Many active Cup Series drivers use golf to calm their minds while negotiating an intense racing season. But for Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett, the 1999 Cup Series champion, it was more than just a hobby.
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This interest in golf began for Jarrett as a high schooler in 1977. He could have very well become a professional golfer and made it to the big leagues had it not been for his passion for speed.
In an interview with Kyle Petty a few months ago, Jarrett spoke in detail about his affinity for the sport. He began by talking about a special paint scheme for his car in 2004 to commemorate a career milestone of golf legend Arnold Palmer.
“With UPS, we did a special paint scheme and car for Arnold Palmer’s 50th Masters,” said Jarrett. “It was the first time that my car had not been white and brown with UPS. This one was green and white for the Masters. Got to play golf with Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill.”
Jarrett was excited to tee off with Palmer, who was playing in his final Augusta Masters that year. Having picked up golf as a teenager, it was a special moment for him.
Jarrett, in fact, had been good enough in golf to warrant a scholarship to study at the University of South Carolina. But he had not wanted to go to college and sit in classrooms, when he could be out having fun playing a sport he loved. This led to him turning down the school’s offer.
The 1999 Cup Series champion had been more interested in golf than in motorsports. His first sub-par round came when he was just 15 years old at the Glen Oaks Country Club in Maiden, North Carolina. He eventually climbed to a 1 handicap and also won the 1975 Glen Oaks championship. So, why then did he change his route?
All it took was one start in the 25-lap Limited Sportsman Feature at the Hickory Motor Speedway in the summer of 1977 to change Jarrett’s mind. He started the race last and finished in ninth place. As soon as he got out of his car, the decision was made.
Jarrett told his father that this kind of exhilaration was exactly what he was looking for and that he wanted to get into racing. Between the ages of 20 and 25, in the early 1980s, Jarrett moved from racing in Southern short tracks to the Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series/Busch Grand National Series (which is now called the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series).
By 30 (in 1986), he was a regular in the NASCAR Cup Series and drove for several top owners like Joe Gibbs, Robert Yates, and Cale Yarborough. His extensive career ended in 2008 with 32 wins and one championship in the top-tier.
Now that every bit of racing is behind him, the 69-year-old Jarrett finally gets to enjoy the greens. That too, full-time!
