Remembering the Indelible Voice of Ned Jarrett

The NASCAR world lost one of the most prominent members in its history on Friday with the passing of 2-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Ned Jarrett. Jarrett retired several decades ago, retiring following the 1966 season. Jarrett had endured physical ailments during his career, as well as suffering the loss of some of his closest friends. When Fireball Roberts was critically injured after being engulfed in flames at the 1964 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jarrett pulled him from the burning wreckage. Roberts sadly succumbed to complications from his injuries a month later.

Jarrett began his broadcast career with a local radio program in Newton, North Carolina in the early ’60s, and following his retirement from the Motor Racing Network in 1978. One of his earliest feats was calling a race he couldn’t even see. At Martinsville Speedway, he was forced to call the action while in the restroom; no way to bow out gracefully and not disturb the continuity of the broadcast, he told the story as best he could hear it — and nobody was any the wiser.

As I became engrossed in NASCAR in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I would wait until the 5 p.m. hour, when I was able to tune into a sports radio station two hours away in Jackson, Michigan, for Ned Jarrett’s World of Racing. It was a quick hit of NASCAR news of the day, without having to wait until his weekly television program, Inside Winston Cup Racing. Airing on TNN, Jarrett hosted the show alongside the late Steve Byrnes, who would eventually take a prominent role with FOX Sports in 2001, and the late Randy Pemberton, brother of former NASCAR Vice President and crew chief Robin Pemberton. To this day, I am convinced it was the best weekly NASCAR-focused program that has been created.

I can still remember his commercial that aired weekly for the book series of 40 Years of Stock Car Racing and his unique way of pronouncing “see-ries” and “pho-tos.”

If there’s one thing that sets Jarrett apart from his contemporaries, it is his consistently reserved and unflappable demeanor during a broadcast. Not given to wild outbursts or shouting like many of the day in the 1980s, or getting caught up in the moment during a particularly lurid crash sequence. Here he is in 1991, calmly describing Darrell Waltrip barrel rolling countless times through the infield at Daytona International Speedway, but not losing his composure:

Many fans likely know Jarrett from his days of broadcasting on CBS and ESPN. His call in the 1993 Daytona 500 is one of the most iconic in the sport’s history. Producer Bob Stenner made the call for the rest of the booth to maintain silence and let Ned call his son home, as Ned announced “the Dale and Dale show” coming to checkered flag.

Jarrett was also on hand for Dale Jarrett’s first win at Michigan International Speedway with ESPN, but Bob Jenkins, as lead announcer, called the entire final lap flag to flag – Ned Jarrett didn’t push his way in or step over Jenkins call. The Daytona 500 was his crowning call and will forever live on in history as one of the greatest calls of The Great American Race.

In the days following the race, Ned sought out Dale Earnhardt, wanting to apologize for losing objectivity and pulling for his son to beat him. Earnhardt smiled, reassuring Jarrett that all was well by saying, “I understand. I’m a daddy too.”

During the days of Earnhardt’s dominance on drafting tracks, Jarrett would frequently remark, “he’s got some kind of trans-a-mission in that car…” with the way he’d take off absurdly fast on restarts. Did Ned maybe know something we didn’t?

One of the most indelible voices of our sport, Ned Jarrett was indeed a gentleman and carried his nickname appropriately. When you think of 1990s NASCAR and who brought it to you live, Jarrett is among the first names that come to mind. When you think of sports broadcasting, a few names come to mind: Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, and Jack Buck. When NASCAR is mentioned to me, it’s Ken Squier, Barney Hall, and Ned Jarrett.