Background and Age

Dale Jarrett was born on November 26, 1956, in Conover, North Carolina. Dale was the second born of three children. His mother's name was Martha, and his father was Ned Jarrett. Ned was also a race car driver, and he won the NASCAR Grand National Series champion twice. The Jarrett family shares a gene that makes them top-tier race drivers. His two siblings are Glenn Jarrett, an older brother who is also is a former NASCAR driver, and Patti, his younger sister.

As a child, Dale would spend most of his time traveling all across the southern United States to attend his father's races. He graduated from Newton-Conover High School in 1975 and worked at Hickory Motor Speedway, the track his father managed. During his high school days, the future three times "Daytona 500" award winner was introduced to golf, a sport that he grew fond of rather quickly, even though he had already played football, basketball, and baseball. His natural talent in golf earned the school's team three conference championships, and he was unanimously named the school's athlete of the year as a senior.

Career and Net Worth

Dale Jarrett was a talented young golfer, but after declining a full scholarship for golf from South Carolina, he entered his first professional race in the Limited Sportsman Division at Hickory. It wasn't until 1980 that the now renowned race car driver won his first race.

In 1984, Jarrett competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and had an average finishing time of 24.67. In 2001, the peak of his career, he won 4 out of 36 races with 12 top-five finishes and an average finishing time of 13.94. When asked by Motorspot.com how he stays motivated during times of struggle, Dale said, "It can be difficult, but it doesn't take long to go back several years ago when I wasn't winning at all and wasn't sure that the team I was with and the car that I was driving was capable. Now I realize that, even though we haven't won, I have a competent team and race car every week that will allow us that opportunity. There will come a time when all things go our way during a day, and we'll get back into victory lane. It takes nothing for me to get excited about a race, again, because I'm with a great race team. I'm around good people, and they give me great race cars."

He won many awards and championships throughout his career. The one that made him stand out from his competitors was the famous Daytona 500 wins. The Daytona 500 is a 500-mile-long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Daytona 500 championship is considered one of the highest in status and prestige when racing. Dale managed to win it three times in 1993, 1996, and 2000.