Team tune-up

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004 | 9:51 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Jarrett didn't need to win the Budweiser Shootout Saturday night to know that he has a car capable of winning Sunday's Daytona 500.

Jarrett said he knew he had finally put the woes of a horrendous 2003 season behind him when he stepped onto a golf course a few days before the Shootout.

"I hit a good drive the other day at the golf tournament and that kind of told me (this year would be different) because my golf game stunk last year, too," Jarrett said.

All joking aside, Jarrett said it wasn't too long ago that he couldn't have even imagined being considered one of the contenders to win this year's Daytona 500 -- a race he has won three times.

Jarrett started the season on a strong note in 2003, finishing 10th at Daytona and then picking up his 31st career NASCAR Nextel Cup victory the following week at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham.

But just as quickly, Jarrett's fortunes took an unexpected dive. He was involved in a mid-race accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and relegated to a 41st-place finish. It would be the first of seven races Jarrett failed to finish in the first half of the season.

Six races into the season, car owner Robert Yates replaced crew chiefs. Two months later, Jarrett was on his third crew chief and well on his way to the worst season of his career. Jarrett finished 26th in points, snapping a seven-year streak of top-10 points finishes.

Yates brought in Eddie D'Hondt late last season to serve as the team's general manager and hired Mike Ford during the winter as Jarrett's crew chief. Both additions, Jarrett said, were much needed.

"Organization is the biggest thing we gained," Jarrett said. "We just got to where we didn't really know who was in charge of this race team and now Mike brings that leadership to us.

"He's also on top of things aero-wise and when you get the aero part figured out, it allows you to do the radical things we do with the chassis. You've got to have the aero side of it good and Mike is very knowledgeable in that respect so we've got our cars in pretty good shape."

Armed with D'Hondt's organizational talents and Ford's technical expertise, Jarrett said he can't wait to get the 2004 season started.

"I don't know that there's anybody out here that appreciates starting over and having a clean slate as much as we do this year," Jarrett said. "I'm looking forward to the opportunity to make amends for what was just a terrible season at Robert Yates Racing last year."

Winning the 70-lap Budweiser Shootout and then posting the fifth-fastest qualifying lap on Sunday were huge steps in that direction, Jarrett said.

"I've been pretty excited the whole time (in Daytona) knowing that we at least had something to compete with and I could put what knowledge I have of this place to work now," Jarrett said. "The last couple of years, it didn't make any difference of how much knowledge I had because we didn't have the proper equipment to get the job done.

"I'm not saying that we're not going to have any problems -- we're going to have some bumps -- but this is a great way to get this new organization started because that's basically what we have here."