NASCAR didn't have just one legend named "Dale."
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Dale Jarrett, despite not having nearly as many accomplishments or accolades as the legendary Dale Earnhardt, was a dominant competitor in his own right. Jarrett is a three-time Daytona 500 winner, a Cup Series champion, was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and will be memorialized forever in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Yeah, we'd say the kid from Conover, North Carolina did more than fine during his racing days. Dale competed for nearly 30 years in NASCAR's national series, and as a result, made a sizable amount of money. Let's look at just a few of Dale Jarrett's successes, both on and off the track.
Looking Back on Dale Jarrett's NASCAR Career
Photo by Bill Hall/Allsport
Dale Arnold Jarrett was practically born to be a high-caliber NASCAR driver. His father Ned Jarrett was a two-time Grand National Series champion and a NASCAR Hall of Famer. His older brother Glenn Jarrett had a short stint in the NASCAR Cup Series and later worked as a pit reporter. Needless to say, the Jarrett family has racing in its veins. A graduate of Newton-Conover High School, Dale was offered a full golf scholarship from the University of South Carolina. He declined, thus beginning his extremely successful racing career.
Jarrett got his start in the Busch Series (now the NASCAR Xfinity Series) in 1982. Jarrett would go on to run in 329 Busch Series races in 20 years, racking up 11 wins, 173 top-10 finishes, and 15 poles. In 1984, Jarrett ran his first Sprint Cup Series race, driving the No. 2 Chevrolet for Zervakis Enterprises. After a few brief stints with a number of different teams, Jarrett earned his first Cup Series win in the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan International Speedway, driving the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing.
His first of three Daytona 500 wins would come in 1993 with a little team called Joe Gibbs Racing. That race would go down in history as "The Dale and Dale Show," since it was a hotly-contested battle between Jarrett and The Intimidator himself, Dale Earnhardt. To make the win even more special, Ned Jarrett got to call his son's win in the broadcasting booth.
From 1995 to 2006, Jarrett was signed to Robert Yates Racing. Jarrett would go on to win a number of big races for RYR, including two more Daytona 500s (1996 and2000), two Brickyard 400s (1996 and 1999), and three Budweiser Shootouts (1996, 2000, and 2000). Aside from NASCAR, Jarrett also had brief stints in the International Race of Champions and the ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series.
In 1998, Jarrett was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers, and in 1999, he won the NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. Jarrett finished his career with Michael Waltrip Racing, and after running in the Food City 500 in 2008, he officially hung up his firesuit and racing helmet and joined ESPN's broadcasting team as a booth announcer. All told, with 668 Cup Series races under his belt, Jarrett garnered 32 wins, 260 top-10s, and 16 poles. Jarret is also a 2014 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, and was inducted along with Tim Flock, Jack Ingram, Maurice Petty, and Fireball Roberts.
Dale Jarrett's Net Worth Didn't Just Come From Racing
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Dale Jarrett has an estimated net worth of $35 million. The former race car driver and current sports commentator is the father of Jason Jarrett, who had a brief stint in NASCAR. In 1984, Dale married Kelley Jarrett, his now ex-wife, and the couple had three children together: Zach Jarrett, Natalee Jarrett, and Karsyn Jarret. Today, Jarrett is an analyst for NASCAR on NBC, serving as pre- and post-race analyst during NBC Sports' Cup and Xfinity Series race coverage. He also contributes to the show NASCAR America, and works as a booth analyst during select NASCAR Xfinity Series races.
Jarrett's past business ventures have seen him partner up with two NFL legends: Terry Bradshaw and Brett Favre. Dale and Terry co-owned the now-defunct fantasy sports site Pay The Fan, while Dale and Brett co-own the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure. Favre was also a part owner of Jarrett's Busch Series team.
Jarrett also used to own and operate a Ford dealership in Indian Trail, North Carolina. He later sold it to Crossroads Automotive Group, and it became Crossroads Ford of Indian Trail. While he doesn't actively participate in motorsports these days, Dale Jarrett also still takes time to actively participate in his first love: golf.
