Jarrett Healthy, Optimistic About 1999

Even before his gall bladder kicked up late last season, Dale Jarrett wasn’t feeling very well.

“I didn’t realize I actually felt as bad as what I did for quite a long period of time,” said Jarrett, who underwent surgery shortly after the season ended. “Now we have that out of the way. I’m on a good workout program that I think is going to benefit me, especially when we get into the summer months of racing. I feel probably as good as I’ve felt since I was 25 years old.”

Jarrett, 42, is preparing for his 12th season as a regular on NASCAR’s Winston Cup tour. After finishing second and third behind Jeff Gordon the last two years, he is hoping 1999 could finally be his championship season.

A year ago, the Robert Yates Racing team got off to a slow start, thanks in part to the introduction of Ford’s Taurus race cars. They never really found their stride, finishing far behind in the championship despite three victories and 19 top-five finishes in 33 races.

“I think all of us feel a little better about going into this season,” the second-generation racer said. “We kind of got our program together in 1997 to where we wanted it and we almost won the championship. Then, last year, we got a new car to deal with.

“Between the new car and Dale Jarrett not feeling so good, it just didn’t click the way we wanted it to. Even though it was a season most people would love to have, it was a little disappointing to us.”

Jarrett said he is going into the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 14 thinking championship.

“I don’t think you have to win 10 or 12 races to win the championship,” he said. “But I do think you have to win some and, when you don’t win, a bad day has to fourth or fifth. You can’t have any mechanical failures.”

Gordon won 13 races and had 26 top-fives in 1998, while runner-up Mark Martin won seven times and had 22 top-fives.

“Those guys have shown us what they’re going to do,” Jarrett said. “If we’re going to challenge them, that’s what we have to do. The things that Jeff does better than the rest of us is on days when he doesn’t have the best car, they make good decisions and they end up finishing first or second. Those are the things we have to learn to do a little bit more.”

* Poor entrance: Ernie Irvan was excited about getting an opportunity to drive in the Rolex 24, a 24-hour sports car endurance race on Jan. 30 and 31 at Daytona International Speedway.

But, thanks to mechanical problems in the team’s BMW M3, he never got the chance to drive the car after the green flag waved.

“It was still an interesting experience,” Irvan said. “I wish I would have go the chance to race, but it’s was pretty neat to see how much different Daytona is for that race and for NASCAR.”

Irvan was brought to the sports car race by Mark Simo, who is his partner in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry and is working with Irvan to bring to life a new Winston Cup team. The other driver in the race was to be their truck driver, Boris Said.

“This is the first race he’s run with a door,” Said noted, grinning at Irvan. “He tried to climb through the window and I said, ‘Why don’t you use the door?”’

Irvan, too, is coming back from a rocky finish to the 1998 season. The driver who nearly died from head injuries in a 1994 crash, suffered a severe concussion and missed all or parts of the last four races. The 24-hour race was to be a test of sorts.

“It would have been good to get out there in the car, but I feel good,” Irvan said. “Right now, though, the place I probably feel the best is in the race car. I can’t say for sure I’m all healed up because it’s not like a broken bone. But I feel 100 percent.”

* Limited usage: Three-time Winston Cup champion Darrell Waltrip used the former champion’s provisional to make races 20 times last season.

That won’t happen in 1999, with NASCAR deciding such provisionals will count against a team’s maximum of eight.

Qualifiers take the first 36 positions for each Winston Cup race. Seven more drivers are then added, based on car-owner points or having been a past champion.

The first six spots are reserved for teams in the top 40 in the points. A past champion is added as the 43rd starter if he fails to make the top 36 or is not eligible for one of the other provisional spots. If no champion is waiting for the spot, another top 40 entry is added.

Teams that finished in the top 40 the previous season begin each year with four provisionals. After each eight races, the teams pick up one additional provisional for a season maximum of eight.

Actually, there is a loophole for the better teams. If a team is in the top 25 in the points and fails to qualify, it may use a provisional without having it count against its total.

Last year’s top 40 is used as the benchmark for the first four races the next season.

Besides Waltrip, other former champions racing in 1999 include Dale Earnhardt, Gordon, Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott and Rusty Wallace.

* Stat of the week: A Labonte has finished second in each of the last five Winston Cup races in Daytona. Terry was the runner-up three straight times, beginning with the Pepsi 400 in July 1996. Bobby was second in 1998 in both the Daytona 500 (to Earnhardt) and the Pepsi 400 (to Gordon).