Dale Jarrett 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.

Right now I've pretty much made up my mind that I'm gonna run through 2008. Hopefully it's gonna be where I'm at. That hasn't been totally decided yet, but we're working on that and there have been other conversations, so I have to explore all of the options. But when that's up, my gig is pretty much done. I'm gonna be to where I need to move on and let somebody else get in.

If we could somehow reduce that speed by 15 miles an hour on the straightway, the fans couldn't tell a difference watching that car go down, and you would see a whole hell of a lot better racing through the corners with what we could do then.

He was the man in charge. In charge of everything.

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.

There are so many smart people in this business. Not that the people before weren't smart, but these people are smart in a different way and have a much better handle on what they're trying to accomplish, instead of just trial and error as we were before.

It accelerated everything a hundred-fold. There are things that we have put into place today that we'd still just be considering, but that made us realize that we couldn't afford to have that happen again.

I think we've recovered. It will never be the same because, again, you're not gonna replace someone like that. ... But the sport is in a better position, (and) a lot of that still comes - even five years down the road now - from the things that Dale did and was doing and was putting into place at that particular time.

I think that everybody in the garage area has a lot of respect for Jeff and I think that's because of what he's accomplished and the way he's gone about it that NASCAR has that same respect for him.

I think things went really well. It has a very nice look to it and performed well.

I think Dale would at least be pleased from that to know that we moved forward in that. He and I had a discussion the week of the Daytona 500 about the HANS because he was questioning me why I was wearing it. But certainly, there were a lot more put into use the weeks following that Daytona 500.

I think Earnhardt took that role, just like he did everything else. He was in charge of everything, and he'd put himself in that position. Not that anybody could have taken that position away, but we all had a huge respect for him.

I think our relationship - mine and Dale's - as far as I'm concerned is as good, if not better than ever. When I came back in 2003, we talked about our differences and our problems, and I think they've been great since then.

I think he took it like he did everything else. He was the man in charge.

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.

I wasn't a lap down and, as we've seen, a lot of these races end under 'green-white-checkered,' and there's no free pass in the last 10 laps. I've got to try to stay in front of the leader to try to make sure I give myself a chance to earn as many points as I possibly can.

You like to think every time you come here you have that opportunity at least, but you look at it and we've had kind of a dry spell as far as running well here. We've won some poles and things, but that's not really what we're after.

We have a lot of work to do. We just can't find anything that helps these cars in the front. Elliott (Sadler, his teammate) and I have been having the same problems each week. We really have our work cut out for us.

We have two crew chiefs who are willing to work with that engineering staff. Before, we haven't exactly had that combination working. Now we feel like because everyone who has come here has been talked to about the same ideas, everyone is on the same page. We're going to be a much better organization than we have in quite a few years.

We were so used to winning in those days, I didn't see any reason we wouldn't just continue right on doing that at least a couple of times each year, ... But over the past couple of years ... we haven't been in position to do that as much. I think we've got some more victories to go, but in case that doesn't happen we'll make sure we enjoy this one.

You know, driver-crew chief relationships, if you get six good years, that is longer than a lot of marriages, ... We do have a huge amount of respect for each other, and Todd has brought back a leadership that we haven't seen since he left, really.

You have the ability to keep that thing right around the bottom, then you can get off the corner good enough and that's what a lot of people work on.

We were just trying to pick our way through there. The next thing I knew I got hit in the back. I wanted to make sure I didn't run over anything.

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.

We're late in the season, and a lot of things happen here, so I don't think that the close and hard racing is over, ... I think you're going to see a lot of it.

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.

You can't get a friend more loyal than your dog.

I am proud to be part of the Toys for Tots program for a second year. In addition to giving kids the chance to design a special The UPS Store/Toys for Tots car, this contest is a great way for children to learn about the importance of charitable giving.

Once you try to do more than your equipment is capable of doing you get yourself in trouble and you start wrecking.

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.

To say you're going to monitor bump-drafting, I don't know how you do that. I guess it would help if someone causes a big wreck and they penalize them.

When you get to this point of your career, you're not exactly sure when that last victory is going to be there so you learn to cherish each one, ... It is very emotional. When I was coming down that backstretch, it was very emotional.

When we used to drive out of the garage at night and go through the infield, you would make sure the van doors were locked, and your kids weren't looking. Now you see some of the stuff fans are getting to do and the vehicles they are camping in and you want to stop and hang out with them.

You can make life a little more difficult for somebody here than other places. If you keep them behind, you can make life miserable for them.

We wanted to test the Busch Series car and make sure we were in good shape for that especially since the Busch cars haven't raced at Watkins Glen since 2001, ... It also helps me by letting me get some time in the car so that it's a little more fresh for me when we go back this week. I was able to go and get some laps. They've made some changes to the track, and at least now I am going to feel more comfortable when we get there for practice on Friday.

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.

We feel like we've made some gains because we know that the competition has stepped up. It's incredible what's out there right now and I know you hear this from everybody, especially the guys that are trying to make their way into that top 10 about how tough it is, but you get around looking at time sheets from practice and things and you realize just how difficult it is. There are literally 22-25 teams every week that you say, 'Those are good cars.' And you're gonna have to be on your game to outrun those.

To watch the emotion from those two guys says it all about winning the 500.

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.

At the beginning of this year I felt like we were better prepared for this season, but it turned out that wasn't the case. It's disappointing that we haven't run any better than we have this year, especially since we've been able to be there at the end of the race.

There's no doubt that it's a totally different type of racing now. It's a little more in-your-face and stand your ground. You have to do that.

There's no way that you're going to be able to tell with the naked eye. And there's no way of knowing what was intentional, and how are you going to judge what was too hard when the cars are running 190 miles an hour?

I see something that's a little bit scary for the rest of us, ... He's getting smarter out there, knowing when he can go and when he can't. When his car isn't exactly right, he doesn't try to force the issue now, so they've done a really good job.

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.

As far as our relationship, that's great, ... I have a lot of respect for Todd and everything that he's done and accomplished here.

You wouldn't have thought it would have spread out quite this much, as far as just how few drivers are from North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. We still have some, but the majority are spaced out throughout the United States. I think it's just a credit to the sport and how much it's grown.

You still have to beat everybody to win a title, but the level of competition has changed. In '99, if we had an off day, we could still run in the top 10 most of the time. Now, if you have just a little bit of an off day, you're going to finish outside of the top 20. You have so many teams that can make you go from a reasonable day to a really bad day with either just missing the setup or having a slight problem.

They see it as a sign of weakness. Other guys try to clear the air before the next race, which I think is the best way.

They don't pass inspection, they're allowed to sit there and jump up and down on their cars and whatever they need to do everything I saw (reported) was either on the back page or the next-to-last page, ... I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding what you all (media) are doing here.

You can't lie about anything. Everything here is captured on film and tape.

This pretty much seals our fate in regards to making the Chase. We went for so long this season without having issues like this. I guess we're due.

This pretty much seals our fate in regards to making the Chase, ... We went for so long this season without having issues like this. I guess we're due.

There is the way that you go about things, the setups that are run,

It's a small piece of real estate to begin with and over the years that's become a smaller piece of real estate, and we all want that same piece. Trying to maintain the piece for yourself or keep someone from taking it is difficult.

For as long as I can remember, we spent the Labor Day weekend at Darlington (S.C.).

It's been a dry spell for the Fords. And I don't know if it's been that close. We've had a hard time leading, which makes it hard to get the drafting help we need.

It's pretty difficult because it's hard to find something that works to allow you to see heading into the sun without making it too dark when you're not going in that direction,

Dale's death accelerated a lot of the safety provisions we have today. Anytime you see your Superman, your hero, taken away I'm not saying that would have been the savior for Dale, but we know that it gives everyone a much better chance of surviving that type of situation. If that hadn't have happened, those things would probably come a lot slower. From such a horrific accident, we can look back and say that some good things did come from that.

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's incredible what has taken place. I think that's why we see so many competitive teams now, because not only with what NASCAR has done with templates and things, but the engineers we have involved now.

It's definitely having an impact. I don't know that you can say yet that it is good or bad.

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.

It will be interesting to see how the transition from day to night goes this year. We don't have as much information on tires like we did in the past so that could be of some concern as we prepare for that this weekend. But it will be a great show. I've said this before but everything seems to intensify under the lights and I'm sure this weekend will be no different.

After the sun sets, there's no more problem.

Any time you get to participate in something that has a limited number of entrants among the best drivers in the world, then you know you've accomplished something.

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

I'm not saying that $10,000 isn't a lot of money, but I think Jeff can probably handle that OK. He probably felt after it was over that it was worth that much anyway.

I'm going to fire him for next week and then he's going to come back at Charlotte too,

I'm exhausted but very emotional. As I came down the straightaway, it was just an incredible feeling.

I'm fired up about this. I don't understand it.

I'm extremely happy. That's actually faster than I thought I could go with this car.

I know you're supposed to slow down, and I know that I saw the caution lights, but I was just making sure.

I'm sure they could not see out of their back windows, not that they needed to because nobody else was close.

I'm pissed off, to be quite honest. You've got the same people doing stupid stuff back there and there's no reason for that.

I'm not sure that person exists. I don't know that you're going to have that whole package in one person again.

If you're going to continue to do that, eventually you're going to wreck. Ultimately we know our job is to go out here and race, but that doesn't have to include running into each other every single lap.

If you look at it, we've improved our team immensely in a lot of areas. We have a better product with the Ford Fusion. We have a better engineering staff than we've ever had at Robert Yates Racing, and we have two very hungry crew chiefs that have come in to take over and lead this group. So I would say that the potential is there for both teams to be in the top 10 and make the Chase, it's just a matter of us going out and making that happen now.

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.

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.

I don't think I'm alone in saying that Michigan is my favorite track,

I don't know how he's blaming me. Jeff came up. He's got to know that someone else is there, too.

I didn't realize they had a 24-hour period they could wait for these things to settle down. I'm fired up about this. I don't understand it.

Hopefully, in these next nine races we can see some good things that are going to happen for the entire organization. That's what all this was done for.

Honestly, no. Until we do something that will physically damage the design of the car, this won't accomplish much.

I am not going to sit here and say that I am against the Car of Tomorrow because I haven't driven it. I have seen it and I have seen pictures. I am not sure that's totally the right direction.

If Dale could see what has happened, he would have a huge smile on his face. Even though there's nobody to take his place, the sport has done exactly what he wanted it to do. It's gone right to the top.

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 guys are sure that they have a leader that's gonna be behind what they're doing and when they're not doing it right, he's gonna make sure that it is getting done properly.

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.

The first couple times we raced there it was pretty tough, because it was a one-groove track. It's obviously come a long way.