not long ago, when Jarrett was such a threat to win races that making them was no more than an afterthought.

Jarrett's 32 career wins rank him tied for 19th all-time with Tony Stewart. He made his first Cup start on April 29, 1984, at Martinsville, and his first win came at Michigan on Aug. 18, 1991.

Michael Waltrip recalled how he still remembers bearing witness to Jarrett's first victory

"I saw him win for the first time at Michigan, running side-by-side with Davey Allison. I never will forget that day," Waltrip said. "That day was a whole lot like the day when Dale Earnhardt won the Daytona 500. Everybody in the whole garage area was happy for Dale and the Wood Brothers (then Jarrett's car owner), to get that big win that day.

The potential savior of Michael Waltrip Racing is a 44-year-old New York native who went to college in Boston, lives in London, and has a reported net worth of $1.8 billion.

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"When your competitors like when you have success, I think it tells you a little bit about how you live your life and how you respect others, and how much you appreciate the opportunity."

Jarrett is the son of Ned Jarrett, a former driving champion himself. Waltrip, the younger brother of former champion Darrell Waltrip, talked about how that shaped Dale's drive to succeed at stock-car racing's highest level.

"We come from basically the same type of backgrounds," Waltrip said. "I watched my brother win championships and races, and he watched his father do that. So it's just part of our DNA, this garage area and this sport."

Jarrett said he plans to stay around it, dabbling in his new career as a television broadcaster, working with the younger drivers at MWR, and continuing to represent UPS at promotional events during race weekends. But he insisted that he hasn't decided anything for certain about his future in broadcasting, and that no outside factors drove his decision to retire.

"The last 21 years have been built around being at a racetrack for more than 30 weekends a year -- doing exactly what I enjoy doing," Jarrett said. "My family has paid the price and allowed me to do that, and hopefully I can give some of that back now."

Many of Jarrett's fellow competitors applauded his decision and paid him homage, including Mark Martin and Greg Biffle.

"We were competing in the Busch Series when we wished we were Cup drivers," said Martin, 48. "So we have a long history and a lot of respect for one another. ...

"I have really warm places in my heart for the guys who were here and struggled through the things that we struggled through the last 25 years -- especially the last 20 years versus the last four or five years or so. Seniors have a special bond with other people that went through and did the same things that you did. I have that with a lot of guys like Rusty [Wallace], Terry Labonte and Dale Jarrett."

Biffle added: "He's been a great competitor. I watched him win a championship. He's one of those guys that's highly respected in the garage area as a clean, aggressive driver. He knows how to win races, knows how to get it done. He's known as one of those guys like Ricky Rudd and Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin.

"All of us look at those guys the same, and feel pretty proud to have been able to run with them at one time or another."

Jarrett joined Michael Waltrip Racing last winter after driving 12 years for Robert Yates Racing. Jarrett won all but three of his career victories, and also the 1999 championship, while driving for Yates.

He signed a two-year contract with MWR, and leaves on good terms. Despite failing to make 12 races this year, Waltrip said Jarrett gave his fledging operation something that often is difficult to purchase.

"When Dale and his sponsor came over to us, I felt it gave us instant credibility," Waltrip said.

Now, Jarrett said he is ready to move on to another phase of life.

"I have gotten to make a lot of good friends along the way," Jarrett said. "I've been fortunate to do it without serious injury. I am able to walk away on my own terms, and that's a good thing."