CONCORD, N.C. -- Dale Jarrett finally got to drive the big brown truck on a racetrack.

Now he can truly call it a career.

Although there were times during Saturday's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe's Motor Speedway when it appeared the big brown truck might have been able to go faster than the racecar Jarrett tried to drive later, it was, in many of the best ways, a perfect night under a full moon for the veteran driver.

He received a hearty standing ovation from his peers in the pre-race drivers' meeting. He received the honor of being the final driver introduced to the fans for what he insisted was his final race, and again the cheers flowed forth -- as did, apparently, a few tears. Jarrett appeared to wipe his eyes as he climbed into his No. 44 Toyota for the last time.

Others have retired and then come back, and then done so again and again. Mark Martin comes most immediately to mind. Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte, who recently signed on to drive some races later this season for Petty Enterprises, have found themselves to be hot commodities because of the past champion's provisional starts that they carried away with them in pockets of driver's suits that supposedly were being hung up for good.

Jarrett said he already has been approached by teams inquiring about his future availability for spot duty, per his own cache of provisional starts. He said he knows that he could procure "crazy money" for such part-time stints, but is not so inclined to pursue them.

He keeps insisting that for him, retirement actually means retirement.

"I hate to use the word never, but I have no plans whatsoever of getting back in a car," Jarrett said. "I can't even come up with a scenario where I would."

Dale Jarrett

Career Statistics

Starts	668
Wins	32
Top-5	163
Top-10	260
Poles	16
Laps Led	7,050
Avg. Start	19.0
Avg. Finish	17.2
Championships	1 (1999)
Daytona 500 wins	3 ('93, '96, '00)

• Superstore: Dale Jarrett

Another life
Jarrett announced prior to this season that he would drive the first five points races, through the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 16, and then in Saturday's All-Star Race before calling it quits.

Just since stepping away over the last several races, Jarrett has discovered there is more to life -- his life -- than racing. He continues to do announcing work for ESPN that requires him to stay in close touch with the sport, for now particularly with what's happening in the Nationwide Series. Yet he admitted that the previous two weekends he hadn't seen but the last portion of Cup races at Richmond and Darlington.

"It's been nice to get away and have that time and see another side of life," Jarrett said. "On the weekends that I've been home, if I've wanted to sleep in a little late and get up with the kids and go for a late breakfast, I was able to do that. I've heard about people doing that, but I hadn't been able to do it."

He said he can go to early church service on Sunday mornings now and be at the golf course by 10 a.m. Then he can play 18 holes and still get home in time to help get his son Zach to baseball practice.

"I've just seen another side of life that I knew was there, but haven't been able to experience. And now I am and I'm really enjoying it," Jarrett said.

Jarrett was nostalgic when discussing his looming final ride a day earlier in the Lowe's Motor Speedway media center.

"It's just difficult knowing that when I climb out of that racecar Saturday night that it's the last time that I will ever compete at this level," Jarrett said. "You can do a lot of fun things. I can go to the golf course and have great matches, but nothing will ever match the excitement that you get from driving a racecar and being able to compete at this level."

“

I've exceeded the amount that I thought I could accomplish when I started in this business, but that's because I was fortunate to surround myself with some really good people at a really good time in my life.

”

DALE JARRETT

Father vs. son
Dale's career in many ways was the polar opposite of his father Ned's.

Ned Jarrett retired young in 1966, only one year after winning his second points championship in NASCAR's top series. Ned was only 34 years old at the time -- the same age Dale was when he finally won his first Cup race, beating Davey Allison at the wire for a win at Michigan while driving for the Wood Brothers in 1991.

There were those who thought Dale might never win at all, even though he had experienced success in what was then the Busch Series. And even after Michigan, there were those who thought perhaps he would never win again -- especially when it was more than a year until he won again, this time giving the fledging Joe Gibbs Racing operation its very first Cup victory in 1993.

But that was hardly the case.

Dale Jarrett was like a fine bottle of wine, getting better with age. He didn't hit full stride until 1996, when he won four times while driving for Robert Yates Racing. The next year, he won seven times -- followed by four more victories and his only points championship a year later in 1999.

By the time he climbed out of the car Saturday night, it didn't matter that he had quickly fallen off the pace and slogged his way to a 21st-place finish. This was his version of a career Victory Lap after amassing 32 Cup wins in 668 career starts.

He accomplished more than even he ever believed possible -- and there was no bigger believer in Dale Jarrett in the late 1980s and early 1990s than Dale Jarrett himself. That's because few others believed in him at all.

That slowly changed over the years.

"I didn't have anything to base that on at that time, but I knew that the determination and drive that I had within me to succeed would help to carry me on. As long as I could get others to believe in me as much, then I knew I would have some success," Jarrett said.

"I've exceeded the amount that I thought I could accomplish when I started in this business, but that's because I was fortunate to surround myself with some really good people at a really good time in my life. Everything came together, even though it was in the latter stages of my career."

It was, he added a moment later, "perfect timing."

So was his decision to step down with class when and where he did. Well done.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.