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closeWhen qualifying feels like winning: Jarrett makes 600 on speed, but teammates go home
JIM UTTER
The Charlotte Observer
Thursday, May. 24, 2007
CONCORD, N.C. – Fellow Toyota driver Brian Vickers walked past Dale Jarrett on pit road and stopped to congratulate him.
“Seems like a win, doesn’t it?” Vickers said.
“It does, doesn’t it,” Jarrett said.
Both would know.
Vickers has spent most of this season needing to make the field each week on speed while Jarrett has been out of past champion provisionals since at Talladega, Ala., and has needed to do the same the past two weeks.
Both made Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 field at Lowe’s Motor Speedway: Jarrett starts 23rd, Vickers 26th.
“I really believed that if we could get in this 600-mile race, we could have a good run. But the key is making this race,” said Jarrett, who has failed to qualify for the past two races.
“It’s a lot easier said than to go out and do. We had a great (qualifying) draw, so that worked to our advantage. We had a really good race car – I didn’t make the best first lap, I just tried a little bit too hard.”
Jarrett’s good news on Thursday night was nearly overshadowed by the results of his car owner, Michael Waltrip, and Michael Waltrip Racing teammate, David Reutimann.
Waltrip and Reutimann both spun and wrecked on their respective qualifying laps and neither will be in the field for Sunday’s race.
“I can’t drive a car,” a somber Waltrip said over his radio as his sat in his No. 55 Toyota waiting for safety crews to arrive.
“I really struggled out there.”
Waltrip has not made a Cup race since the season-opening Daytona 500, while Reutimann has now missed three of the 12 races.
For his part, Jarrett said his team was performing well since Jason Burdett took over as crew chief following the race weekend at Richmond, Va.
“I said I wanted a new challenge and I’ve got it. We have a lot good people around. I still want to be that first guy to win in a Toyota,” Jarrett said.
“You can’t even imagine what this does for the guys here who work their tails off and do a terrific job day-in and day-out. They haven’t been rewarded much for that.
“It may sound a little bit trivial, but making the race in a big race like this does a lot for those guys. They just need a little bit of reward for that hard effort, and you’ll get even better things from them in the future.”