Ned Jarrett

[Joniki]

My father in-law spent some time with Ned Jarrett. He went on a bus tour of Kyle Petty's ranch.

He is now a racing fan.

Auto Racing Legend Ned Jarrett Shares His Story with Lunch Crowd at Int'l LLL Convention

Ned Jarrett had his hands on the wheel of an automobile at a very early age; his father let him drive the family car to church on Sunday mornings when he was just nine years old.

But, as Jarrett told a sold-out crowd at Friday's Fellowship Lunch at the International Convention of the Int'l LLL, racing cars was another thing. The hard-working Jarretts earned their living in farming and lumber&#8212and had little money to spare for such an expensive pastime. And for that matter, racecar drivers&#8212many of them bootleggers or men whose character was similarly dubious&#8212gave the sport of racing a reputation that faithful Christians like the Jarrett family intended earnestly to avoid.

Jarrett explained that despite these things, he had a desire to race, and the 1952 opening of North Carolina's Hickory Motor Speedway fueled that desire. Some early successes earned him a measure of notoriety, and he discovered that this presented more and more occasions to be seen and heard.

Jarrett made the most of it. "I attended a champions' banquet and had the good sense to wear a dress shirt and tie," Jarrett recalled. "Nobody had done that before." It made an impression. He also worked on having something to say. "In those days, when most drivers were interviewed, their answers were pretty much 'Yeah' and 'No'&#8212not even 'Yes, sir'; just 'Yeah.'

Ned Jarrett knew he had more to offer the sport than that. "Whatever you do, it's important to build respect in your fellow man," he said. Jarrett's soft-spoken but articulate insights earned him the title "Gentleman Ned Jarrett" and led to an opportunity in broadcasting after he retired from driving in 1966.

"God was the one leading," said Jarrett; "He kept putting me in positions to do things that were out of the ordinary." His efforts to bring respectability to the sport of auto racing paid off. Gradually it received greater and greater exposure on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Then, in 1979, the entire Daytona 500 race was televised by CBS.

As a broadcaster, Jarrett says, "I realized God had given me a platform." Not only could he educate listeners and viewers about the sport of auto racing; he could also talk about family and values and generosity; he could set an example for others to follow. To hone his ability to present his message, he even took a Dale Carnegie course in self-improvement and public speaking.

"As I began to be sought out to speak at banquets and other events," Jarrett said, "I was also often invited to offer the invocation, which I was always happy to do, because I recognized it was another opportunity to witness and to build respect in others."

"I am blessed to be involved with a sport that I love and to have been led to share my story as I have today," he concluded.

Ned Jarrett competed in 352 races over a span of 13 years and was Grand National Champion in 1961 and 1965. He has been named to twelve motor sports halls of fame.

Man I LOVE racing...

 

[GREAT AMERICAN RACE FAN]

Great man, he would of won many championships it he stuck to it as long as Petty.

 

[mitchum]

What is somewhat misleading in the "harvested" quote about his taking the Carnegie speaking course in the paragraph about being a better broadcaster leads you to believe he took it in the late eighties or early ninties. Truth is he didn't take that course then, but in the early sixties to enable him to be a better representative for the sport.

As he said, very few drivers were "quotable'' back then and he stood head and shoulders among most. The first Nascar driver I ever saw "in the flesh" was Ned and it wasn't at a track or a dealership or parts house opening. He took the time to come to the First Baptist Church (largest auditorium in town so as to accomdate the crowds) to speak to the entire county's membership of the Royal Ambassadors Baptist youth group in 1965. As a fifteen year old race fan I was there and I was a Jarrett fan from then on. If there ever was a class act in racing it's the Jarrett family.

 

[WNY24Fan]

Awesome story. Thanks for sharing.