After slow start, Jarrett’s rolling

Thursday, March 26, 1998 | 5:01 a.m.

By MIKE HARRIS

AP Motorsports Writer

Dale Jarrett would certainly like to get a running start at a Winston Cup championship sometime.

After finishing second to Jeff Gordon a year ago, he had hopes this season would be it. But when things went sour at the start, neither Jarrett nor crew chief Todd Parrott lost the taste for victory.

Not after a 34th-place finish in the Daytona 500 or a 40th two weeks later in the inaugural Las Vegas 400. Not even after finding themselves 27th in the standings.

"Todd and I talked and knew that we still had a lot of racing to go, and we still do," Jarrett said.

It was a meeting of second-generation racing minds. Jarrett's father, Ned, won championships. Parrott's father, Buddy, is one of the great crew chiefs in the history of stock car racing.

"We sure know that you have your ups and downs in this sport," Parrott said. "I've seen it plenty with my dad over the years."

That kind of experience on the part of both Parrott and Jarrett helped them keep their perspective. The belief in the Robert Yates Racing program didn't hurt, either.

"... Every team has a few setbacks during the season," Parrott said. "If you've got the kind of driver, crew and equipment that Robert has given us, you come back from those."

Jarrett admitted feeling a bit low after the Las Vegas race, where he ran in the top five virtually all afternoon until his luck went bad.

"... To have a problem that we generally don't have with a valve breaking the engine, that was a little disheartening," he said.

But what has followed - a second-place finish in Atlanta and a victory over Gordon last Sunday in Darlington - has changed that.

Now, heading to the Food City 500 at Bristol, Jarrett is 10th in the points. But of paramount importance is the realization that confidence won out over any early doubts.

"It's difficult to not start out well," Jarrett said of the season-opener, where, "I created an accident on pit road that cost us. But we knew after Daytona there were 32 more races to go.

"Anything can happen, and you just have to be steady."

That they have been as they begin what they hope will be a steady rise toward the top of the Winston Cup standings. As solid as Gordon was last year, Rusty Wallace looks every bit as imposing now.

Wallace, the 1989 Winston Cup champion, and his new teammate, Jeremy Mayfield, have been the most consistent drivers and lead the standings.

Wallace has finished in the top five in every race, while Mayfield has been among the top five in four of five. So, Jarrett knows that a tough task still remains.

"As long as Rusty and that 12 car (Mayfield) are going to finish in the top five, it's going to take all year to catch them at this rate," Jarrett said. "Somewhere along the way, they're going to have a problem of some sort, and we just have to be there to capitalize."

The key to that is being there.

"We realize that each and every one of the races we've run this year, we've had a car capable of running in the top five and finishing there," Jarrett said. "Now, after getting that victory at Darlington, we go to Bristol where we won the last race there.

"We've got a good stretch coming up for us."

Bristol's fast .533-mile, high-banked oval is a place where disaster can reach out and nab you in a hurry. But Jarrett says there's no way to be cautious.

"You want to, but you really can't," he said. "You want to give the guy in front of you a little extra space, but then you've always got someone breathing down your neck. So you have to run pretty hard.

"But the biggest thing at Bristol is making sure you keep your temper intact and your patience in order, because those are the two keys to it. There is going to be some bumping and you just have to accept that and go on."