(photo credit: Ted Van Pelt via photopin cc)
Ned Jarrett was born on October 12, 1932 in Conover, North Carolina, USA. The Jarrett family is known as one of the first families in NASCAR history. Ned is the father of Dale Jarrett, who earned his first NASCAR championship in 1999 and currently is a race broadcaster for ABC/ESPN. Ned and Dale became the second father-son combination to win Cup championships (after Lee Petty and Richard Petty). Ned has spotted for Dale in the past. Ned's other son is Glenn Jarrett, who was a regular Busch Series driver and had a few Winston Cup starts in the 1980s. Glenn now covers cable television as a race broadcaster. Ned also has a daughter Patti, who before becoming a mom, also worked in racing. Patti is married to Jimmy Makar, who worked with Dale Jarrett for three years at Joe Gibbs Racing, and won the 2000 championship crew chief with Bobby Labonte. Dale's son Jason Jarrett also had numerous Busch and a few NEXTEL Cup starts, with several wins in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car.
Jarrett was introduced to cars early in life: his father let him drive the family car to church on Sunday mornings when he was nine years old. Ned started working for his father in the sawmill by the time he was 12, but racing was what he wanted.
Ned drove in his first race in 1952 at Hickory Motor Speedway (North Carolina). He drove a Sportsman Ford that he co-owned with his brother-in-law, and finished tenth. This did not go over well with his father. His father told him he could work on cars but not drive them. Once, his brother-in-law was sick for a race and asked Ned to fill in for him. Ned used his brother-in-law's name and came in second in that race. That worked out so smoothly that Ned drove in a few more races under an assumed name, but was finally caught by his father after winning a race. His father told him if he was going to drive to at least use his own name.
Jarrett raced in his first national race at the 1953 Southern 500 at Darlington Speedway. He was out after 10 laps after the engine leaked oil. Jarrett was the 1955 track champion at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jarrett came in second driving in the Sportsman series (now Nationwide Series) in 1956, and won the 1957 and 1958 championships.
In 1959, he was looking to pursue a career in Grand National (now Sprint Cup) series. He purchased a Junior Johnson Ford for $2,000. He did not have enough money to cover the check, so he waited until the bank closed to write the check, entered two races, and won them both to cover the cost of his car. In 1960, he won five races and took the championship over Rex White in 1961. He was among the top five drivers in 22 races and missed being among the top ten drivers only 12 times out of 46 races, with one win.
In 1964, Jarrett joined team owner Bondy Long and with the support of Ford won 15 times but lost the championship to Richard Petty. Jarrett picked up his first superspeedway win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In 1965, Jarrett became a super star when he won 13 races and another Grand National championship. He placed among the top five in 42 of the 54 races that he ran.
The 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was one of the wildest races in NASCAR history. Rookie driver Buren Skeen died after two cars ran into the side of his car in the early laps. Sam McQuagg was leading the race, when Cale Yarborough tried to muscle past McQuagg for the lead. Yarborough flew over the guardrail, rolled around six times, and ended up at the end of the parking lot by a light post. Yarborough waved to the crowd as he walked back to the pits. A video clip of the wreck was used on ABC's Wide World of Sports for several years. With 44 laps left, Fred Lorenzen and Darel Dieringer were fighting for the lead far ahead of Jarrett. Lorenzen's motor expired, and even before he could get into the pits Dieringer's motor started smoking too. Dieringer continued at a slower pace to finish third. The race was won by Ned Jarrett by 14 laps and 2 car lengths, which is the farthest margin of victory in NASCAR history.
In 1966, Jarrett was in the run for another championship when Ford announced that they were withdrawing from NASCAR. With that, Jarrett decided that it was time to retire at the young age of 34. Jarrett is the only driver to retire as the NASCAR champion.
Jarrett left racing and dealt in real estate and other business ventures before coming back to racing as a broadcaster. He also was the track promoter for Hickory Motor Speedway.
In the early 1960s, Ned began a radio program on WNNC in Newton, North Carolina. His taped show was replayed and locally sponsored, in part by station owner Earl Holder, who gave Ned both a taping facility and recording studio time for a moderate rate to fill in local programming. It is believed by some that this radio station, WNNC, where Dr. Jerry Punch also began his career on the local high school radio station staff in 1965, was probably the beginning of the radio career of Ned Jarrett. Jarrett would sometimes record more than one radio show at a time in order to facilitate the distance required to compete in what was then the "Grand National" circuit of NASCAR.
Later, in 1978, Jarrett became a radio broadcaster on MRN Radio. He interviewed United States President Ronald Reagan live at the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona, the race famous as Richard Petty's 200th win. Ned also hosted a daily radio program about racing on MRN Radio called "Ned Jarrett's World of Racing" until May 15, 2009, when he announced he would retire from the program. Joe Moore became the show's new host the following Monday, May 18.
Jarrett also has been a television broadcaster on CBS, and ESPN, as well as a host for the original Inside NASCAR on TNN and NASCAR Tech on FSN. He called several of NASCAR's more memorable television moments. Ned called his son Dale's first victory (in his 129th race) in the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Dale banged Davey Allison's fender at the finish line in what was then the closest finish in NASCAR history. Another famous moment was when he called Dale's victory at the 1993 Daytona 500, openly siding with his son on the last lap and coaching him home to victory over Dale Earnhardt. Embarrassed by his loss of objectivity, he tried to apologize to Earnhardt after the race, but Earnhardt merely smiled and said, "I'm a father, too."
On May 26, 2007 Ned returned to the booth to call the Carquest Auto Parts 300 Busch race alongside Andy Petree, Jerry Punch, and his son, 1999 Cup Champ, Dale Jarrett.
Achievements
1961 Grand National Champion
1965 Grand National Champion
1957 Sportsman Division Champion
1958 Sportsman Division Champion
1965 Southern 500 Winner
Led Grand National Series in wins two times (1964, 1965)
Awards
Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
Myers Brothers Memorial Award (1964, 1965, 1982, 1983)
National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (1972)
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1990)
International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1991)
Oceanside Rotary Club Stock Car Hall of Fame (1992)
National Auto Racing Hall of Fame (United States) (1992)
American Auto Race Writers & Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame (1992)
Jacksonville, Florida Speedway Hall of Fame (1993)
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1997)
Talladega Walk of Fame (1997)
Hickory Metro Sports Hall of Fame (2001)
NASCAR Hall of Fame (2011)
Buy This Item?
Discusses the personal lives and racing careers of the three generations of Jarretts involved in NASCAR racing.
Ned Jarrett was born on October 12, 1932 in Conover, North Carolina, USA. The Jarrett family is known as one of the first families in NASCAR history. Ned is the father of Dale Jarrett, who earned his first NASCAR championship in 1999 and currently is a race broadcaster for ABC/ESPN. Ned and Dale became the second father-son combination to win Cup championships (after Lee Petty and Richard Petty). Ned has spotted for Dale in the past. Ned's other son is Glenn Jarrett, who was a regular Busch Series driver and had a few Winston Cup starts in the 1980s. Glenn now covers cable television as a race broadcaster. Ned also has a daughter Patti, who before becoming a mom, also worked in racing. Patti is married to Jimmy Makar, who worked with Dale Jarrett for three years at Joe Gibbs Racing, and won the 2000 championship crew chief with Bobby Labonte. Dale's son Jason Jarrett also had numerous Busch and a few NEXTEL Cup starts, with several wins in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car.
Jarrett was introduced to cars early in life: his father let him drive the family car to church on Sunday mornings when he was nine years old. Ned started working for his father in the sawmill by the time he was 12, but racing was what he wanted.
Ned drove in his first race in 1952 at Hickory Motor Speedway (North Carolina). He drove a Sportsman Ford that he co-owned with his brother-in-law, and finished tenth. This did not go over well with his father. His father told him he could work on cars but not drive them. Once, his brother-in-law was sick for a race and asked Ned to fill in for him. Ned used his brother-in-law's name and came in second in that race. That worked out so smoothly that Ned drove in a few more races under an assumed name, but was finally caught by his father after winning a race. His father told him if he was going to drive to at least use his own name.
Jarrett raced in his first national race at the 1953 Southern 500 at Darlington Speedway. He was out after 10 laps after the engine leaked oil. Jarrett was the 1955 track champion at Hickory Motor Speedway. Jarrett came in second driving in the Sportsman series (now Nationwide Series) in 1956, and won the 1957 and 1958 championships.
In 1959, he was looking to pursue a career in Grand National (now Sprint Cup) series. He purchased a Junior Johnson Ford for $2,000. He did not have enough money to cover the check, so he waited until the bank closed to write the check, entered two races, and won them both to cover the cost of his car. In 1960, he won five races and took the championship over Rex White in 1961. He was among the top five drivers in 22 races and missed being among the top ten drivers only 12 times out of 46 races, with one win.
In 1964, Jarrett joined team owner Bondy Long and with the support of Ford won 15 times but lost the championship to Richard Petty. Jarrett picked up his first superspeedway win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In 1965, Jarrett became a super star when he won 13 races and another Grand National championship. He placed among the top five in 42 of the 54 races that he ran.
The 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway was one of the wildest races in NASCAR history. Rookie driver Buren Skeen died after two cars ran into the side of his car in the early laps. Sam McQuagg was leading the race, when Cale Yarborough tried to muscle past McQuagg for the lead. Yarborough flew over the guardrail, rolled around six times, and ended up at the end of the parking lot by a light post. Yarborough waved to the crowd as he walked back to the pits. A video clip of the wreck was used on ABC's Wide World of Sports for several years. With 44 laps left, Fred Lorenzen and Darel Dieringer were fighting for the lead far ahead of Jarrett. Lorenzen's motor expired, and even before he could get into the pits Dieringer's motor started smoking too. Dieringer continued at a slower pace to finish third. The race was won by Ned Jarrett by 14 laps and 2 car lengths, which is the farthest margin of victory in NASCAR history.
In 1966, Jarrett was in the run for another championship when Ford announced that they were withdrawing from NASCAR. With that, Jarrett decided that it was time to retire at the young age of 34. Jarrett is the only driver to retire as the NASCAR champion.
Jarrett left racing and dealt in real estate and other business ventures before coming back to racing as a broadcaster. He also was the track promoter for Hickory Motor Speedway.
In the early 1960s, Ned began a radio program on WNNC in Newton, North Carolina. His taped show was replayed and locally sponsored, in part by station owner Earl Holder, who gave Ned both a taping facility and recording studio time for a moderate rate to fill in local programming. It is believed by some that this radio station, WNNC, where Dr. Jerry Punch also began his career on the local high school radio station staff in 1965, was probably the beginning of the radio career of Ned Jarrett. Jarrett would sometimes record more than one radio show at a time in order to facilitate the distance required to compete in what was then the "Grand National" circuit of NASCAR.
Later, in 1978, Jarrett became a radio broadcaster on MRN Radio. He interviewed United States President Ronald Reagan live at the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona, the race famous as Richard Petty's 200th win. Ned also hosted a daily radio program about racing on MRN Radio called "Ned Jarrett's World of Racing" until May 15, 2009, when he announced he would retire from the program. Joe Moore became the show's new host the following Monday, May 18.
Jarrett also has been a television broadcaster on CBS, and ESPN, as well as a host for the original Inside NASCAR on TNN and NASCAR Tech on FSN. He called several of NASCAR's more memorable television moments. Ned called his son Dale's first victory (in his 129th race) in the 1991 Champion Spark Plug 400 at the Michigan International Speedway. Dale banged Davey Allison's fender at the finish line in what was then the closest finish in NASCAR history. Another famous moment was when he called Dale's victory at the 1993 Daytona 500, openly siding with his son on the last lap and coaching him home to victory over Dale Earnhardt. Embarrassed by his loss of objectivity, he tried to apologize to Earnhardt after the race, but Earnhardt merely smiled and said, "I'm a father, too."
On May 26, 2007 Ned returned to the booth to call the Carquest Auto Parts 300 Busch race alongside Andy Petree, Jerry Punch, and his son, 1999 Cup Champ, Dale Jarrett.
Achievements
1961 Grand National Champion
1965 Grand National Champion
1957 Sportsman Division Champion
1958 Sportsman Division Champion
1965 Southern 500 Winner
Led Grand National Series in wins two times (1964, 1965)
Awards
Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
Myers Brothers Memorial Award (1964, 1965, 1982, 1983)
National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame (1972)
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1990)
International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1991)
Oceanside Rotary Club Stock Car Hall of Fame (1992)
National Auto Racing Hall of Fame (United States) (1992)
American Auto Race Writers & Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame (1992)
Jacksonville, Florida Speedway Hall of Fame (1993)
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (1997)
Talladega Walk of Fame (1997)
Hickory Metro Sports Hall of Fame (2001)
NASCAR Hall of Fame (2011)
Buy This Item?
Discusses the personal lives and racing careers of the three generations of Jarretts involved in NASCAR racing.
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