rpm.espn.com: Dale Jarrett

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Wednesday, January 2

Dale Jarrett
By Jerry Bonkowski
ESPN.com

Team: Robert Yates Racing
Car/sponsor/make: No. 88 UPS Ford

Jarrett
Jarrett

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Top 5
Top 10
Money
Best finish

2001 5 4 12 19 $4,608,366 1st, Four times

Career 28 141 210 $32,505,456 1st, 28 times

2001 recap
The good: Angry at himself for letting Bobby Labonte take the title away from him in 2000, Dale Jarrett entered the 2001 campaign with a new invigorated spirit and an attitude that made his quest for the crown seem almost like an obsession. While he came up short of that championship goal, Jarrett's four wins in 2001 marked the fourth time in the last six seasons he has won four or more races in a season. Jarrett also continued improving upon his reputation as one of the sport's top qualifiers, earning a career-best five poles (plus one outside pole) in 2001.

Season highlight: After his win at Darlington, S.C., in the spring moved him into first-place in the standings, followed by wins at Texas and Martinsville, Va., in two of the next three races, Jarrett threatened to turn the points chase into a runaway, holding the top spot for nine consecutive events.

The bad: Jarrett had a hard crash at Charlotte in late May that resulted in severely bruised ribs, limiting his mobility and effectiveness for several races afterward. He reinjured those same ribs in another crash at Kansas in early October. If he hadn't had to drive in pain for close to two months in total following both crashes, Jarrett likely would have finished higher in the standings and given eventual champion Jeff Gordon a more serious challenge down the stretch.

Season lowlight: Jarrett became mired in a slump two-thirds of the way through the season that effectively killed any hopes of making a late rush towards the championship. After temporarily regaining first-place for one week with his win at New Hampshire (first race), Jarrett tanked in four of the next six races, including finishes of 41st at Pocono, Pa., 31st at Watkins Glen, N.Y., 37th at Michigan and 34th at Darlington -- which dropped him into fourth-place.

Dale Jarrett
Dale Jarrett delivered the goods all season long in his UPS sponsored No. 88 Ford.

Key stat: After his win at New Hampshire, Jarrett went on to have his worst finish of the season (41st) at Pocono the following week, dropping him like a ton of bricks from first to third in the standings. On the good side of the slate, however, Jarrett finished half of this past season's 36 races in the top-10 and 24 of 36 in the top-20.

2002 outlook
What needs to be done: Crew chief Todd Parrott, one of the best in the game, burned out during the horrendously long 36-race campaign in 2001 and ultimately wound up resigning his post. He'll remain with the organization as team manager, with Jimmy Elledge moving over from Andy Petree Racing to become Jarrett's new crew chief. How well the Jarrett-Elledge partnership will jell, particularly in the first third of the 2002 campaign will likely set the stage for Jarrett's championship hopes.

Prediction: Last season was Jarrett's worst in terms of final finish in the standings since he was 16th in 1994. From that point, Jarrett won the title in 1999 and had finished no lower than fourth (2000). A threat to win whenever he takes to the track, Jarrett will likely again finish in the top-5 in 2002 if recent history is any indicator. The key to that ultimate finish, however, will be predicated upon how quickly and how well Jarrett and Elledge mesh together.

Your take
Can Jarrett and Elledge jell in time to make a serious run at a second title? Where do you see D.J. finishing in the standings? Check out your thoughts.

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