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Dale Jarrett will move to the broadcast booth upon his retirement from driving.By the Numbers: Bristol
Jarrett to make 668th and final start in 24-year career
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The year was 1986. The date was Aug. 23. Just 30 cars -- led by pole-sitter Geoffrey Bodine in his No. 5 Levi Garrett Chevrolet -- started the Busch 500 at what was then known as Bristol International Speedway.
Darrell Waltrip went on to win his second of three races that year, his final driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Junior Johnson. Dale Earnhardt was fourth; hot-shot Tim Richmond was sixth; The King was seventh.
Finishing next-to-last, in 29th position, in just his fourth career start in the Cup Series and first in nearly two years was Dale Jarrett in the No. 98 Pontiac.
It was Jarrett's first Bristol experience and only start that season before racing full time in 1987. He lasted 69 laps before retiring due to a vibration.
Since then, Jarrett has won stock-car racing's biggest prize on multiple occasions, won a championship, went 11 consecutive seasons with a victory, and drove for 11 different car owners with 12 different numbers.
On Sunday, the real retirement begins. Jarrett, after 24 years of racing in NASCAR's highest level, is calling it quits. The Food City 500 will be his final Cup Series start.
3Daytona 500 victories for Dale Jarrett, third most by any driver along with Bobby Allison and Jeff Gordon. Richard Petty has seven Daytona 500 wins, followed by Cale Yarborough's four. Jarrett won in 1993, 1996 and 2000.
6.8Average finish for Dale Jarrett during the 1999 season when he won the Cup Series championship.
7Victories for Dale Jarrett during the 1997 season. He won consecutive races at Atlanta and Darlington, then collected wins at Pocono, Bristol, Richmond, Charlotte and Phoenix. He finished second in the championship by 14 points to Jeff Gordon.
8Times that Dale Jarrett has finished the season ranked in the top 10 in points, seven of which he finished inside the top five. He won the 1999 Cup championship by 201 points over Bobby Labonte.
32Career victories for Dale Jarrett, ranking him 20th on the all-time list.
43Career starts for Dale Jarrett at Bristol, more than any other track in his career. He has one victory (fall 1997), nine top-fives and 19 top-10s at the half-mile. His average finish is 17.1.
667Career starts in the Cup Series for Dale Jarrett. He made his first career start on April 29, 1984, at Martinsville Speedway, where he finished 14th in the No. 02 Chevrolet.
Aug. 18, 1991Date that Dale Jarrett recorded his first Cup victory, winning the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan while driving the No. 21 Ford for the Wood Brothers. He beat Davey Allison to the checkered flag by an estimated 10 inches.
Oct. 2, 2005Date that Dale Jarrett won his final Cup race, the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega while driving the No. 88 Ford for Robert Yates Racing. Jarrett led two laps, winning the race under caution over Tony Stewart.
Dale Jarrett
Career Statistics
| Year | Starts | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 | Led | Rank | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 30.0 | 24.7 |
| 1986 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 107 | 28.0 | 29.0 |
| 1987 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 27.7 | 24.1 |
| 1988 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 23 | 24.5 | 24.3 |
| 1989 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 99 | 24 | 24.2 | 22.7 |
| 1990 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 73 | 25 | 15.2 | 19.4 |
| 1991 | 29 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 47 | 17 | 16.4 | 19.4 |
| 1992 | 29 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 99 | 19 | 16.5 | 17.8 |
| 1993 | 30 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 263 | 4 | 19.7 | 12.4 |
| 1994 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 55 | 16 | 22.7 | 18.7 |
| 1995 | 31 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 324 | 13 | 18.4 | 17.4 |
| 1996 | 31 | 4 | 17 | 21 | 755 | 3 | 12.1 | 8.8 |
| 1997 | 32 | 7 | 20 | 23 | 2,083 | 2 | 7.2 | 9.6 |
| 1998 | 33 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 812 | 3 | 8.7 | 11.2 |
| 1999 | 34 | 4 | 24 | 29 | 1,061 | 1 | 13.2 | 6.8 |
| 2000 | 34 | 2 | 15 | 24 | 333 | 4 | 13.1 | 11.1 |
| 2001 | 36 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 511 | 5 | 14.8 | 13.9 |
| 2002 | 36 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 441 | 9 | 18.5 | 15.2 |
| 2003 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 49 | 26 | 25.8 | 23.8 |
| 2004 | 36 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 25 | 15 | 20.8 | 16.4 |
| 2005 | 36 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 20.4 | 18.2 |
| 2006 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 23 | 28.2 | 22.7 |
| 2007 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 31.9 | 32.3 |
| 2008 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 29.0 | 28.5 |
| Totals | 667 | 32 | 163 | 260 | 7,050 | 19.0 | 17.2 |
Back in Time
Aug. 23, 1997Dale Jarrett won the Goody's Headache Powder 500 at Bristol, his only victory at the half-mile track. Driving the No. 88 Ford for Robert Yates, Jarrett started third, led 210 laps, and beat Mark Martin by 0.102 seconds.
10 Key Facts
2Drivers who have led every race this season: Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon. Busch has one victory and is ranked first in the Cup standings, while Gordon has not won and is ranked 15th.
6Times in the Modern Era (1972-present) that a Chevrolet has not won during the first four races of the season: 1972, 1973, 1976, 1992, 2002, 2008.
10.3Average finish for Greg Biffle in his 10 starts at Bristol, the best average among drivers ranked in the top 12 in points. Biffle has never won at Bristol.
11Former winners at Bristol who are on the entry list for this weekend. Three drivers have won multiple times: Kurt Busch (5), Jeff Gordon (5), Matt Kenseth (2).
17Positions in the standings Carl Edwards has dropped in just more than a week. He was leading the standings following consecutive victories at California and Las Vegas, but was penalized 100 points for a post-race infraction and fell to seventh. Then his engine expired at Atlanta, dropping him 10 positions to his current spot in 17th.
20Races that NASCAR's new chassis has run. It made its debut in this race one year ago as part of a 16-race part-time schedule. Kyle Busch was the inaugural winner in the new car.
77Races of the 94 held at Bristol that have been won from a top-10 starting position, 50 of which have been won from the top four positions.
371Laps led by Jeremy Mayfield in his 25 starts at Bristol, the most by an active driver who has not won there.
904Points scored by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the last six Bristol races, more than any other driver.
2,437Laps led by Jeff Gordon at Bristol, more than twice that of Tony Stewart (1,085) who is ranked second.
Also
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Sprint Cup Series
Owner points, pos. 30-40
| Pos. | Car | Owner | Points | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30. | No. 5 | Mary Hendrick | 331 | +33 |
| 31. | No. 26 | Geoff Smith | 318 | +20 |
| 32. | No. 44 | Michael Waltrip | 315 | +17 |
| 33. | No. 55 | Michael Waltrip | 303 | +5 |
| 34. | No. 70 | Margaret Haas | 301 | +3 |
| 35. | No. 96 | Jeffrey Moorad | 298 | -- |
| 36. | No. 77 | Roger Penske | 280 | -18 |
| 37. | No. 22 | Bill Davis | 273 | -25 |
| 38. | No. 40 | Felix Sabates | 264 | -34 |
| 39. | No. 01 | Teresa Earnhardt | 232 | -66 |
| 40. | No. 45 | Kyle Petty | 217 | -81 |
• Complete Owner Points, click here
Bristol Motor Speedway
Active drivers, based on victories
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-5 | Top-10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Gordon | 30 | 5 | 12 | 18 |
| Kurt Busch | 14 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| Mark Martin | 40 | 2 | 15 | 21 |
| Matt Kenseth | 16 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Carl Edwards | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Bill Elliott | 42 | 1 | 6 | 14 |
| Kevin Harvick | 14 | 1 | 7 | 9 |
| Dale Jarrett | 43 | 1 | 9 | 19 |
| Elliott Sadler | 19 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 16 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Kyle Busch | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Tony Stewart | 18 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
Active drivers, based on average finish
| Driver | Starts | Avg. Start | Avg. Finish | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biffle | 10 | 15.8 | 10.3 | 202 |
| Harvick | 14 | 17.6 | 10.5 | 358 |
| Earnhardt Jr. | 16 | 19.6 | 11.7 | 743 |
| J. Gordon | 30 | 5.5 | 11.7 | 2,437 |
| Kenseth | 16 | 18.9 | 12.5 | 742 |
Sprint Cup Series
Official Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Kyle Busch | 665 | Leader |
| 2. | +3 | Greg Biffle | 592 | -73 |
| 3. | +1 | Kevin Harvick | 574 | -91 |
| 4. | -2 | Ryan Newman | 571 | -94 |
| 5. | +1 | Jeff Burton | 555 | -110 |
| 6. | +4 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 531 | -134 |
| 7. | -4 | Kasey Kahne | 528 | -137 |
| 8. | +3 | Tony Stewart | 525 | -140 |
| 9. | +4 | Brian Vickers | 491 | -174 |
| 10. | +2 | Kurt Busch | 478 | -187 |
| 11. | -3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 471 | -194 |
| 12. | +4 | Matt Kenseth | 470 | -195 |
• Complete Standings click here
Cup Series News
- Victory has Hamlin ready to fight for Cup title in 2010
- Martin can't mount charge needed to push Johnson
- Montoya, Stewart let anger get best of them in finale
- For four drivers, '09 finale more than end to season
- Johnson eases to record fourth consecutive title
- Evernham trying to clear way for return to garage
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