May 19, 2008
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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Well, the All-Star race certainly didn’t end up like I expected it to.
Oh, I have no problem with Kasey Kahne winning…as a matter of fact, it was nice to see the fan vote winner actually win the main event. But what happened to the old saying of “Bring back the checkers or bring back the steering wheel”? We had three cautions in the All-Star Showdown, and those were only the result of the end of the first three segments.
Not one person crashed. That isn’t to say there wasn’t a good amount of attrition. Kyle Busch appeared to be running away with the race….only to blow up. Then Carl Edwards took the lead….and fell back. Greg Biffle looked like he was going to pick up where Kyle left off….and fell back (although in the end he did make it back up to second place.) Denny Hamlin took the lead…and suffered the same result as his teammate, Busch. Dale Earnhardt Jr. looked like he might have found his groove…and then faded.
In the end, it was a call of no tires….and the heavy voting of thousands of fans…that allowed the #9 team to become the first to ever win the All-Star Race after making it in as the result of winning the fan vote.
“This is a big fan weekend, and hopefully we made them happy” Kasey commented after the race, a big smile on his face. “I want to thank the fans…I want to thank all the fans for voting for the Budweiser car and everyone at Allstate, it’s just a huge race for us.”
Kenny Wallace added “NASCAR and the rules said that car was not good enough to be in that race. I am very happy that he won because I was voted in last year, so that just proves that even though you haven’t won a race…you can still get the job done.”
Even better, Kasey won’t have to rely on the fans for at least another decade. This win locks him into the All-Star Race for the next ten years.
As Kasey was doing donuts on the front stretch, a career was coming to an end. Dale Jarrett climbed out of a race car for the last time, bringing to a close a 24-year NASCAR career that included 32 wins and one championship.
The night began with a special tribute to DJ, who was introduced last during driver introductions…the position usually reserved for the driver the fans voted in. After being introduced, DJ finally got to drive the Big Brown Truck around Lowes Motorspeedway, with the cheers of the thousands of fans on hand accompanying him on the lap (it would have been nice of Speed Channel to show the fans at home the victory lap, but we lost most of it to a commercial break.)
It was then time to get to work, and while he didn’t have a run befitting his career, when he took the checkered flag for the last time, his son Jason hopped on the radio and made a comment that I think many others were thinking. “Dad, congrats on a great career.” Someone else came on and said “Dale, thank you for letting me be a part of your great career”. “I’ve raced with Dale ever since he started, and he is just like his dad. He is a true gentleman.” added Darrell Waltrip from the booth. On Friday, Elliott Sadler, who was a teammate of DJ’s at Robert Yates Racing, talked about how hard it has been to say farewell. “It is hard not to tear up just talking to him in the garage. He has to be one of my best friends in the sport.”
It was Sean Connery who made a movie called “Never say never again”; however, it seems that Jarrett has no intention of suiting up for anything but the broadcast booth from now on.
"I hate to use the word never, but I have no plans whatsoever of getting back in a car," Jarrett told USA Today earlier this week. "It would be real easy. I've already had calls from other owners saying 'would you consider maybe looking at the beginning of next year? We know that opportunity might be here for you. I've made (a promise) to (ESPN) that when I drive this race that my focus then would turn to being the best announcer that I can be." That doesn’t mean it was easy for Jarrett. "It's difficult knowing that when I get out of the car that's the last time I'll ever compete at this level."
Dale perhaps put it best when he told reporters "You don't have to know what sponsors I had or cars I drove. Just know that what you got with me was a passion for the sport and I had the best interest of the sport.”
I don’t think there will ever be any doubt of that. I tip my hat to you DJ. Thanks for the memories. I look forward to enjoying your second career as much as I enjoyed your first.
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