Dale Jarrett - Mr #88

L

local804

Guest
WOW.... I am in shock.....Dale finished 10th in Saturdays Pepsi 400. Now he moved up to 28th place in the standings out of 60. Not too bad.....He is only 995 points back with 18 more races left
sad.gif
Maybe he should look into his poor season a little deeper instead of firing his crew chief.Maybe he should renegotiate his multi-million dollar contract with UPS. And maybe he should junk that slow :censored2: ford and swith to chevy like Tony Stewart did(pontiac).Ford=found on road dead(couple of times in Dales races)
Well, as the NY Mets say, maybe next year
sad.gif
 
T

toonertoo

Guest
With 11 DNF's out of 18 races, I think DODGE is the answer, and maybe a new driver.........Ford and Jarrett were a bad choice anyway.
 
W

wkmac

Guest
The solution is not as simple as changing makes or even drivers. Ford has been running the same body package for the last 4 years and they have lost a lot in downforce especially to the chevy with the new Monte Carlo package. Part of the reason Gibbs left Pontaic for Chevy. Even Dodge not as good as last year compared to the new chevy. Ford presented NASCAR with an updated 2004' Taurus last Tuesday and it was approved but with the new common templates they don't look to gain much. Besides Taurus will be phased out in 06' or 07' and a new model introduced to take it's place.

RYR has gone through much turmoil this season as Robert has stepped aside in the day to day operations and turned that over to Doug. Another big loss was Chief Engine Builder Mike Ege who left last year to form his own company and now supplies motors mainly to Petty as well as Ultra Motorsports. Doug Yates was also big in the motor end but left this behind as he stepped up.

Another major mistake was letting Fatback get away to the #18 car. Fatback knows racecars and the proof is the turn around over at the #18 camp. I would love to have seen Fatback with the #88 but I've got a feeling he was seeing deeper into RYR and after the Rudd ordeal went to fresh turf. Rumors earlier this year were that Jimmy Makar would come over to the #88 but that didn't happen.

Changing makes is not always the answer because in a couple of years the aero advantage could come right back to Ford just as they had a huge aero advantage with the old T-Bird. Changing drivers not the answer either because Elliot Sadler has had limited success and even over at Rousch their success has not been what they thought it might be. Jack even admitted they won Saturday night because of fuel mileage and not horsepower and reduced downforce which made the car looser than the chevy's. Kurt Busch has won a couple but he drives on the ragged edge and it's feast or famine. I'd even almost bet the farm he was sliding the corners Saturday night and that's what caused that tire failure and the mini big wreck. Matt Kenseth is just a da#n good driver who's smooth and consistent very much like the late Alan Kulwicki and this is what has him where he's at.

Racing use to be about the best driver and best race car but that is really secondary now as advertising is the first priority. As long as Dale and RYR fits into UPS' marketing plan then Dale can finish dead last in every race and he won't go anywhere. JMO.

BTW: Speaking of Tony Stewart rumors are flying he's shopping around with his Gibb contract expiring at the end of 04'. Tony has also talked with Ted Johnson about buying the World of Outlaw SprintCar series with that series in financial trouble. Tony is also a car owner with the #20 Danny Lasoski Outlaw Sprinter so he has close ties to the series.
 
R

rushfan

Guest
Jarrett ought to cancel the contract. He had better times racing before UPS came on board. UPS ought to look for someone else
 
W

wkmac

Guest
from jayski.com

Testing for Jarrett: The #88 UPS Racing team begins an aggressive month of testing starting at The Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin this Tuesday. The team will spend two days at the flat, one-mile track before leaving for Chicagoland Speedway for Sundays 400-mile event. The team will travel from Chicago to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for another two-day test session. Two more tests will take place in the last two weeks of July with the first at the road course of Virginia International Raceway, and then at Watkins Glen before the Brickyard 400.(Elevation Group/UPS Racing PR)(7-8-2003)


Parrott back at the Track: former #88 Crew Chief and RYR Team Manager Todd Parrott made his first appearance at a race track Saturday since he parted ways with Dale Jarrett [actually Robert Yates Racing] in April. "I missed eight races, the most since 1983 when I graduated from high school," he said. "From that point until this year, I had missed just one race and that was in 1992 when my son was born." Since stepping back from the sport, Parrott said he's been spending time with his family. He almost went to the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte in May, but got stuck in traffic and turned around and went home. But he came to Daytona with his father, Buddy, and the two were making their way through the garage Saturday, stopping every few feet to exchange greetings with old rivals. Then Parrott went to the Winston Cup sign-in and officially announced his arrival by signing his name on Jarrett's list of team members. He's under contract at Robert Yates Racing, but said he's talking with other teams about opportunities. "I've missed it," he said. "I probably shouldn't have stayed gone so long, but I've been resting and relaxing and I feel great." Parrott, who spent seven seasons as Jarrett's crew chief and won the 1999 Winston Cup championship, and his younger brother, Brad, both left the #88 team in April as Jarrett [actually team owners Robert/Doug Yates] tried to shake things up and get his season back on track. Todd had been working as the team manager at the time and Brad was in his first stint as a Winston Cup crew chief.(Sporting News/AP)(7-8-2003)


UPS to Debut Newest Race the Truck Ad: All season, UPS has been pleading its case to Dale Jarrett to race the big, brown truck. The newest installment of the Race the Truck campaign debuts this weekend during NBCs broadcast of the Tropicana 400 at Chciago.(Elevation Group/UPS Racing PR)(7-8-2003)
 
D

dannyboy

Guest
IMHO UPS will keep him a while longer. Not because he wins races, but because he is not like some of the others, loud, confrontational, they wnat someone that will not polarize the fans. They have that with Jarrett. HE has a clean image and makes a good spokesman. Winning, while nice, is secondary to what UPS is trying to accomplish with its support of Nascar.

d
 
O

over9five

Guest
He is too damn OLD !!!!! Lets get some young guy, a rookie maybe, and see what happens.
 
L

local804

Guest
I agree with dannyboy 100%. As good as a driver Tony Stewart is, UPS would NEVER pick the hot headed driver to drive for them.
 
H

hitthebigone

Guest
I understand the 1st agreement with Dale was for about 14 million bucks. At one of the first races in the UPS car,I had lunch with Dale and his brother ( who acted as Dale's agent). He (Dale's brother) told me UPS had contacted him and was asked to name a price. He did and UPS said yes...no dickering. In our conversation we discussed the importance of Dale's Car number. UPS's expansion into China. The importance of the number 8 in China's culture. Are two 8's better than one? A lucky, powerful and prosperous number in their culture. It seems UPS would have been willing to pay far far more for that number 88!(and probably does now) Ditching Dale as a Driver now?...probably not...unless the new driver gets the 88... In China (and the world) 88= UPS!
 
O

over9five

Guest
We'll get a new, young driver, and give him number 888 then!!!!
 
W

wkmac

Guest
Tony might be available.

from jayski:

Stewart Looking? UPDATE: Though Bobby Labonte re-signed with Joe Gibbs Racing [thru 2008] , there are persistent rumors that teammate and defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart is looking for a new ride. Stewart's contract doesn't expire until 2004, and it would take deep pockets to buy out the remaining year.(Sporting News)(7-7-2003)
UPDATE: The big news in the Tony Stewart camp is yet another unconfirmed report about Stewart's future: Will he jump to Chip Ganassi's Dodge operation? It is being rumored that Dodge wants to sign Stewart to a five-year contract. If so, would Home Depot stay with Joe Gibbs or follow Stewart to Ganassi? Already there is talk that Stewart, in his negotiations with Ted Johnson to find a new owner of the World of Outlaws, has been talking with Home Depot execs about its becoming title sponsor of that series. And if Stewart were to leave, would crew chief Greg Zipadelli go with him? Right now Stewart would simply like to get back to winning. "People talk about momentum in this sport and how important it is,' Stewart said. 'We'd like to create a little bit of our own. This is typically the point in the season where we excel, and we need to make the most of it. We have four DNFs already this year, so we need to take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way."(Winston Salem Journal)(7-10-2003)
 
T

toonertoo

Guest
Stewart would bring more attention and color to UPS than calm, cool, boring Jarrett does. And they need to concentrate on a little more color in the scheme than that BROWN, the shield change didnt help liven up the car any. It is enough to put you to sleep. More flames, bigger flames, and the emphasis on the flames, not on the brown would make it much more appealing. but wait I havent checked out the new scheme yet. And it is not like UPS never hires hotheaded drivers.......And as always with UPS in the business world. $$$ is no problem.
 
H

hitthebigone

Guest
over9-5 but still breaking standard,...fen...shuuway...not as good with 888...confuicha says... by they way get your Pacific Coast Benefit Trust money if you were in it!
 
W

wkmac

Guest
Not sure how far UPS would be willing to go with Tony. Home Depot also pumps money into Tony's Outlaw Sprinter driven by Danny Lasoski and his various race cars that he himself drives.

The rumors of Tony buying the World of Outlaw series is more than rumor. Tony has met with Ted Johnson, owner of WoO and Tony along with partner Humpy Wheeler are possible serious potential buyers but nothing on paper yet. Tony also races on a regular basis in various USAC and other open wheel races as well as driving a late model dirt car in the various dirt series around the country.

On a side note, if you ever get the chance to see Tony run a dirt car especially a sprinter, go see him. I like a lot of drivers but IMO Tony is the best pure driver in racing today.

With Dale, it's just every Sunday but with Tony it's Sunday and then several times a week in front of the homefolks. You know, the people more likely to need a UPS Store for example. Last year after the Chicago race Tony was racing dirt cars that evening in Kokomo Indiana. My kind of driver!

Dirt's for Racing. Asphalt is for getting there!
 
R

rushfan

Guest
As with the ups advertisements, jarrett needs some fire under him-both are lacking.
 
H

hitthebigone

Guest
Danny Boy, Lucky 8's are huge in China. But Nascar, who knows?...Do they have Trailer Parks there?
 
W

wkmac

Guest
"How big is nascar in china?"

I have no idea. My guess is except for an extremely small minority it's probably not known at all but that's just a guess.

UH OH! You don't think someone might accuse me of making assumptions would you? LOL!!!

I do know several years ago NASCAR had a couple of exhibition races at Suzuka Japan but how much that carried outside of Japan I really don't know. NASCAR is carried live on TV in around a 100 countries but don't know what countries they are. Right now the hot car is the #8. Jr. is one hot commodity but I just can't see how an ad compaign with Jr. for example would work. Older driver like a Jarrett just seems to fit the bill at this time but who knows what tomorrow might bring.
 
H

hitthebigone

Guest
Those customers in China when they log on and see the 88 car might not what exactly it is but to them its owners and driver are fortunate to say the least. 8's= winner
 
O

over9five

Guest
So Chinese people are going to ship UPS because they see a UPS race car with number 88 on it...
Are all our customers this stupid, or just the Chinese?
Maybe we could try different "lucky" things in our commercials for different countries.... Hmmmmm, Gives me some ideas for intl sales leads...
 
Top