'Dale and Dale' off Turn 4

Second in a four-part series on past Daytona 500s as the 2012 race looms on Feb. 26.

It will forever rank among the most memorable moments in motorsports television.

This is because CBS anchorman Ken Squier graciously relinquished his microphone to Ned Jarrett for the last-lap call of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 1993.

What followed has become a part of NASCAR lore:

A father announcing—and yes, cheering—his son’s dramatic drive to victory in the Cup Series’ biggest race.

With a last-lap pass, Dale Jarrett charged by Dale Earnhardt to triumph by a scant 0.16 seconds over stock car racing’s top driver at the time, "The Intimidator."

Here is what Ned, twice a champion on NASCAR’s top circuit and an award-winning TV analyst, somehow managed in his excitement to tell a national network audience:

"Come on,Dale, go baby go! All right, come on…I know he’s gone to the floorboard…He can’t do anymore. Come on, take her to the inside. Don’t let hm (Earnhardt) get inside of you comin’ around the turn …Here he comes… Earnhardt!

"It’s Dale and Dale as they come off Turn 4…You know who I’m pulling for is Dale Jarrett…Bring her to the inside, Dale. Don’t let him get down there!

"He is going to make it! Dale Jarrett’s gonna win the Daytona 500! All right…Look at Martha (Ned’s wife and Dale’s mother). Oh, can you believe it!"

Cameras caught an almost breathless, tearful Martha Jarrett praying in the compound reserved for competitor’s families in the infield near the garage area.

What followed in Victory Lane that Valentine’s Day 19 years ago was a Jarrett love fest.

Sharing the elation was Dale Jarrett’s team owner, Joe Gibbs, who at the time was still head coach of the Washington Redskins and the winner of three Super Bowls. Now Gibbs had another "super" victory.

"After I got by Earnhardt I knew all I had to do was hug the white line on the low side," said a beaming victor. "I hit the button on the radio when I got to the trioval. I figured I had enough to win then, no matter what." …His description came in a matter-of-fact way.

But Jimmy Makar, Dale Jarrett’s crew chief and brother-in-law, laughingly divulged what his driver said in that radio hookup and revealed Dale understandably wasn’t so calm at that point.

"Dale was shouting," said Makar. "He was yelling, ‘It’s ours, it’s ours!"

And indeed it was. Stunningly so.

Jarrett led only three times in the 200-lap race at famous Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5-mile track. He was ahead Laps 2-6, Laps 177-178 and, finally, Lap 200. That’s a total of eight laps.

Earnhardt, meanwhile, led 107 laps.

Both Dales were driving Chevrolets.

Although Jarrett didn’t hold the lead a lot, he never was far behind the frontrunner.

…As the laps wound down, Jarrett sensed that Earnhardt’s car was starting to fade slightly.

"I saw that he was getting loose in the corners," said Dale Jarrett. "I think the low line he was hugging started causing his tires to wear. I knew then that I had a chance."

Problem was, star rookie Jeff Gordon was running second to Earnhardt in another srtrong Chevy.

"I knew I wasn’t going to win the race by having to pass two cars on the last lap," continued Jarrett. "So I decided I would go around Gordon on the 198th lap if I could. I went high because I knew my car would run well in that groove. I had been up there a lot to save my tires for the finish."

He made that pass and pulled alongside Earnhardt as Lap 199 ended.

Entering Turn Three on the final lap Jarrett whipped under Earnhardt and stayed there until they came off Turn Four. As they roared down the homestretch, Jarrett pulled slightly ahead.

Earnhardt gave Jarrett a bit of a bump to try and upset his momentum. However, Earnhardt’s arch rival, Geoff Bodine, onrushing in a Ford, maneuvered behind Jarrett and provided the aerodynamic boost he needed to prevail.

The bitter loss left Earnhardt winless in 15 attempts to take his sport’s premier event.

"We have lost this race about every way you can lose it," Earnhardt said of his Richard Childress-owned team. "We have been out-tired, out-gassed, outrun, out-everythinged. We have come close, but we’ve not won it about every way you can’t win it."

Destiny held two more victories in the Daytona 500 for Jarrett. He won the race in 1996 and again in 2000 before retiring in 2008.

Earnhardt finally won the 500 in 1998 in his 20th try, scoring perhaps the most popular victory in NASCAR history. He shockingly lost his life in a last-lap crash in the 2001 race at Daytona.

Ned Jarrett, inducted into the NASCAR Hall Of Fame at Charlotte as a member of the second class, still vividly recalls that special Sabbath 19 years ago.

"I know as a broadcaster I was supposed to be impartial," he now says. "But under the circumstances, I think that would have been impossible for any father."

The elder Jarrett said that since he never won the Daytona 500, it made him more appreciative of his son’s first triumph in 1993.

Then, with tongue in cheek a smiling Ned added, "Dale did just what he needed to do…Just like I taught him."

More racing news, blogs, photos and more at www.ThatsRacin.com.

More racing news, blogs, photos and more at www.ThatsRacin.com.