| Ned Jarrett | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Jarrett working for MRN in 1985 | |||||||
| Born | (1932-10-12)October 12, 1932 (age 93) Conover, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Achievements | 1961,1965Grand National SeriesChampion 1957, 1958NASCAR National Sportsman DivisionChampion 1965Southern 500Winner LedGrand National Series in wins 2 times (1964,1965) | ||||||
| Awards | International Motorsports Hall of Fame (1991) NASCAR Hall of Fame (2011) | ||||||
| NASCARCup Series career | |||||||
| 352 races run over 13 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1961,1965) | ||||||
| First race | 1953 (Hickory) | ||||||
| Last race | 1966American 500 (Rockingham) | ||||||
| First win | 1959 (Myrtle Beach) | ||||||
| Last win | 1965 Tidewater 300 (Moyock) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics up to date as of May 3, 2013. | |||||||
Ned Jarrett (born October 12, 1932) is an American formerrace car driver and broadcaster. He is a two-timeNASCARGrand National Series champion. Because of his calm demeanor, he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett". He is the father of former driversGlenn Jarrett andDale Jarrett.
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. Jarrett started working for his father in the sawmill by the time he was 12, but a racing career was what he truly wanted to pursue.
Ned drove in his first race in 1952 atHickory Motor Speedway (North Carolina). He drove a Sportsman SeriesFord that he co-owned with his brother-in-law, John Lence 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, John was sick for a race and asked Jarrett to fill in for him. Jarrett used his brother-in-law's name and came in second in that race. That worked out so smoothly that Jarrett drove in a few more races under the assumed name John Lence 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 Grand National Series race in the1953 Southern 500 atDarlington Speedway. He was out after 10 laps after the engine leaked oil.
Jarrett was the 1955 track champion atHickory Motor Speedway.
Jarrett came in second driving in the Sportsman Series in 1956, and won the 1957 and 1958 championships.
In 1959, he was looking to pursue a career in the Grand National Series. He purchased aJunior 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, before winning the1961 Grand National championship with 22 top-five finishes and 34 top-ten finishes out of 46 races, with one win.
One indicator of the personal character of "Gentleman Ned" Jarrett is demonstrated by the decision to sell his 1961 (raced as No. 11) Chevrolet toWendell Scott (the first NASCAR African American driver) who travelled from his Virginia home to Jarrett's shop on West "A" Street in Newton, NC, to take delivery of the Chevy Bel Air (raced the previous season) when Jarrett changed to Fords in 1962. Scott hauled the old blue coupe away on the back of an open trailer. Bobby Isaac frequented the shop on West A Street during this period when Bud Alman was the crew chief assisted by mechanic "John Carl" Ervin. Ervin later became crew chief to Jarrett and the No. 11 Fords.
Jarrett was once overheard talking with Alman and Ervin about the need to "run all the races" to win the championship. Schedules in those days sometimes included more than one race per week. Among the unique tracks of the early era wasBowman Gray Stadium inWinston-Salem, North Carolina, which was actually the area around the football field inside the Bowman Gray Stadium. The race schedule was difficult. The race teams were smaller, often having only one or two paid members. For example, Jarrett required significant effort in order to prepare for the1963 Daytona 500 race when the latest"fastback" body was introduced by Ford. Alman and Ervin removed (air-chiseled) most of the body from a 1962 Ford "fatback" dirt car. Next, the two air-chiseled the new body from a 1963 fastback and fitted it onto the old body and chassis. This hybrid body became the car Jarrett drove to third in the "fastback Ford" sweep (top five positions) at Daytona that year.
In 1964, Jarrett joined team ownerBondy Long and with the support ofFord won 15 times (one of which was withCharles Robinson)[1] but lost the championship toRichard Petty. Jarrett picked up his first superspeedway win, atAtlanta Motor Speedway.
In 1965, Jarrett became a 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.
The1965 Southern 500 atDarlington Raceway was one of the wildest races in NASCAR history. Rookie driverBuren Skeen died after two cars ran into the side of his car in the early laps.Sam McQuagg was leading the race, whenCale 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 onABC'sWide World of Sports for several years. With 44 laps left,Fred Lorenzen andDarel 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 Jarrett by 14 laps and 2 car lengths[2] or 19.25 miles, which is the farthest margin of victory in NASCAR history (in terms of miles). Jarrett won the season's final race atDog Track Speedway to clinch the championship; it ended up being his final NASCAR win.[3]
In 1966, Jarrett raced in only 21 of 49 races, achieving eight top ten finishes. When Ford announced that they were withdrawing from NASCAR, Jarrett decided that it was time to retire at the age of 34. Jarrett is the only driver to retire as the NASCAR champion.
Ervin remained as a crew chief to the Jarrett family for years. Ervin later would become crew chief for Dale Jarrett in the No. 32 Busch car owned by DAJ racing.
Jarrett left racing and dealt inreal 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 onWNNC inNewton, North Carolina. His taped show was replayed and locally sponsored, in part by station owner Earl Holder, who gave him 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 localhigh school radio station staff in 1965, was probably the beginning of Jarrett's radio career. 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.
Jarrett gives much credit to his taking aDale Carnegie class for his success as a broadcaster and in life.[4]
Later, in 1978, Jarrett became a radio broadcaster forMRN Radio. He interviewedU.S. PresidentRonald Reagan live at the1984 Firecracker 400 atDaytona International Speedway, the race famous asRichard Petty's 200th win. Jarrett also hosted a daily radio program about racing onMRN Radio called"Ned Jarrett's World of Racing" until May 15, 2009, when he announced he would retire from the program. Joe Moore became its new host the following Monday, May 18.
Jarrett was a television broadcaster onCBS, first as a pit reporter from 1979 to 1984, and later as color analyst from 1984 to 2000; he was also color analyst onESPN from 1988 to 2000. He called several of NASCAR's more memorable television moments. He called his sonDale's first victory (in his 129th race) in the 1991Champion Spark Plug 400 at theMichigan International Speedway. Dale bangedDavey 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 the1993 Daytona 500. At the insistence of CBS ProducerBob Stenner, Jarrett broke impartiality and openly sided with his son on the last lap, coaching him home to victory overDale Earnhardt. "Its the Dale and Dale show, and you know which Dale I'm pulling for!" Embarrassed by his show of favoritism, he tried to apologize to Earnhardt after the race, but Earnhardt merely smiled and said, "I'm a father, too."[5]
In addition, Jarrett was a host for the originalInside Winston Cup Racing onTNN andNASCAR Tech onFSN.
On May 26, 2007 Ned returned to the booth to call theCarquest Auto Parts 300 Busch race alongsideAndy Petree,Jerry Punch, and his son, 1999 Cup Champ, Dale Jarrett.
In 2015, as part ofDarlington returning to its traditional Labor Day weekend, a throwback weekend was formed. As part of the throwback weekend, Ned Jarrett, along with his son Dale Jarrett andKen Squier, called part of the 66th annualSouthern 500. The team was reunited for part of the broadcast of theSouthern 500 race in 2016 and 2017.
Ned is the father ofDale Jarrett, who earned his lone NASCAR championship in 1999 and currently is a race broadcaster forNBC Sports. Ned and Dale became the second father-son combination to win Cup championships (afterLee Petty andRichard Petty). Ned has spotted for Dale in the past. Ned's other son isGlenn Jarrett, who was a sporadicBusch Series driver and had a few Cup Series starts in the 1980s. Glenn now covers UHF television as a race broadcaster. Ned also has a daughter Patti. Patti is married toJimmy Makar, who worked with Dale Jarrett for three years atJoe Gibbs Racing, and won the 2000 championship as crew chief forBobby Labonte. Dale's sonJason Jarrett also had a few Busch and Cup starts, with wins in theARCARe/Max Series.
Ned is the son of Homer Keith Jarrett (1908–1983) and his wife, Eoline Marie (nee Leatherman) (1910–2002). They were married February 8, 1928 inGaffney, South Carolina.
Ned married first Olene Rebecca Proctor (1933–2014) on January 14, 1950 inCherokee County, South Carolina. Together they had Glenn Ned Jarrett (b. August 11, 1950). They would divorce some time between then and 1956. Olene would marry again. Ned would also marry again, this time on February 18, 1956 in Catawba County, North Carolina to Martha Ruth Bowman (1931–2023). They remained married until her death and had two children,Dale Jarrett (b. November 26, 1956) and Patricia Dawn Jarrett (b. August 31, 1959).
As of 2004, Jarrett had been inducted in 12 motorsports and sports Halls of Fame.
He was inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1997.[6]
On October 13, 2010, Jarrett was selected to be inducted into theNASCAR Hall of Fame as one of the five NASCAR Hall of Fame inductees of the 2011 class. He was inducted into the 2011 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame on May 23, 2011.
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)[6]
Talladega Walk of Fame (1997)
Named one ofNASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
Hickory Metro Sports Hall of Fame (2001)
NASCAR Hall of Fame (2011)
Named one ofNASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023)
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)
| Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Ned Jarrett | Ford | 54 | 6 |
| 1961 | B. G. Holloway | Chevrolet | 9 | 7 |
| 1962 | 38 | 9 | ||
| 1963 | Burton-Robinson | Ford | 8 | 3 |
| 1964 | Bondy Long | 17 | 27 | |
| 1965 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 1966 | 10 | 7 |
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Champion 1961 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | NASCAR Grand National Champion 1965 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
