Error could haunt front-runner Jarrett

Allen Lessels

Monday, Sept. 20, 1999 | 10:07 a.m.

LOUDON, N.H. - Dale Jarrett flunked parallel parking.

His parking faux pas may have cost him a win in Sunday's Dura Lube/Kmart 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway, and it definitely cost the Winston Cup leader some points in his quest for his first series championship.

Jarrett had led for 50 laps, was running well and looking good, and was into the last third of the race when his troubles began.

He took the lead on Lap 171, when others went in to pit and he stayed out on the track. Shortly thereafter, he needed to pit for the last time while others continued to race under a green flag. In all likelihood, no problem would have arisen had the green flag stayed out.

An accident in Turn 3, while Jarrett was in the pits, changed things. He needed four new tires, but the crew had put on only two when the yellow flag came out. Jarrett hustled back onto the track so he would not lose position, went around the track once, and came back in for the other two tires.

But his pit neighbors, Tony Stewart in front and Bobby Hamilton behind, were already in their spots. Since Jarrett needed only the two tires and intended to get out of the pits before his rivals, he pulled toward his pit and then angled his car out to prepare for a fast getaway.

But in setting the car up, he did not keep it inside the yellow line of his pit box, and he was quickly slapped with a lap penalty by NASCAR parking officials.

Jarrett pleaded guilty and paid his fine. But . . .

"I've seen guys all year have their front end over and everything else, but we got caught for it, and that's the rule," Jarrett said. "That's the rule if you're outside, but you need to call it all the time. I guess that's just the breaks."

Jarrett served his time, quickly sunk from first to 31st, and then went back to work. By the end of the race, he was back to 18th, one spot behind Mark Martin, who until Sunday was his closest challenger for the championship.

Bobby Labonte moved up from third to second in the title race with his third-place finish. Martin is third in points, and Tony Stewart, who cut into Jarrett's point lead with a runner-up finish Sunday, is fourth.

Jarrett, after a couple of tough weeks, had solidified his lead last week with a third-place finish at Richmond. Coming into Loudon, he was 270 points ahead of Martin, 310 up on Labonte, and 350 on Stewart.

By picking up 170 points to Jarrett's 119 Sunday, Labonte moved to within a still-distant 254 points.

That was the good news for Jarrett.

"We still have a pretty decent lead," he said. "It could have ended up a lot worse. We'll just have to go to Dover next week and try to win there."

Labonte and the rest will continue to try and peck away at Jarrett's edge.

"I'm not too worried about that," said Labonte of catching the leader. "He's got to have a day like he had today three or four more times for us to even think about it. So until then, we can't even think about it. He's still a long ways off. We've got to keep plugging along. We finished ahead of him, and that's a bonus."

Eight races, starting at Dover, stand between Jarrett and his first Winston Cup title.

He has the big lead in points. He has four wins. He's been running well.

"We had a great car; that was the main thing today," he said after the race.

The last three years, Jarrett has been hot after that first title: He was third in '96, second in '97, and third again in '98. This time, it's his title to lose.

Now, if he can just avoid those parking problems.