The Natural: Dale Jarrett makes transition to television appear easy

By Kris Johnson - Associate Editor
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
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Dale Jarrett made the transition from driver to broadcast analyst this season.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

CONCORD, N.C. – The spotlight’s red-hot glare shines brightest on those who perform in front of large crowds. Everyone watching on television, it seems, becomes a critic in contemporary America.
   
Nowhere is this truer than in the arena of stock-car racing, where the avidity of NASCAR fans often manifests itself in throaty criticism for drivers and television broadcasters alike.
   
The question: How does Dale Jarrett, now with microphone instead of steering wheel in hand, avoid the vitriol so invariably spewed by
card-carrying and couch-riding critics?
   
Here’s one theory: The guy’s a natural.
   
His bosses will tell you as much.
   
“In all our years of doing this, and not just motorsports, but all the sports we’re involved in at ESPN, and the hundreds and hundreds of
announcers that pass through the system that you get to coach or [tutor] or try to steer or help, occasionally there’s that person that comes along that is just right there and you really haven’t told him anything yet,” ESPN Vice President of Motorsports Rich Feinberg says of Jarrett.
   
Lest we forget, 2008 marked only the beginning of Jarrett’s career as a full-time broadcaster and the start of a five-year contract. In relative terms, he’s still a rookie. He began the year still ensconced in the protective shell of a race car, where his abilities were honed over time and with many accomplishments to show for them. After 32 career Cup wins and a series title in 1999, Jarrett stepped into the shadow of retirement after the Sprint All-Star Challenge in May at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Five months later, he is back at LMS, and the spotlight has found him once again.
   
Neil Goldberg, senior motorsports producer for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, echoes Feinberg’s sentiments in assessing Jarrett’s ability in front of the camera.   
   
“He’s got such a natural, unfiltered presentation,” Goldberg says.
   
And his time as a competitor, so recently concluded, also is an asset in Goldberg’s estimation.
   
“It’s fresh out of the car. What he tells you and what he presents is really what the driver feels. If he knows the driver is mad at another
driver, he’ll express that, and he’ll tell you, ‘I’ve been there. No matter what they say out of that car, I’m telling you what I feel in that car,’” he says.
   
Jarrett expresses himself well in the minds of those that matter most – his superiors and fans – but he doesn’t necessarily buy into the notion of being a natural. A self-critic of sorts, Jarrett still sees himself as a work in progress in the booth.
   
“I still have something that I’m working extremely hard on,” Jarrett says. “I have a habit of saying ‘and’ and ‘ah’ in trying to transition from
one thought to the next. I’ve really worked hard to eliminate that from my speech. I think that I’m learning. I know a lot more about this business now than I ever thought was possible to know. So, yeah, I have improved.”
   
At Charlotte, ABC/ESPN is prepping for the lone primetime race in the 2008 Chase For The Sprint Cup. A sundry collection of employees – ESPN averages between 150-250 for any given NASCAR weekend – mill about the TV compound. Brad Daugherty walks by, then Rusty Wallace, and a cast of other big names you’d recognize from watching each week. But it’s the people behind the scenes, and their prodigious numbers, who help put the scope of the entire production into proper perspective.
   
Jarrett ambles into the makeshift dining area – rows of picnic tables and chairs under a sprawling white tent – and consults with Feinberg about one aspect of his attire. He plans to wear – would like to wear, if the boss is OK with it – a pink tie sent to him by the folks at Susan G. Komen Foundation to help promote National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Insisting it’s not too pink, Jarrett gets the OK he’s looking for – in the way a student might seek approval from his teacher for the restroom pass.
   
Jarrett has just come from the weekly production meeting, a closed-door session for media members outside the ABC/ESPN family. A source, though, says part of this particular meeting he witnessed focused more on mundane matters – correct pronunciation and usage of names and titles, for example. Important, for sure, but talk about your tedium.
   
For the first time in his life, Jarrett publicly said earlier this year, he has a real job. There are meetings about meetings, and you wonder how Jarrett conducts himself in these gatherings. Goldberg provides an inkling.
   
“There’s a lot of energy in our meetings, and everybody has something to say, and many contributors, that all goes to the greater picture that we present. When DJ – and Rusty - when they open their mouth in that meeting, people shut up and listen very carefully,” he says.
   
Interestingly enough, it was Jarrett who replaced Wallace in the booth at the beginning of the network’s coverage this year.
   
This decision was part of a natural evolution, according to Feinberg, who notes the lack of real broadcast experience Jarrett, Wallace, Tim Brewer and Andy Petree brought to the table. ESPN assembled five former Cup champions – add team owner Ray Evernham to the aforementioned list of title-winning drivers and crew chiefs – but none of them were polished TV professionals.
   
“Many of the commitments we made were investments in people that were new as broadcasters. When you go from paper to reality, when you go from never done this, to here now you’re doing it, you begin to identify strengths of people.
   
“I think one of the things we saw as a group was Rusty’s impactful commentary and contributions to the telecast worked better in shorter spurts, whereas the booth is an ongoing dialogue,” Feinberg says.
   
Toward the end of 2007, during Jarrett’s trial run in announcing what were then Busch Series races, Feinberg says he realized then that Jarrett was more effective in the booth’s free-flowing environment.
   
“You try to evaluate your team’s performance and identify where you can grow and improve. You start moving around the pieces a little bit in an attempt to evolve in year two. The decision to switch was a result of that,” he says. 
   
Jarrett, at 52, still looks the part of driver-athlete with only a full head of silver-gray hair hinting at his age. The hair color hasn’t changed
as a result of his new challenge, but that doesn’t mean Jarrett is a stranger to nerves when the “on-air” light is activated.
   
“You get a little bit nervous, yeah. I think it’s natural that you do any time you’re gonna perform, whether it’s driving a race car or talking in front of people, you want to do your best. So you get a little bit nervous, a little bit anxious,” he says.
   
A New Challenge   

Bloodlines can be a powerful determinant, but they don’t always guarantee success. Ned Jarrett, the former Cup champion turned legendary TV broadcaster, passed along some serious genes to his youngest son. The younger Jarrett insists, though, that no early seed was planted in his mind when it came to pursuing a post-driving career in television.
   
“It wasn’t ever thought about before, literally, when ESPN started talking to me in 2006. It wasn’t something I was even thinking even though I had done a thing or two with NBC, one or two races maybe,” he says. “I wasn’t even thinking in that mode, that that may be something I wanted to do because I wouldn’t allow myself to even think at that time about getting out of the race car. I was still focused on that.”
   
While he mulled possible involvement on the ownership side of the business, Jarrett realized after doing those Busch Series races for ESPN last year that his career path was veering toward the television booth.
   
Ned Jarrett said television would challenge his son every bit as much as driving, and Dale says that has proven to be true.
   
“Yeah, a challenge in a different way. No doubt,” Dale Jarrett says. “Trying to learn to do one vocation versus the other, absolutely. This one’s a lot less dangerous in trying to learn. The worst that can happen is somebody not appreciate what I say or I say the wrong thing, and I do that. It is still a challenge.”    
   
Part of the challenge involves being critical when circumstances dictate. As a working member of the media, Jarrett now finds himself on the other side of the fence. When ESPN chose to air Clint Bowyer’s critical remarks about Michael Waltrip at Bristol (he’s the “worst driver in NASCAR,” Bowyer said), Jarrett was in the unenviable position of middleman. Although it wasn’t Jarrett’s call to air the audio, he supported the decision.
   
“Clint and I just happened to be in the same place the next week, and we discussed that. And I said, ‘I understand your concerns there, but the thing that you have to understand - and it’s hard for a driver in that situation - is we have all-access now, we listen to everything. The fans are hearing it, too, the ones that are listening to your scanner.’ It’s our job to report this type of thing,” Jarrett says.
   
What about all those accidents? They occur weekly, and the critics watching at home are quick to form an opinion and dole out blame.
   
“I’m going to give the drivers every benefit of the doubt when it comes to something controversial on the race track,” Jarrett says. “Because I’ve realized probably as much or more than anyone else out there how different it looks from the driver’s seat versus the TV. Until we prove that they were at fault, and I’m totally convinced that that’s the deal, then I’m going to be on the driver’s side.
   
“But I don’t have any problem [being critical] … and I’ve told a number of the drivers in discussions with them that there are going to be times that I’m probably going to say things that you aren’t going to like, and I would like to treat it the same way we did if we had an altercation on the race track. You come to me and we discuss it. Don’t just get mad, blow up and say, ‘I’m not talking to anybody at ESPN because DJ said this about me.’”
   
Even outside the car now, Jarrett’s emotions can run high. During the fall race at Kansas, a spirited conversation between Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion got his blood boiling. You’d have thought it was 1999, in the throes of his title chase, and crew chief Todd Parrott was actually in Jarrett’s ear. Then, his ABC/ESPN comrades had a little fun at Jarrett’s expense.
   
“We had a radio exchange where Bono literally told Martin, ‘Just shut up and drive.’ Well, that jumped all over me as a driver, and they could see how red I turned when I heard that,” Jarrett says. “So they set me up to go after that on air, and it’s a big joke now.
   
“Very few meetings go by that somebody doesn’t say well, ‘Just shut up and drive.’ They’re just trying to get a reaction from me, and it’s usually a pretty good one.”

Playoff Performance
   
The red light is about to be illuminated, incongruously meaning it’s “go” time at Charlotte. ABC/ESPN stage manager Andrea Hilderbrand says, “Coming to us,” and scant seconds later, Dr. Jerry Punch begins his preamble for the Charlotte race broadcast. Far from a glorious perch, the booth is antiquated and cramped, with eight working individuals working high inside this no-frills box of a room coming off Turn 4.
   
And it’s warm. This is due to the stacks of lighting required for the opening segment featuring Punch, Jarrett and Petree. Interestingly, it’s one of the relatively few times you’ll actually see the trio of talking heads on camera. Usually, you just hear their voices. They are now facing away from the track – so viewers have the benefit of seeing it in the backdrop.
   
Jarrett, sporting that pink tie, strips off his suit jacket after the opening.  
   
Shortly thereafter, he radios down to Kasey Kahne, ABC/ESPN’s in-car reporter for the Charlotte race. Testing the radio connection, he gets Kahne successfully, informs him he’ll have two questions in 45 seconds when they are live on the air and thanks him for doing it.
   
“It gives the fans an idea of what’s happening to the drivers and what they’re thinking. I really appreciate the drivers doing it. I know for some, it’s more driven by their sponsors, but I think a lot of the guys genuinely know that it adds a little bit to the excitement of the race on TV,” Jarrett says. 
   
The mood is light during the pace laps. There are 10 screens of various sizes in the booth. The one in front of Jarrett is a scoring monitor. He stands flush right, with Petree seated in between him on a glorified bar stool and Punch to the far left.
   
As the race goes green, Petree pumps his right fist and shares a laugh with Jarrett, who has a veritable bird’s nest of wires traveling down his back, clipped off at his waist by a hook that looks like a dog leash. For good measure, he sports a Janet Jackson-like headset that serves as his microphone. 
   
An early running diary of events:
   
Jeff Gordon, who hasn’t won since last fall at Charlotte, scrubs the wall twice in the first six laps.
   
Eight laps in, Jarrett says word in the garage has pegged the No. 20 of Tony Stewart as the car to beat.
   
On lap 10, Gordon hits pit road.
   
The first commercial break comes a lap later.
   
Jarrett remains standing, arms akimbo, until he finally sits for the first time on lap 14.
   
A watch, presumably Jarrett’s, rests by a can of Diet Coke and cookies that Andrea has passed out to the crew.
   
Jarrett notes Dale Earnhardt Jr. is running an unusually high line on lap 34, and says, “There’s nobody up there where Junior’s taking this thing.”  
   
One lap later, Jarrett adds of Junior’s No. 88 team, “They have started out a lot of these races fast and haven’t been able to finish it off.”
   
On lap 53, AJ Allmendinger ends his one-and-done stint with Michael Waltrip Racing in less-than-glorious fashion – pounding the Turn 3 wall in the No. 00 Toyota. Jarrett immediately locates the No. 24 on his scoring monitor, confirms he is the lucky dog and announces it on the air.
   
In the production truck now, and watching Jarrett on the “booth snoop” monitor – one of 20 that line the front row of the truck, seven on the top and middle rows and six along the bottom (that’s two monitors per each person working here) - the frenzied mood of Feinberg, Goldberg and their minions lets you know something major is going on.
   
Carl Edwards has stalled along the backstretch on lap 70; ignition trouble is the culprit.
   
Feinberg feeds a line into Goldberg’s left ear, the lead producer relays it to Punch up in the booth, and then all of America hears, “You could be watching the championship hopes of Carl Edwards evaporate.”
   
Goldberg is the lone voice in Jarrett’s ear – and everybody else’s, for that matter – when action is in progress. A series of white buttons
illuminated in front of him, Goldberg pushes them purposefully and sometimes with a fury to communicate with the individual he needs at any given moment.

At times, with the “ivory” lined up before him and all his attendant gyrations, Goldberg resembles a concert pianist in the heat of a big
recital.
   
The heat of the Chase will have to do, here, and it does continue. A night rife with activity spills over again on lap 103 when Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Chevrolet limps along the wall after an unplanned meeting in Turn 2. A blown Goodyear is to blame, but Jarrett’s earlier words prove prophetic. Junior’s rim-riding approach just inches from the wall combines with the tire failure to make it a disappointing night and another race that won’t be finished off despite his having a car on par with Stewart’s No. 20 Toyota.           
   
“The moment DJ came into the booth, I considered him on par with certainly every racing analyst that’s out there, if not equal to most sports analysts that are out there. He’s a natural, just like his dad,” Goldberg says.
   
“Absolutely a natural,” Feinberg says.
   
That doesn’t mean this is an easy gig, however.
   
“I don’t know that anything really trains you much for this. I tell some of my buddies that are still driving, ‘You want to keep driving because this is hard work. This is time-consuming,’” he says.
   
Goldberg recalls one moment in September when Jarrett – for better or worse – realized just what he had gotten himself into.
   
“Richmond is a very long and grueling schedule for us, the Richmond weekend, especially on Friday because we have to do two qualifyings, two practice shows and the Nationwide race. We started our day and finished up Friday at Richmond, and DJ looked at Andy Petree and said, ‘I am more tired now than I have ever been getting out of a race car,’” he says.
   
Perhaps he’ll just jump back in one then.
   
Not likely.
   
Jarrett says he is “99 percent” sure his driving days are gone for good. His television career, though, is really just beginning.
    
“Do I miss driving? Honestly, because this keeps me so busy and around the sport, I really haven’t missed driving the race car. It’s been the perfect scenario for me,” Jarrett says.
    

Comments

18 responses to "The Natural: Dale Jarrett makes transition to television appear easy". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Glenn Heard said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 12:30 PM

    I, too, feel that Jarrett is a breath of fresh air. I think that he is one of the better things that has happened in the broadcast area of Nascar.

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  2. 2
    Howard Englishman said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 12:39 PM

    I agree, he is good in the booth, just as long as hes not in that racecar.

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  3. 3
    Virginia West said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 12:41 PM

    Article way tooooo loooong. Couldn't make it through the whole thing. Don't think Jarrett is all that good.

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  4. 4
    BILL PARHAMENKO said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 1:29 PM

    I was a fan of Dale Jarrett as a driver and now as a broadcast person. I think he brings that laid back style he had as a driver into the broadcast booth along with his experience and knowledge as a driver to help the viewer better understand what is happening during a race. I would like to see DJ and DW call a race together. I think that it would be interesting. I also would like to see DJ learn to ask the tough question, especially when they are talking to like Mike Helton or Brian France like about what happened at that poor excuse for a race at the Brickyard this year.And yes Virginia, this article was a little long winded, but that is and should not be a reflection on Dale Jarrett, but on a writter who loves the sound of their own keyboard.

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  5. 5
    Bill Rogers said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 1:50 PM

    Way to go, Dale: Get a little more inflection in your voice, like Ned has and you'll be all set...Ned Jarrett is one of the best, in my opinion.
    Keep up the good work, Dale!

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  6. 6
    Pat Draper said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 2:07 PM

    I like DJ in the booth that is the best thing ESPN has done is get Rusty out and DJ in. I like his little southern accent it adds more flare, like Larry Mac does I love him to. The best team is Larry Mac and DW. can hardly wait for them to start. Wish DJ was in with them to, but can't have it both ways i guess.

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  7. 7
    Anonymous said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 2:40 PM

    I think Dale does a great job....need to get rid of Rusty...I tell ya what...he is a blooming idot......doesn't even know who is driving in the races, he's so goofy...

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  8. 8
    Anonymous said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 2:41 PM

    I think Dale does a great job....need to get rid of Rusty...I tell ya what...he is a blooming idot......doesn't even know who is driving in the races, he's so goofy...

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  9. 9
    Sarah Oxfurth said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 2:59 PM

    I love Dale Jarrett. That is all. lol

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  10. 10
    Bill Rogers said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 3:29 PM

    Anon....Good point. Rusty still comes across as a Miller driver, not an impartial observer, at times.

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  11. 11
    Werner Boehmert said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 3:33 PM

    last good NASCAR driver turned announcer was Benny Parsons...Dave Marcis took a shot at it and was good at it, but apparently he didn't have the right connections...

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  12. 12
    LaDonna Balzer said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 5:41 PM

    The title of the article holds a ton of truth---DJ makes the transition look (and sound) easy. He had class on and off the race track, and now that definitely carries over into th broadcast booth. This was his first year and already he is sounding like a pro.

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  13. 13
    Georgia Ross said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 6:03 PM

    #12 How right you are. Dale is such a class act on and off the track and improves the broadcast booth so much. I am so glad he doesn't use that God-awful hair dye like some others in the booth. Dale's gray is both becoming and sexy.

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  14. 14
    Shelley Phillips said:
    Dec 24, 2008 at 7:00 PM

    I always respected DJ as a driver and now I appreciate him in the booth. Great job DJ!

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  15. 15
    KEN STAMMEN said:
    Dec 25, 2008 at 12:04 AM

    I would lament the day that there are no southern comfort speaking guys in the booth. I like Nascars image because I associate it with fine men who love life, family, teamwork and the honor in competition. Nascar should always have a feel from its roots - southern gentlemen driving and presenting stock car racing. Dale Jarrett is a perfect fit.

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  16. 16
    al asifyouknow said:
    Dec 25, 2008 at 10:47 AM

    The only thing that bugs me about ex-drivers in the booth is they have so many friends still racing they sound , at times,like they are shemefully promoting them.You dont see that in other big time sports.

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  17. 17
    Herb Phares said:
    Dec 26, 2008 at 2:14 PM

    Dale was favorite driver up until his retirement. He is already the best analyst in NASCAR. He is knowledgable, very personable and he isn't afraid to tell it like it is. I wish ESPN had all of the races. Darrel Waltrip who is the worst analyst there is needs to watch and listen to DJ. Waltrip has no clue about the cars and just keeps saying the same moronic things each and every week. FOX is the worst network that covers NASCAR.

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  18. 18
    Nancy Hall said:
    Dec 26, 2008 at 7:11 PM

    Herb you got to be kidding, DJ and Alen Bestwick are the only good thing about the ESPN team. FOX is the best network that covers NASCAR

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