BRICKYARD ADDED TO JARRETT'S RESUME.

Byline: Mike Harris Associated Press 

Dale Jarrett is a student of history, at least racing history.

``I know what has happened through the years at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This place is awesome,'' he said Saturday after passing teammate Ernie Irvan seven laps from the end and going on to win the Brickyard 400 on the same oval where there have been 80 Indianapolis 500s.

``You can feel the history here. I really wanted to win this one bad, to have it on my resume when my career is over.''

Jarrett came from 24th in the 40-car lineup to add the Brickyard to a resume that also includes two Daytona 500s and the Coca-Cola 600 among his seven career victories.

This latest victory brought Jarrett a payoff of $564,035, third-largest in NASCAR history, all coming in the 3-year-old Brickyard event.

``To win here any time is fantastic. But to win Daytona, Charlotte and this in the same year is incredible - and the money's not bad either,'' said Jarrett, who now leads the earnings list with $1,752,650.

``It is an incredible amount of money. It's the most money of any race we run. That means a lot. That motivates us - me, anyway.

``I guess I won't have to be calling my dad to borrow any money real soon,'' Jarrett joked, referring to Ned Jarrett, a two-time Winston Cup champion and now a TV commentator.

The exciting race stirred up the Winston Cup championship battle as injured Dale Earnhardt watched most of the race on TV in his motor home and Jeff Gordon, who came into the day leading the standings, spent most of his time watching his crew repair a crashed car.

Meanwhile, Jarrett and Irvan turned what had been a wide-open event into a team competition, battling it out over the last 25 laps on the 2-1/2-mile track.

Jarrett passed Terry Labonte for his first lead of the afternoon on lap 135 of the 160-lap event. Irvan moved past Labonte into second the next time around and began stalking Jarrett.

Irvan made a strong inside move on the back straightaway to grab the lead on lap 139, but Jarrett wouldn't let him get away. Staying right on Irvan's bumper, he bided his time until lap 154, finally taking advantage of Irvan's slip in turn 2 to drive past.

``I really was concerned about Ernie. . . . I was afraid that I might not be able to get back by him, as tough as he is,'' Jarrett said. ``What happened is, he got into turn 1 a little bit high and a little bit hard. . . . Once I got out front and got the clean air, my car was a lot better.''

Jarrett quickly moved out to about a six car-length margin over his Robert Yates Racing teammate. He appeared to have things well in hand when Robert Pressley's car hit the wall on lap 159 and brought out the last of five cautions.

That's the way the race ended, with the crowd of about 300,000 standing and cheering. The Yates crew crowded around the wall separating the race track from the pits, waving and celebrating as the Ford Thunderbirds of Jarrett and Irvan drove under the flag stand slowly behind the pace car.

Jarrett averaged 139.528 mph in the race that lasted 2 hours, 52 minutes, 0.476 seconds.

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Photo

Photo: Dale Jarrett exults on top of his car after winningthe Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Associated Press