Parrott Speaks:

Brad Parrott, car chief of the #99 Citgo Taurus, held a brief Q&A session in the Martinsville Speedway Infield Media Center before NASCAR Winston Cup qualifying to discuss his departure from Robert Yates Racing and re-hiring at Roush Racing. (a few choice tidbits, see link in parens for more). “First of all, I’d like to say that there’s not a better person in this garage area than Dale Jarrett. He’s a great person, individual and race car driver. I worked from February 1st to Tuesday and had one day off. I worked to make Dale Jarrett the best race car driver in the garage area and I’m sorry I couldn’t make that happen. I’m here this weekend and I’m racing with Jeff Burton for the next three years for sure. I’ve got a contract now and I’m happy about it. I know Jeff Burton is gonna go out and win a lot of races and I’m gonna help Paul Andrews. I’m gonna be the car chief on the 99 Citgo team and we’re gonna go win races and go have fun.” WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE? “I was told there were too many opinions and that comes from going in the truck at Texas. I stayed out by the car and worked on the car at Texas a little bit and went in the truck and there were four guys in the truck telling Dale what the race car needed, so I turned around and walked back out.” HAVE YOU TALKED TO TODD? “Todd is taking a month off and he’ll evaluate his situation when it comes time, but you’ll have to talk to him about what his plans are.” DID YOU TALK TO YOUR DAD [Buddy] AND WHAT DID HE SAY? “Yeah, I heard from dad. He remembers the time back in 1978 that he walked into the DiGard shop and took care of business. He asked me if I took care of business and I said, ‘no’ because times have changed.”( Ford Racing )(4-12-2003)