Push from Waltrip helps Jarrett make his final 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- They previewed the last of the now-famous "race the truck" commercials for the media Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, and the spot strikes a wistful and melancholy tone. Dale Jarrett locks up his big brown delivery van, and leaves the keys for someone else. The 1999 NASCAR champion himself was on hand for the viewing, and it was clearly an emotional experience for a man whose long and illustrious career is drawing to an end.

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Dale Jarrett

Daytona 500

Race Lineup

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
2.	Michael Waltrip	Toyota
3.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
4.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
5.	Reed Sorenson	Dodge
6.	Tony Stewart	Toyota
7.	Ryan Newman	Dodge
8.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
9.	Casey Mears	Chevrolet
10.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge

• Complete Lineup click here

But he's not ready to toss the keys to his No. 44 Toyota to successor David Reutimann just yet. Jarrett, who needed to race his way into the Daytona 500 after Kurt Busch went out with an apparent electrical problem in the first of Thursday's two 150-mile qualifying races, used a big push from teammate and car owner Michael Waltrip in the second to secure a starting berth in Sunday's 50th running of the Daytona 500, an event Jarrett has won three times.

"To know that we're capable now of coming down and racing our way in, that's such a difference from 365 days ago," said Jarrett, who failed to qualify for 12 races last year as Michael Waltrip Racing struggled to get on its feet. "We couldn't do that. We did it, and now we have the opportunity to work on this thing and get ourselves in position to win the Daytona 500."

Jarrett started 14th, but fell back at the start and struggled to catch up with fellow go-or-go-homers Ken Schrader and Patrick Carpentier until Waltrip, whose outside front row starting position was secured in pole qualifying Sunday, dropped to the back. Jarrett had to finish second among the cars outside of the top 35 to get into the 500, because he didn't have the past champion's provisional available to him. That went to Busch, who traded points with Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. over the offseason, and fell out of the first qualifier with a wiring problem.

"I'm here for you. You tell me when you need me," Waltrip radioed to Jarrett. He was as good as his word, giving up his place at the front of the field and coming to Jarrett's aid. Waltrip pushed Jarrett up to third overall before dropping back and leaving the No. 44 car to fend for itself. Jarrett caught a break when Carpentier blew a tire and hit the wall, smashing both his car and his Daytona 500 hopes. But the accident also brought out a red flag that forced a final restart and a green-white-checkered finish.

Jarrett's team asked the spotter of Kevin Harvick, securely in the 500 and restarting behind the No. 44 car, to go easy on the restart. "Tell him I'll be sure to say nice things about him on TV," radioed Jarrett, who will move into the ESPN broadcast booth when he slides out of the car following the fifth points event of this season.

And Waltrip was watching his rear flank. "David and I are going to block our ass off," the team owner said, referring to himself and Reutimann, who was locked into the event by virtue of his qualifying speed. Jarrett didn't need the help -- he restarted well ahead of Schrader, the only driver left who could challenge him, and a ninth-place finish wrapped up his 20th Daytona 500 appearance.

The assist from Waltrip was part of the plan. "That's one of the things we talked about when it came time," Jarrett said. "He has a starting spot. He's going to start second regardless. If my car ran a lot better when I had somebody behind pushing, Michael knew how to do that. That helped a lot."

50th Daytona 500

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• Winning drivers
• Winning crew chiefs
• History of the 500
• How DIS came to be
• Flashback: Daytona '79

Could Jarrett have made the 500 without Waltrip's help? Although he never complained about his car over the radio -- in fact, he stressed to his crew several times that everything was fine -- his advance through the field didn't begin in earnest until his car owner dropped back to push. Still, he maintained that he had enough car to do it on his own if needed.

"It made my job easier knowing that I had someone there at my back. But no, my car was good enough to drive up there and do what I needed to do. I told the guys early on when they asked about my car, I knew my car was really good. I was just free enough that I knew that I shouldn't be hurt in the right-front tire, and that I could ride around the top when I needed to do that," Jarrett said.

"[Waltrip] got lost there a couple of times, and I was still OK. But no, my car was good enough do to what I needed to do. Kind of like an insurance policy, basically, and we all have that. So it was nice to have that there."

Waltrip echoed that sentiment. "Dale just had an awesome car. He did a great job. He could have made it without us, but there was no sense in taking that chance," he said.

"We wanted to do all we could. It's part of the rules. You can go out and help your teammates, and that's what we did."

Reutimann, who drives MWR's No. 00 car, knew the game plan going in. "Trust me, all the guys at Michael Waltrip Racing weren't going to not let me know what we were supposed to be doing at any given time," he said. "We knew the 44 car needed to finish ahead of the 00. It's irrelevant where you start, to me, at this point, as long as we get three cars in the field. That's what our goal was."

But it was far from guaranteed. Before the race, Jarrett -- whose career is in many ways defined by his trio of Daytona 500 victories -- talked about how important it was to make the race in his final attempt. Last season, Waltrip was the one who had to sweat out making the Daytona 500 in the 150s. Thursday it was Jarrett's turn, and the end result was a 20th-place starting position in Sunday's main event.

"It is very gratifying, personally," he said. "...Personally, hey, when it comes time to get this done, I enjoy the challenge. I feel very good about what we were able to accomplish."