// MotorSportsNews.Net(work)

At Bristol Motor Speedway another legendary driver hung up his keys and retired this past weekend.

I for one am happy to see Dale Jarrett join other’s like Rusty Wallace who were able to drive until they knew it was time to retire and they never looked back.

DJ like Rusty is an excellent commentator and very welcomed up in the broadcast booth. It is nice to have driver’s who have been there, done that who can really get across what those stockcar driver’s are going through each race. It makes a huge difference when you talk the talk because you have raced in their shoes and not just been a spectator.

I remember back in the late 1990’s, I can’t recall the year, perhaps 1998 when I attended the Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte, one out of many times over the years. The Coca Cola stage in downtown Charlotte was set up for many performances on that stage since it was Speed Week. We did not know the schedule as to who was going to be onstage or when but we took a chance and went to where a huge crowd was gathering. We lucked out and were able to get in the front. Some guys felt sorry for short girls I reckon and kept moving us forward.

It was not long that they said the big show was about to begin with two very special guests. We had no idea who the guests were but felt it was going to be a couple of drivers. It was not long until the crowd went crazy. There were two Dale’s entering the stage from opposite sides, Dale Earnhardt Sr and Dale Jarrett. It ended up being called the Dale and Dale Show.

I will never forget that night standing there for over an hour and having my favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Jarrett cut up and exchange jokes back and forth with each other. I remember Dale Jarrett calling Dale Sir just one time and Dale called him down on it and said not to call him sir as they were almost the same age. Of course DJ replied, yes sir. It was very obvious that those two were very close friends and truly liked each other very much.

Each time they have showed the commercial on TV with Dale Jarrett driving the UPS truck around the track joined by other stock cars, I tear up. At the very end, it shows DJ hanging up the keys and clutching the UPS key chain, I cried crocodile tears . It did not matter if I saw the same commercial ten times a day, I still cried.

I am happy for DJ to be able to make it to retirement as I was with Rusty Wallace. Each of us who are fans of a driver hope to see them drive until they know it is their time to hang up their helmets. It is time for them to enjoy being with their families and friends. It has become time for them to give up the hectic pace they have lived for so many years, even though we know they loved it as much as we loved being their fan. I always hoped one day that this would happen to my favorite driver, Dale Sr but it was not meant to be.

God had other plans for Dale and in my heart I know that if it were not for the loss of Dale SR the safety measures we now have in place for the drivers as far as the HANS device and other safety measures would not have been introduced so quickly.

Dale losing his life on the track hitting a hard wall the wrong way just like Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin would not have become a number one priority with NASCAR as it is today. Safety for our drivers should have always been number one. When I wrote a commentary a few years back about safer walls needing to be installed around the tracks, I was pretty much shot down and told that the tracks could not afford it and would not do it. Well, those who told me that are eating their words and have been. Now we just need to have each track work on making the inside walls just as secure so we will not see another driver hit a inside wall like Jeff Gordon did.

Dale, we will miss you and UPS will never be the same without you in those commercials. As one of your fans, I am very happy you made it to retirement. Now, you can do what you want to do and not what you have to do. We have only a handful if that of active drivers left who are true legends of the Winston Cup years. The days of seeing drivers remain active until their mid to late forties or early fifties is about to become a thing of the past. I am sure the big money they make nowadays not only behind the wheel but with commercial endorsements will be allowing them to retire at a earlier age. I hope it works out that way for each of them. I hope each can retire when they feel it is their time.