Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol will mark Dale Jarrett's final race in NASCAR points racing. It also happens to be the exact same racetrack where Dale started his career. In case you were wondering, yes that was planned.
I was lucky enough to get to meet Dale at a local Ford dealership near my hometown. He was incredibly handsome, which really took me by surprise. What impressed me was how polite he was. I've met a lot of drivers and some of them I was sorry I'd wasted my time waiting in line for. DJ was worth every second standing in the blazing sun sweating like crazy, dying of thirst and shaking with nerves dying to meet him. I would do it again in a heart beat.
When I met his father Ned a few years later I told him that I had met his son and that he was such a gentleman. Ned thanked me and asked me about my experience with DJ. I am sure I was beaming when I told Ned about my 2 minutes with Dale. I hope he knows how that was a precious moment that I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life.
Every time I see the UPS commercial where Dale finally races the truck and then hangs up the keys I cry. Sunday will be a hard day for me. It's the end of an era. One of class, fairness, clean competition and racing the truck. "We wanna race the truck...people love the truck!"
For this die hard Fed Ex girl... I must say seeing someone other than Dale Jarrett in the UPS car is gonna be weird. That brown car will always be DJ to me. What can brown do for me? It already has. It showed me what a champion is. It showed me how gentlemen race with class. Something a few of the newer guys need to learn. I hope some of the guys being left behind will try to follow in DJ's footsteps. They're gonna be big shoes to fill, and no matter how much time passes I will always feel a void where Dale should be. Dale Jarrett left an impression on me and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if my beloved D Ham took a page out of his book. Especially the champion page.
Thanks for the memories DJ. I for one will miss you...more than you will ever know!
I was lucky enough to get to meet Dale at a local Ford dealership near my hometown. He was incredibly handsome, which really took me by surprise. What impressed me was how polite he was. I've met a lot of drivers and some of them I was sorry I'd wasted my time waiting in line for. DJ was worth every second standing in the blazing sun sweating like crazy, dying of thirst and shaking with nerves dying to meet him. I would do it again in a heart beat.
When I met his father Ned a few years later I told him that I had met his son and that he was such a gentleman. Ned thanked me and asked me about my experience with DJ. I am sure I was beaming when I told Ned about my 2 minutes with Dale. I hope he knows how that was a precious moment that I will never forget and will cherish for the rest of my life.
Every time I see the UPS commercial where Dale finally races the truck and then hangs up the keys I cry. Sunday will be a hard day for me. It's the end of an era. One of class, fairness, clean competition and racing the truck. "We wanna race the truck...people love the truck!"
For this die hard Fed Ex girl... I must say seeing someone other than Dale Jarrett in the UPS car is gonna be weird. That brown car will always be DJ to me. What can brown do for me? It already has. It showed me what a champion is. It showed me how gentlemen race with class. Something a few of the newer guys need to learn. I hope some of the guys being left behind will try to follow in DJ's footsteps. They're gonna be big shoes to fill, and no matter how much time passes I will always feel a void where Dale should be. Dale Jarrett left an impression on me and it wouldn't hurt my feelings if my beloved D Ham took a page out of his book. Especially the champion page.
Thanks for the memories DJ. I for one will miss you...more than you will ever know!
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