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Dale Jarrett Teleconference Transcript (11/11/97)

12 November 1997

 
 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
 Dale Jarrett Teleconference Transcript
 November 11, 1997
 
DALE JARRETT (#88 Ford Quality Care/Ford Credit Thunderbird) - HAS THE PAST 
WEEK BEEN FUN? "It's been hectic, to say the least. I think most of it has
been fun, except that I didn't run very well at Homestead in my Busch car.
Still, the things leading up to Atlanta have been fun, just the thought of
going there and experiencing the opportunity to win the championship and wrap
up what has been a tremendous season for us. It's been a lot of fun, as we get
closer with each day, I think we all get a little more excited. I talked to
the guys at the shop. I'm going there in about an hour to see them and tell
them what a great job they've done and that this is championship week and we
need to be ready."

YOU'VE WON FIVE RACES IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON. WITH ONE OR TWO
BREAKS, YOU COULD HAVE NINE OR TEN WINS. THIS HAS TO BE A SATISFYING YEAR FOR
YOUR, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS THIS WEEKEND. - "Absolutely. No matter what
happens this weekend, we'll look back on 1997 and say we had a great time, we
accomplished a lot of things that we set out to accomplish. We don't set the
number of wins we want, because that's pretty impossible to do in this sport.
We knew that we wanted to win a number of races and win at some race tracks
that we haven't won at and improve our program, and we wanted to run up front
all the time. And I think that we have shown this year that we have done that.
Except for a few cases, we've been able to run in the top five or the top 10
pretty much every race, so we've accomplished a lot. It's been a very, very
satisfying year as far as the things we've been able to accomplish. If we
aren't able to win the championship, there will always be that one small piece
in our hearts and our minds, that we didn't come away with the championship,
and that is obviously the ultimate goal."

WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH TODD LIKE? WHEN IT COME DOWN TO THE END,
WHO MAKES THE DECISION ON TWO TIRES OR FOUR TIRES? - "I think that it started
out as a business relationship, but has evolved into a very strong friendship
that we share the same business interest. We both have a level of
competitiveness inside us that makes us want to be the best in our business of
NASCAR Winston Cup racing. That friendship allows us to go with this a little
differently than a lot of others, because we enjoy being around each other and
talking about what we need to do and what we need to accomplish. We spend more
time at it than probably other drivers and crew chiefs. I think our friendship
allows our success to come a little more easily. I think we hear each other
out, and if there is a final decision to be made, Todd does that. I have that
much confidence in them, that he is watching what is going on around us at all
times. He's probably a little better informed to make that decision that what
I am on the race track, so I leave that totally to him after I have given him
my thoughts."

IS TODD THE GUY YOU WOULD HAVE PICKED? - "When Robert Yates and Larry
McReynolds came to me and said, 'We watched Todd Parrott for a number of years
and we see what he has done and what he has accomplished while he was working
with Rusty,' I said, 'You know he's been around the sport for a long time.
I've known him for quite a while, and I know he is a very hard workeR.' And
I've always been one who likes to give people the opportunity who work hard
and who are dedicated. That's how I got in some of the positions I've been
able to get into to, because of that hard work and an attitude of
never-give-up. That's what intrigued me about Todd. He was going to give it
everything he had. I don't think you can ever sit back and say, 'This is going
to be the perfect situation for me.' You have to get in and see if the
personalities are going to mix. I knew that he was very capable of being a
crew chief with the knowledge that he had and that he had always been really
good around people and working with people, and that's very important in his
position. I can't say that from the very beginning that this was just going to
take off and go like it did, but I felt very confident that Todd and I could
make it work with just a little bit of effort on our part. And knowing the
backgrounds that we both came from, that it wasn't going to be a problem for
us to give that effort. We have become tremendous friends and that has added 
a little more to our relationship."

DO YOU FAVOR A SHORTER SEASON? - "No, I don't really favor a shorter season.
I'm a competitor. I want to race. But certainly it does get to a point in time
where we have to realize that, physically, this is as much as we can do. And I
think that next year we are looking at getting to that point. I know that
there are areas that, as our sport continues to grow, that we need to be in
and are very important to our sponsors and NASCAR. Somewhere along the line,
something is going to have to be taken out before something else can be put
in. I believe we can still do what is being asked of us, especially if the
schedule is looked at and made a little bit easier on the crews and the truck
drivers, we as drivers will be able to handle it, even though there is a lot
of demands from the sponsors on our time now. But I believe that we can handle
what is there, but not much more."

WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO THE END SUNDAY AND IT BECOMES OBVIOUS THAT GORDON IS
GOING TO HAVE A GOOD FINISH, AT WHAT POINT DO YOU RE-FOCUS ON BEATING MARK? -
"I think that we have to race Mark right from the very beginning. That is
going to be a focus of ours right from the very start. Hopefully, we are going
to be up front trying to do that. But if we get into the last part of the
race, we are going to pay attention, especially if Jeff is still within the
bounds to take the championship, we focus on Mark, because second place is
important to us. We've worked hard all year and we would like to be the
highest finishing Ford in the championship. But it will have to be late 
before we totally give up because we realize that anything can happen at any 
time. But Mark has to be a focus of ours also, because he is only 10 points 
back, and that's only a couple of spots up front."

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE WEATHER ELIMINATING PRACTICE THIS WEEKEND? -
"Yeah, it doesn't look good. I watched the weather last night. That is
certainly a concern, because I believe there are a number of things that are
going to need to happen at Atlanta for everybody to feel reasonably
comfortable with the entire situation as far as the speeds. We really need
some time to scuff some tires, in addition to the practice time that we have,
to help work in the tires so they will last longer and also to work on getting
a second groove worked in, a higher groove, so that we can do some good hard
racing, and it's not just a follow-the-leader type of deal. Yes, the weather
is a huge concern. NASCAR has been very fortunate over the years that things
like this work out."

WHICH CAR ARE YOU TAKING TO ATLANTA? - "We've run it three times this year, at
Indianapolis, Darlington and Charlotte. When we took it there to test, we felt
like it was the best car that we had. We finished third twice and first once,
so we are very comfortable in taking that car."

HOW IS THE TAURUS DEVELOPMENT GOING? - "We've done quite a bit of testing with
it, as much as we could. We tested it at Rockingham for a day and at Atlanta
for a couple of days, and Todd took the car back with Rusty Wallace, because
he was testing at Atlanta last week, to do some more with it. It's going to
take a group effort with it, because it's going to take a group effort from
everybody at Ford to make this work. Rusty was good enough to drive it a few
laps for us so that we could all learn some more about what we need to do.
We've got a lot of cars in the process of being built with the Taurus body,
and we are trying to get everything sorted to know exactly what we need. We're
still in the development stages of that, and it's pretty late in the year to
be doing that. We have a lot of testing scheduled at Daytona and Talladega for
January and at some other tracks. The first part of the year is going to be
hectic for the Ford teams in getting everything sorted out."

ARE YOU HAVING A LOT OF FUN WITH THIS? - "I am. And it's not a front or
anything that I am putting up. What you see is what it's all about. This is
just a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous feeling to come into the last
race of the season having any chance at all to win the championship. It's what
you work all your life for, to have that opportunity. We know our chances are
slim. If Jeff and Ray and those guys do the job that they normally do, they
are probably going to finish up front. But we're still in a battle for second
with a chance to be first, so I'm having a great time. This is really what 
it's all about. The competition and trying to outperform and outguess the 
others at this point in the season. Todd and I were talking last night. We're
having a great time and it's really fun to be in this position. I know the
hundreds and thousands of people who race cars and don't get the opportunity
to race for championships, and we're very fortunate to be in that position and
enjoy it while we are here."

CRITIQUE YOUR TWO COMPETITORS? - "Jeff Gordon probably has as much talent and
ability as anyone who has ever come through this sport. He has a tremendous
race team and an organization that has won the last two championships and has
proven that they are at the top of this business. They have the complete
package. Then Mark Martin, you have the ultimate competitor. There are a lot
of people out there who want to win, and I feel like there is nobody who wants
to win as much as me, but you can see that come through with Mark Martin. I
don't know the name of his book, but he was born to race. That's what he does,
and that's all that he thinks about. He is focused totally on driving a race
car. He just has a lot of talent, with a race team also that has been around
for a while and has a lot of experience. Jack Roush has won championships in
everything that he has done, so they certainly know how to do it. You couldn't
ask to have any better competitors to be racing against. If we are able to
beat them, I think we can honestly say that we challenged the very best that
there is out there right now and were able to overcome 'em."

WHAT KIND OF CONVERSATIONS HAVE YOU HAD WITH ROBERT YATES? - "Robert and I 
have talked a number of times about what lies ahead for us and what it took to
get to this point. I think he is excited to have this opportunity again, to
have this chance. He has given me his views about what they went through in
years past when they were in this position. There is a lot of experience there
to draw on as far as how to handle situations, and he's been very open to 
doing more listening than talking. If you can sit and listen to Robert long
enough, you are going to get something out of it that can be very beneficial."

WHY ARE YOU SO NICE? - "I think you can be a nice person and have a
competitive fire inside you that allows you, once you get in competition, to
have an attitude that you take no prisoners, you are going to do whatever it
takes to win. That's the way our race team performs. We have a good time at
what we're doing. We enjoy it and we smile a lot, and I guess a lot of people
at times think that we are not very serious, but we're totally involved in
what we're doing, but we can have a good time it, also. When I get strapped in
the race car, my total thought is to beat everyone out there that I'm racing
against. I don't think that you have to be a person who is mean and tough and
project an image all the time that this is the way that you are constantly.
That, to me, is reserved for the competition. When I get in the car, maybe I'm
a different person in there, but I'm not going to put anybody in a dangerous
position. It's just that when I get in the car, I want to win and I don't'
want anything to stand in my way."

WHAT WAS IT LIKE GOING TO ATLANTA THIS TIME LAST YEAR? - "It's ironic, because
I look back and I wasn't that many more points behind than I am right now. But
I think we come in here kind of on a roll. That's why people tend to look at
it a little more. And obviously, we are in second instead of third. It seems
to be a little more of an atmosphere for some reason. I can't explain it. But
we have had a very successful second half of the season and have made a pretty
strong charge. I think people tend to look at the very recent history and say
that these guys have made up a lot of ground, so it's not impossible for them
to do. And it's even different for me. When we get into Thursday of this week,
my brother-in-law had a rather serious accident this time last year, and it
kinda put a different tone on everything. Things kinda changed focus for me,
and there are reasons for that. I had a lot more on my mind than just racing
for a championship. He made a great recovery and is doing extremely well, and
I think that we really looked at this as having a serious opportunity or a
realistic opportunity to win the championship."

DID YOU DREAM ABOUT WINNING A WINSTON CUP CHAMPIONSHIP AND HOW IT MIGHT
HAPPEN? - "I certainly thought about it as a kid. I thought about racing in
the last race and having to win to win the championship. That was always a
great thought, and that thought carries over from being a kid to being just a
bigger kid like I am now. Since Phoenix, I've gone through every scenario of
what it might take or what we're going to have to do. I've gone over it a lot
in my mind. There has been a lot of dreaming to this point. The reality will
come Sunday, and we'll see which one of those scenarios play out."


By Ford Motorsports Public Affairs