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Like Father, Like Son
Dale Jarrett held steady in his Robert Yates Racing Ford during the 1999 season to claim the lone NASCAR Cup Series championship of his career on the strength of four victories.
Jarrett, the son of two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett, completed his 15th NASCAR Cup Series season with one of the sport’s most powerful teams. Robert Yates Racing was considered a strong title contender dating back to 1989 when the late Davey Allison began winning in the team’s No. 28 Ford.
Jarrett joined RYR four years earlier as part of an ongoing transition after Alison’s death on July 13, 1993, as the result of a helicopter crash one day earlier. Under the direction of crew chiefs Larry McReynolds and later Todd Parrott, the team had returned to championship form after Allison came within reach of the title during the 1992 Cup Series season finale at Atlanta.
Victories at Richmond, Michigan, Daytona and Indianapolis served as the foundation for a championship effort that included 24 top-five finishes and 29 top-10 results in 34 starts.
Jarrett began the year 36th in points after an early crash during the season-opening Daytona 500, but by the spring event at Bristol Motor Speedway, he had recovered to second in points through a string of top-10 finishes. When the Cup Series visited Richmond on May 15, Jarrett left Virginia with a victory and the lead in the Cup Series standings. Jarrett, Parrott, Robert Yates and their crew put together an effort that kept the No. 88 Ford on top throughout the remainder of the season.
Jarrett, of Conover, North Carolina, clinched the championship one week early at Homestead-Miami Speedway and enjoyed the champion’s celebration the next week at Atlanta.
PRESIDENT: BILL CLINTON
NO. 1 SONG: “BELIEVE,” BY CHER
NO. 1 BOX OFFICE: STAR WARS: EPISODE I – THE PHANTOM MENACE
GALLON OF GAS: $1.30
POP CULTURE: SPONGEBOB PREMIERES
JEFF GORDON, DRIVER OF THE NO. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, scored seven victories, 18 top-five finishes, 21 top-10 results and seven pole positions in 34 starts during the 1999 season. His biggest victories came in the season-opening Daytona 500 during February and the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gordon also scored race wins that year at Atlanta, California and Martinsville in addition to sweeping the two road course races.
ON AUG. 28, 1999 AT BRISTOL MOTOR Speedway, Dale Earnhardt, driving the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, stayed close on the rear bumper of Terry Labonte’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet until spinning Labonte off Turn 2 on the final lap. Earnhardt said was wanted to “rattle his cage” but heard a chorus of boos from the grandstands. Ninth-place finisher Labonte was not happy with Earnhardt while addressing the media after the race.
DALE JARRETT’S No. 88 Robert Yates Racing Ford recorded four victories and 29 top-10 finishes in 34 Cup Series starts. Bobby Labonte’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac scored five wins with 26 top-10 results and five poles in 34 races.
DATE | LOCATION | WINNER
Feb. 14 | Daytona International Speedway | Jeff Gordon
Feb. 21 | Rockingham Speedway | Mark Martin
March 7 | Las Vegas Motor Speedway | Jeff Burton
March 14 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Jeff Gordon
March 21 | Darlington Speedway | Jeff Burton
March 28 | Texas Motor Speedway | Terry Labonte
April 11 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Rusty Wallace
April 18 | Martinsville Speedway | John Andretti
April 25 | Talladega Superspeedway | Dale Earnhardt
May 2 | California Speedway | Jeff Gordon
May 15 | Richmond Raceway | Dale Jarett
May 30 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Jeff Burton
June 6 | Dover International Speedway | Bobby Labonte
June 13 | Michigan International Speedway | Dale Jarrett
June 20 | Pocono Raceway | Bobby Labonte
June 27 | Sonoma Raceway | Jeff Gordon
July 3 | Daytona International Speedway | Dale Jarett
July 11 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Jeff Burton
July 25 | Pocono Raceway | Bobby Labonte
Aug. 7 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Dale Jarrett
Aug. 15 | Watkins Glen International | Jeff Gordon
Aug. 22 | Michigan International Speedway | Bobby Labonte
Aug. 28 | Bristol Motor Speedway | Dale Earnhardt
Sept. 5 | Darlington Raceway | Jeff Burton
Sept. 11 | Richmond Raceway | Tony Stewart
Sept. 19 | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | Joe Nemechek
Sept. 26 | Dover International Speedway | Mark Martin
Oct. 3 | Martinsville Speedway | Jeff Gordon
Oct. 11 | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Jeff Gordon
Oct. 17 | Talladega Superspeedway | Dale Earnhardt
Oct. 24 | Rockingham Speedway | Jeff Burton
Nov. 7 | Phoenix International Raceway | Tony Stewart
Nov. 14 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | Tony Stewart
Nov. 21 | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Bobby Labonte
