Dale Jarrett Race Quotations

Of course I was excited to have that opportunity, ... It was a great experience and opportunity. Probably the one thing that I remember the most from that race is it was late in the event and I was a few laps down and had Dale Earnhardt come up behind me. We raced side-by-side for a few laps, but for someone who was making their first start it was pretty cool.

Today is about guys back in the fab shop and the cars they gave us, ... It's a brand new race car. (It's about) the adjustments Todd (Parrott) and these guys did to get me ready to make two laps today. So, my job really starts tomorrow - getting it ready for the race. I'm looking forward to that. I think we've got a good car for Sunday so it should be fun.

I think more than anything, this is our first opportunity to see how our cars are going to handle in the draft in actual race conditions. We have been to the test, but it's not an actual race and this is, so that's probably the biggest advantage.

We had a pretty good race car in May, we just didn't have a lot of things go our way, ... We had a wheel come loose and we actually were down a lap. Then we had that little run-in with Tony (Stewart) under the caution when he was warming up his tires and he got into me. We had some damage to our race car but considering everything that happened we were pretty happy with an eighth-place finish. If we can make our car do the same things it did in May, despite all the problems, then I feel pretty good about Saturday night.

Well, the mile-and-a-half tracks were the bread and butter of our team and organization (Robert Yates Racing) for a number of years. We kind of lost touch with that part of our program and really haven't got back to where we once were. I think we can get there again. We just have some work to do on our race cars, specifically in the nose and front end of the cars.

When I was 20 and ran my first race, I told myself I don't know how I'm going to do this for a living. I don't have the money to do it. But it is what I want to do.

We had a good race car, but the lapped traffic was pretty tough. There was prime real estate, and everybody was trying to get to the same spot.

As the race goes on, the track changes a lot and you'll find yourself changing the racing groove in which you're running. So, while it does require a good handling car, it also takes a driver that is able to adapt to those changes.

I've watched him race a long time and I don't mean him any disrespect, but if he comes here to race, that's none of our concern. I couldn't even tell you what he's running, how he's running.

That race car doesn't know how old I am. There is nothing that I could do in a race car at 39 that I can't do now at 49.

It just seems that everybody realizes it's a tool they have. You're going to have people that have no choice but to make this race by trying to win it or be as close to the front as they can.

Everywhere I've been people have talked about what an exciting race it was.

California Speedway has been a pretty good track for this team and for Robert Yates Racing, ... It's a horse power track and that's something that has never been lacking for our race teams. California is one of the tracks where we ran decent this year. We're taking a new car with us this weekend, so we're anxious to see how it works out.

This is our first opportunity to see how our cars are gong to handle in the draft in actual race conditions. We've been to test, but this is an actual race.

This has generally been a one-lane race track, and it remains to be seen what we're going to be able to do when we get back here, ... But we should have more racing room and better competition.

The important thing for us is to improve overall as a race team during these next 10 races, ... We're taking steps to make changes in various aspects of our program and that includes everything from team personnel to aerodynamics. The biggest thing we need in the immediate future is a good run. We haven't put up a good effort since Daytona where we finished fifth. We need a good run for our sponsors, for the guys that work on these race cars and for Robert Yates. The other thing that is important to us is getting back to victory lane. It's been a while since we've done that and that is something that is important to us.

A good run in the Bud Shootout doesn't guarantee a good run in the Daytona 500, but it is a nice indicator that this part of the program is at least headed in the right direction. The extra seat time is always good to have, and I think there are things you can learn by participating in that race that the teams who aren't competing don't have the opportunity to learn.

The first two cars last week are so obviously doing something on the race track that is of benefit to them, then they don't pass inspection and they're allowed to sit there and jump up and down on their cars and do whatever they need to do to get through?

The changes that were made have made this a better-balanced race car for us, so therefore we might not have to try to trick the car as much as what we had to with the Taurus at times. Obviously, a lot of guys figured that out a lot of different times, but the Fusion should make our jobs much easier in that respect.