Hawaiian Discount Car Rentals – Jarrett ends drought at wildest track in NASCAR

Race 3 in the 10 race Chase for the Cup championship again showed why Talladega is still the fastest and scariest racetrack in NASCAR. Veteran Dale Jarrett won a frantic shootout to end a 98-race drought and steal the spotlight form NASCAR's championship drivers.

Jarrett, a hardened veteran, could hardly believe what had happened yesterday during a crash-filled race at Talladega Superspeedway that shuffled the points standings and moved Tony Stewart back on top of the Nextel Cup leaderboard.

“When you get to this point of your career, you're not exactly sure when that last victory is going to be there so you learn to cherish each one,” Jarrett said. “It is very emotional. When I was coming down that backstretch, it was very emotional.”

Drivers often talk about “The Big One” which is the eventual massive wreck during a race at Talladega and this race did not disappoint from that perspective. Half of the title contenders had their title chances affected by multicar crashes in Sunday's UAW-Ford 500.

“You're just keeping your head above water out there,” said Ryan Newman, who was accused of starting one of two eight-car crack-ups during the 188-lap race. “It was really hard to do today. A lot of goofy circumstances and situations are all a product of this type of racing.”

Newman managed to avoid damaging his car and went on to finish fourth, moving into second place in the standings. He's now four points behind new leader Tony Stewart, who finished second to surprise winner Dale Jarrett.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson's reputation and championship hopes were damaged after he was blamed for causing an early accident. Johnson, who started the day as the points leader, was involved in two accidents and dropped to fourth in the standings – an almost insurmountable 98 points back with 7 races to go.

With the cars all grouping up for the final race to the checkered flag, Kyle Petty spun to bring out a caution before the leaders crossed the finish line, freezing the field. NASCAR then had to review tape to establish a final finishing order. The review showed Jarrett as the winner, with Tony Stewart finishing second and Matt Kenseth finishing in third.

For the Dale Jarrett racing program, this was a big day. Jarrett had recently hired back his old crew chief Todd Parrott. The two have always worked well together. They won their first race in 1996 at the Daytona 500 and then went on to win 26 more races as a team. Parrott left at the end of the 2002 season and Jarrett has been through seven crew chiefs since looking for the right combination. Having Parrott back in the Jarrett stable seems to point to a stronger future for Jarrett's slumping NASCAR program.

 

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