NASCAR NOTEBOOK Dale Jarrett admits he's nervous about racing with son at Talladega
It'll be the first time the two have raced against each other.
DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Dale Jarrett is looking forward to next week, when he'll have the opportunity to race with his son -- providing Jason qualifies for the EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
But the father has a warning.
"I know he's run there in the ARCA series and he's run a couple of Busch races there, but he hasn't seen anything quite like what he's going to get into," Dale said. "He knows that, and he's extremely excited, and I'm excited for him."
The decision to put the younger Jarrett in the car gives Robert Yates Racing three entries. Jason will team with his father and Elliott Sadler.
The younger Jarrett is second in points in the ARCA series, which raced Saturday at Talladega. His ARCA crew will stay over and pit his Ford today in the Winston Cup race.
Jason is confident.
"With the Robert Yates engine and the cars they have, I believe that we are going to make the field," he said. "I just want to get out there and run all day and learn more about the draft."
Dale admits to a bit of trepidation.
"It's always a nerve-racking race, but now I've got double nerves because there's two of us out there," he said.
But that can't match the excitement he feels.
"As much as my dad [Ned] and I have experienced -- he won 50 races and I've won over 30, and we both were fortunate enough to win championships -- we never had the change to race against each other," he said.
New car owner
Rusty Wallace will be a busy man next season when he fields a Busch series team with short-track driver Billy Parker behind the wheel. Barry Dodson, Wallace's crew chief when he won the Winston Cup championship in 1989, will be the general manager.
The team will field Dodges with engines supplied by Roger Penske, who owns Wallace's Cup car. It will compete in 17 races, backed by Duraflame, a new sponsor in NASCAR.
"We felt the NASCAR Grand National Series offered a tremendous platform for sponsor activation," Wallace said. "This opportunity allows our organization to expand in parallel with NASCAR's growth and popularity."
Parker, the brother of Busch series racer Hank Parker Jr., has five wins this season in NASCAR Late Model competition in Hickory, N.C. He is a contemporary of Stephen Wallace, Rusty's son. That connection helped the 26-year-old Parker secure the ride.
"One day, Stephen asked me if I wanted to have lunch with his father," Parker said. "The next thing I know, I'm driving a Busch series car for Rusty Wallace."
The team will run a full schedule in 2005.
Big bonus
Matt Kenseth will have another shot at a record bonus payment today at Dover International Speedway.
Kenseth is the only driver eligible for the $280,000 leader bonus from series sponsor Winston. It's payable to the leader if he wins or goes to any other driver who moves to the top of the standings with a victory.
With a 404-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth cannot be caught in either of the next two races. The maximum point spread from first to last is 151 points. Kenseth has been the only bonus eligible since May 25, when he finished second in the Coca-Cola 600 to take a 160-point lead.
It's been 58 races since the bonus -- which increases by $10,000 each time it goes unclaimed -- has been collected. Sterling Marlin won the bonus twice last season, getting a total of $50,000.
Bobby Labonte set the record for a bonus payoff when he got $190,000 three years ago in the Brickyard 400.
Money unclaimed at the end of the season is divided among the top 10 drivers.