Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Freight Ford Fusion
Chevy Rock & Roll 400
Richmond International Raceway
September 9, 2006
UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
Dale Jarrett travels to Richmond International Raceway for this weekend’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 as a two-time winner at the three-quarter of a mile track. Jarrett scored his most recent Richmond win during the spring of his championship season of 1999.
Jarrett makes his 38th NASCAR Nextel Cup Series start at Richmond this weekend. In the previous 37 Richmond starts Jarrett has posted finishes consisting of two wins, 11 top fives and 12 top 10s.
Jarrett will be racing a special paint scheme at Richmond International Raceway with the UPS Freight paint scheme. The team is running the paint scheme in recognition of the UPS’s acquisition of Overnite® Transportation Company and the conversion to UPS Freight. The UPS Freight headquarters is located in Richmond, Va. More information on the paint scheme is available at the UPS Racing web site, www.racing.ups.com.
Dale Jarrett Discusses Racing at Richmond International Raceway
Is it a little disappointing to not be part of the “chase to the chase?”
“I think any of the teams that are going into this weekend’s race without being a part of that are disappointed. I think we’ve all seen the past two years how much hype and excitement has surrounded the Chase and, I think, in particular the battle to get into the Chase. That’s something we were right in the middle of two years ago and it was a weekend where we went into it excited about the chance of being able to compete for the championship to just complete disappointment over missing out on that opportunity. I know that first year you had probably 10 guys competing for four spots and it was truly exciting. We’re probably missing a little of that this year because there is really only a couple guys – if that – that even have a realistic chance at getting into the top 10. But, it is probably going to get real interesting starting at New Hampshire because I think if you look at the guys who are in the top 10, I’d say any one of those 10 teams have been performing to the standard you need to be able to win the championship in this current system.”
How special is racing at Richmond to you?
“There’s a lot of history at Richmond. It’s a track that I started going to as a kid to watch races when my dad was racing and then even after that when he was broadcasting. I always enjoyed going to the races with him, but especially the older tracks. It just seems the racing couldn’t get any better than what took place at some of the older tracks because it seemed like the surface lent itself to hard, side-by-side racing and it was just incredible to be there for that. It’s amazing how much Richmond has changed with the reconfiguration to the three-quarter of a mile speedway we see today. It’s a place that probably has the best racing that you see anywhere we go. After they made the track the way it is now, the racing those first couple of years was just amazing. The place has grown and is one of the nicest facilities where we race and the racing has continued to be just as good as it has always been. I have kind of always wondered why some of these places that build new tracks don’t look into building a track like Richmond with its size and layout. I think that would be a place that you could sell out years in advance much like what we see with Bristol.”
Chassis 68
Chassis 68 is the car Jarrett will race this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. This will be the fifth race for Chassis 68. The car’s most recent race was the Lenox Tools 300 at New Hampshire in July where Jarrett finished 30th after losing a lap early in the race. The UPS Team first raced Chassis 68 in April at Martinsville where Jarrett finished 15th. The team has posted finishes of 19th at Phoenix and 21st at Richmond this season.
