Dale Jarrett
No. 88 UPS Ford
Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway
CHARLOTTE, N.C., (November 2, 2004) ----- The sun is nearly set on the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season, but not before one more trip to the west coast of the United States. Phoenix International Raceway is the next stop for the NEXTEL Cup teams, and it is the location for which the #88 UPS Racing Team used its last test session. Dale Jarrett and the UPS Team spent two days in mid-October testing for this weekend’s event. The short, flat tracks have been the Achilles' heel for Jarrett and team in 2004, and the team hoped to work out some of the issues they have had with such tracks by testing at PIR. Crew chief Mike Ford and the #88 UPS Team believe that with the information gathered during the two-day test they have a reliable direction for the UPS Ford upon their return to PIR this week.
Jarrett certainly hopes that the direction provides different results during the 2004 PIR NEXTEL Cup Series event as he is looking to get back to competitive form on the one-mile track in the desert. The driver of the UPS Ford was on his way to his sixth straight top-10 finish at PIR last season before cutting a tire down in the closing five laps and dropping back to a 29th place finish.
While the test at Phoenix is the last of the NASCAR-sanctioned event tests for 2004, the #88 UPS Racing Team will participate in one more test before the sun sets on the season. The team plans to travel to Kentucky Speedway to test a chassis prior to the event at Homestead, and that will conclude the 2004 testing program for Team UPS.
Jarrett Discusses Racing at Phoenix International Raceway
How does Phoenix compare to the other flat, one-mile tracks visited by the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series?
“Well, I think the question answers itself – it’s a flat, one-mile track and that’s about as close as it comes to being like a New Hampshire, or a Richmond or other short flat tracks we visit. Phoenix’s characteristics are different than what we experience at New Hampshire or Richmond. It’s the kind of track where we have struggled this year as a team which is why we decided to test there. For some reason we have just not been able to put together a solid package for the short, flat tracks and hopefully we’ll change that this weekend.”
Next season you’ll race twice at Phoenix. Do you look forward to that?
“I look forward to it for a couple reasons. First, I enjoy that part of the country. To me, Phoenix is a great city with perfect weather. I enjoy warm weather and just enjoy visiting the city so I look forward to being able to do that a couple times next year. As far as racing at Phoenix, I do enjoy racing there even though we haven’t always been on our game at that particular track. Hopefully we’ll be able to take what we learned during our test to improve our program on these shorter, flat tracks and then when we go back to these places next year we’ll be able to come out strong and contend for wins.”
The team has yet to win a race in 2004. Is that something you think about?
“Certainly it is something we want to do and we feel like we have a couple of opportunities to do that. If we can’t get it done this weekend in Phoenix, then we’ll be looking at Darlington. We feel like we have a good set-up for that track and it’s a place where Elliott (Sadler, teammate) and I both have a good feel. There is a little bit of added motivation in that it is going to be the last Southern 500 and it is a race I would like to win. But I also feel good about going back to Homestead with the changes they made to the track last year and Mike’s (Ford) experiences there. So, it is something we want to make happen and will be working hard to do, but if it doesn’t happen then we’ll put our heads down and start getting ready for next year.”
Notes of Interest
Jarrett’s best finish at PIR is a first-place finish which he scored during the track’s 1997 event. In addition to one win, Jarrett has scored two top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 16 career starts at PIR.
Jarrett’s trip to the west coast will include a trip to Burbank, Calif., where he will be participating in the filming of the movie Herbie: Fully Loaded. Jarrett is scheduled to film a small role as himself during the afternoon of Nov. 2nd on the studio set for the film.
Chassis 26
Chassis 26 is the car Jarrett will race this weekend in Phoenix. Chassis 26 has made two starts for the UPS Racing Team. It is the same car Jarrett raced at New Hampshire in July and at Richmond in September. The car’s best finish is a ninth-place effort at NHIS.
