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Jarrett Qualifies For 500 With A Little Assistance

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By CARTER GADDIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH - Dale Jarrett is in. His five-race farewell tour will begin Sunday as planned. It was touch and go for a while Thursday, or at least it seemed that way, but the 51-year-old, soon-to-retire driver of the No. 44 Toyota made it into the field for the 50th Daytona 500.

All it took was a little help from boss Michael Waltrip and successor David Reutimann in the second of two Gatorade Duel 150 qualifiers at Daytona International Speedway.

Knowing he could no longer depend on the safety net of a past champion's provisional - 2004 champ Kurt Busch needed that after failing to finish the first qualifier - Jarrett bided his time toward the back of the field for the first half of the second race.

"The first part of the race was just to kind of hang out," Jarrett said, "and see what was going to transpire."

What transpired early was Waltrip set the pace, leading a race-high 17 laps early. A re-start on lap 29 cost him the lead when Jeff Gordon swung around him, but that almost seemed to be what Waltrip was waiting for; he immediately fell back to Jarrett's spot near the rear of the 26-car field and began to help clear the way toward the front.

"We just needed to practice for a few laps to make sure we knew what we were doing," Waltrip said. "We did, obviously."

Qualifying all three Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas was the goal, and Waltrip and Zephyrhills' Reutimann already knew they were in after this past Sunday's qualifying runs. Waltrip, in fact, will start on the front row outside of pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson, already a triumph for a team trying to exorcise the bad memories of 2007.

But it was particularly important for Jarrett to make it, considering this is the final hurrah at this track for the three-time Daytona 500 winner before he rides off into the sunset of a broadcasting career.

"We knew that we needed the 44 car to finish ahead of the 00," said Reutimann, who will switch to the No. 44 out of the No. 00 when Jarrett retires five races into the season. "That's just how it had to be."

Once Waltrip found Jarrett, the three MWR cars hooked up and began a steady climb through the field. Jarrett needed to finish in the top two of the nine non-qualified cars, which meant at that point he needed to pass the Dodges of Ken Schrader and rookie Patrick Carpentier.

He caught Schrader on lap 35 when Schrader was shuffled back in the pack after getting caught in the middle lane. On lap 38, Jarrett passed Carpentier, who at one point nudged the wall and eventually blew the front right tire to wreck out on lap 58 and set up a green-white-checker finish.

Jarrett made both crucial passes with Waltrip right on his tail.

"It made my job easier knowing that I had someone there at my back," Jarrett said. "But my car was good enough to drive up there and do what I needed to do."

Waltrip agreed with that assessment, but too much was at stake to leave Jarrett dangling.

"He could have made it without us," Waltrip said, "but there was no sense taking that chance."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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