UPS Racing Team Notes of Interest
· Dale Jarrett picked up his first and only win at Dover in the spring of 1998.
· Jarrett has led a total of 545 laps in 41 career starts at Dover.
· After starting 22nd at Dover in June, Jarrett fell victim to a blown engine and finished 43rd.
What do you think about Dover?
“It’s a difficult track. I enjoy the challenge. It’s very fast, very physical, but that’s two things that I enjoy. I think the only problem is, a number of times, when we have had problems in the past, getting caught up in somebody else’s problems. Things can happen quickly here and it can be tough to get out of the way. So, that’s just something you know is a possibility here, and you try to stay out of those situations. But, it’s a handling race track. Over the years, a lot’s changed. I raced when it was asphalt here, and now we have the concrete. And of course now you go from the cars we were racing to the new Car of Tomorrow. We’ve done a lot of different things. Things have changed a lot as far as setups go, as far as tires go. It’s a very difficult race track on tires. Tire management is very critical. And, I think the guys that have that somewhat figured out are the ones that you have to beat. ”
As a former champion and someone who’s been in several points races, can you offer some insight as to what the top contenders are thinking about as the season winds down?
“Basically, you have to continue what got you there. It’s not something that you can turn around here with nine races left, and it’s not like you can turn around and change and say, ‘We’re going to start doing this differently. ’ You can’t do that. You’ve got to continue to race, you have to continue to race hard. Certainly, you try to keep yourself out of spots that could create problems for you, but that’s what you’ve done all year to get yourself in this position. It’s basically racing as you were. The guys probably aren’t going to sleep quite as much, thinking about different things. You start looking at tracks a little bit differently. You start seeing, probably, a few more trouble spots than you ever noticed before. But, they’re going to continue to do what got them in that position. ”
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