Ford officials are none too pleased with the apparent loss of Dale Jarrett, who will announce his decision to join Michael Waltrip Racing later this weekend (live on SPEED, Saturday at 12:00pm/et). All but two of Jarrett’s 32 career Cup wins have come behind the wheel of a blue-ovaled automobile, as did his 1999 Winston Cup title. In addition, Jarrett’s father, Ned, won both of his Cup titles as a Ford factory driver, and Dale Jarrett Ford is one of the largest Ford dealerships in the country, located in Monroe, NC about one hour north of Darlington. Priority number one for the suits in Dearborn? Making sure the rest of their camp stay put, in particular Jarrett’s current teammate Elliott Sadler.(FoxSports), actually Ned Jarrett drove a Chevy for most of the 1961 season when he won his first championship.(5-13-2006)
UPDATE: Ford officials responded quickly to [Saturday’s] announcement that 1999 NASCAR Cup champion Dale Jarrett is leaving the manufacturer for a Toyota team in 2007. Shortly after Jarrett and his future team owner Michael Waltrip held a joint news conference to make the announcement, Dan Davis, director, Ford Racing Technology, issued a statement concerning the loss of Jarrett from Ford and team owner Robert Yates. We’re obviously not happy Dale is leaving Robert Yates Racing because he’s been a champion and a great ambassador for Ford fans,” the statement read. “We understand his decision, but we are disappointed. Toyota is going to have its work cut out for them competing in Nextel Cup, no matter how much they plan on spending. Our plan is to keep winning races and championships.”(SceneDaily.com)(5-15-2006)
