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CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -Dale Jarrett's final race included a slow lap around the track in a delivery truck, his father giving the invocation and some tears.
Jarrett never threatened in Saturday's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, finishing 21st in the 24-car field to wrap up his storied career. The 1999 points champion won 32 times, including three Daytona 500 victories.
His father Ned, a two-time Cup champion, gave the invocation before the race. Minutes later his son wiped his eyes after the national anthem.
While Jarrett's final race was emotional, his father thinks his 51-year-old son is retiring at the right time.
"I would hate to see him hang on for four or five more years or whatever the case might be," the elder Jarrett said. "People have a tendency to remember you for the last thing you did. I want people to remember him as a champion and a winner in racing. If you hang on too long, sometimes people lose track of that."
Jarrett was honored before the race with a video tribute. He drove a brown UPS delivery truck in a slow lap around the track before the race. UPS was Jarrett's longtime sponsor and he did numerous television commercials with the truck.
Jarrett will be ESPN's lead analyst for its Sprint Cup races, again following his father, a longtime TV commentator. Ned Jarrett thinks that will help the withdrawal symptoms that come with leaving the sport.
"He's had a great career and I think it's time," Ned Jarrett said. "He's going out on his own terms, and I think that's good. But also it's good to see him going into another career in broadcasting, sort of following in my footsteps. All of that makes me proud."
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NO DRESS CODE: Maybe the clothes are the key to Kyle Busch's success.
Busch, the Sprint Cup points leader, has won three times this season and was on the pole for the All-Star race. He led the first 38 laps before bowing out with a blown engine and finished last.
But with eight wins in 2008 in NASCAR's top three series, Busch is clearly relishing his move from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
"It's an easier complex for me to get along with everybody," Busch said. "It's kind of more laid back for me. It's no black dress pants, white shirt tucked in, hair done well, shaved, all that stuff. Joe Gibbs Racing is just jeans and a T-shirt, your Vans shoes or whatever you want to wear. It's more my style and they let you be yourself."
