Jarrett calls fifth-place finish a pleasant surprise

Monday, May 3, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- Based upon his performance this season, it should come as no surprise that Dale Jarrett scored a top-five finish in Sunday's California 500 NASCAR Winston Cup race at California Speedway. But it came as a big shock to Jarrett.

Jarrett, who has six top-five showings in his past seven races, was left shaking his head after his fifth-place finish Sunday.

"I don't know where to start with what happened today," Jarrett said of his unusual race Sunday.

Jarrett got caught in the pits when the yellow flag came out for an accident on lap 126 and he lost a lap. Fourteen laps later, after getting his lap back, Jarrett tried to pit during another caution period and was penalized because pit road had not yet been opened.

On lap 153, one of Jarrett's tires blew out and he narrowly escaped hitting the wall in turn 2. Jarrett was able to pit under yellow because the incident left debris -- pieces of his shredded tire -- along the backstretch.

"Until 20 laps to go, I would have never figured we could finish in the top five," Jarrett said. "I was hoping we could finish in the top 15 and not lose too many points.

"We weren't going to give up, but things weren't looking too good. Other than getting the trophy and the money, I feel like we won this race."

By finishing fifth, Jarrett was able to remain in second place in the Winston Cup point standings and lost only 15 points to series leader Jeff Burton, who finished second. Burton now leads Jarrett by 55 points after 10 races.

* STEWART'S RUN: Winston Cup rookie Tony Stewart scored a career-best finish with his fourth-place showing Sunday. It marked the ninth time in 10 races this season that Stewart was the highest-finishing rookie in a race.

"I'm happy," Stewart said. "The guys did a great job. We weren't that good (Saturday) at Happy Hour (but) they kept working and put together a great race car."

Stewart moved from seventh to sixth place in the point standings and trails series leader Jeff Burton by 297 points. Stewart also leads the Rookie of the Year standings.

The last rookie driver to finish in the top 10 in the final Winston Cup point standings was Jody Ridley, who finished seventh in 1980.

* NEW TEAM: Cal Wells III, who co-owns a pair of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) teams, has announced he will team with burger giant McDonald's to field a NASCAR Busch Series team in 2000 that eventually will compete as a Winston Cup team.

That apparently will leave Bill Elliott, who is sponsored by McDonald's through next season, looking for a new sponsor in 2001.

Elliott will celebrate his 25th season in Winston Cup next season.

* ADD ELLIOTT: Bill Elliott became only the third driver to surpass the $20 million dollar mark in career earnings with his 19th-place finish and $48,325 payday Sunday.

* WINSTON WEST RECAP: Wayne Jacks' 19th-place finish was the best showing by the three local drivers who competed in Saturday's California 200 NASCAR Winston West race at California Speedway.

Kurt Busch suffered engine problems and completed only 61 of the 100 laps and finished 27th and Brendan Gaughan was involved in an accident on lap 50 and finished 31st in the 36-car field.

Gaughan suffered minor burns on his hands and face after his Orleans Hotel and Casino-sponsored Chevrolet Monte Carlo caught fire, but he was treated and released from the track's infield medical center.

"I'm OK," Gaughan said. "I singed my hand and face but I'm fine. I don't feel as sore from the impact as I have in desert races before. Desert wrecks seem to hurt worse."