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Bobby Labonte Wins the Cup


Ned Jarrett says goodbye, 2001 rookie class, and the Pennzoil 400 from Miami-Homestead, Fla.





Ned Jarrett.............. Saying Goodbye

Next week's Atlanta event will not only be the last race of the season, but it will be the last Winston Cup broadcast for ESPN for quite some time, and the last time Ned Jarrett will be working in the announcer's booth.

When Ned first started to win races, he would occasionally have to address the crowd and speak with interviewers and writers. He was shy and introverted, unable to speak with the proper diction because of his country up bringing. When he won the championship in 1961, he decided to take a Dale Carnegie course to improve his public speaking, so he could properly represent his family and sponsors. After that, writers and broadcasters always turned to him, because he was someone they could talk to.

Ned started out in broadcasting shortly after his retirement in 1966. He was asked to sit in on radio broadcasts, and eventually progressed into TV. He became a TV announcer with CBS in 1979 when they first aired the Daytona 500, and has worked that race every year for them since, including their last broadcast in 2000. Ned joined ESPN race coverage team in 1980.

I will be sorry to see Ned leave the broadcast booth. He's given us many years of good race coverage, and joins such greats as Benny Parsons and Buddy Baker in educating race fans over the years on all of the intricacies involved in Winston Cup racing. I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge over the years about the game of football by listening to John Madden. The same goes for Ned Jarrett and Winston Cup racing.

Ned will still be active with MRN Radio with the World of Racing program that he shares with his son Glen. Then there's the TV commercials, and fantasy racing, etc. At 68, I am sure that the slow down is something Ned will cherish, allowing him to spend more time with his family. Bye Ned, thanks for all of the great years!





2001 Rookie Class .............

Next season's rookie class is taking shape nicely. With the recent additions of Kurt Busch and Ron Hornaday to race against Casey Atwood and Tony Houston, it looks like it will a great rookie points battle. Then, of course you have to add the Dodge factor with Atwood driving for Ray Evernham......
The copyright of the article Bobby Labonte Wins the Cup in NASCAR is owned by Thomas M. Sampson. Permission to republish Bobby Labonte Wins the Cup in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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