[1] In 2008, after retiring from driving following the 2008 Food City 500, he joined ESPN permanently as the lead racing analyst replacing Rusty Wallace.

Jarrett was born on November 26, 1956,[3] in Conover, North Carolina, the middle child of Ned and Martha.

[4] Jarrett's father Ned competed in the NASCAR Grand National Division between 1953 and 1966,[5] winning two series championships in 1961 and 1965.

[3] He was introduced to golf by age twelve;[7] he also played football, basketball and baseball while attending Newton-Conover High School.

[11] Jarrett competed in the 1982 NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series for car owner Horace Isenhower.

For the 1984 Busch Grand National Series, Jarrett received sponsorship from Econo Lodge; Valvoline; and Budweiser.

[14] He made two more Cup starts that season, at the Firecracker 400 for Jimmy Means, and the Warner W. Hodgdon American 500.

Jarrett earned his second career victory in the Busch Grand National Series at Hickory during the 1987 season.

Running a primarily-unsponsored car, he had two 10th-place finishes and ended the season 26th in points, second to Davey Allison for Rookie of the Year honors.

29 Hardee's-sponsored Oldsmobile owned by Cale Yarborough, finishing eighth at Riverside International Raceway.

He also ran races for Buddy Arrington and Hoss Ellington that season, finishing 23rd in the final standings.

[16] Led by crew chief John Ervin[17] and engine builder Ron Hutter, Jarrett scored victories at Bristol, Charlotte, Rockingham and Darlington (twice).

21 Citgo-sponsored Ford Thunderbird for Wood Brothers Racing at the Valleydale Meats 500, replacing the injured Neil Bonnett.

The following season, Jarrett won his first career Winston Cup race at Michigan International Speedway, and finished a then career-best 17th in the final standings.

With engines provided by Yates and sponsorship from Mac Tools, Jarrett scored four Busch Series wins during the season.

Jarrett finished third in the final point standings behind Hendrick Motorsports teammates Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon.

The following season, he won a career-best seven races but lost the championship to Jeff Gordon by 14 points, who by Jarrett's own admission on August 25, 2012, was "eleven hundred times the driver I ever dreamed of being".

After an offseason surgery, Jarrett returned in 1999 and took the points lead after his first win of the season at the Pontiac Excitement 400 and held it for the rest of the season, when he won The Winston Cup title by 201 points over Bobby Labonte with four wins (Richmond, Michigan, Daytona, and Indianapolis), 24 Top 5's, a then Modern Era record 29 Top 10's, and an average 6.76 finish.

He also retired from the Busch Series to become a part-time owner, partnering with National Football League quarterback Brett Favre to field the No.

11 Rayovac-sponsored Ford for his son Jason, Yates teammate Kenny Irwin Jr., and Steve Grissom.

After that season, Jarrett's long-time crew chief Todd Parrott departed and Jimmy Elledge took over the role as a replacement.

Jarrett began the 2003 season by winning at North Carolina Speedway but only posted five more Top 10 finishes, relegating him to 26th in the final standings.

Jarrett started the 2007 Nextel Cup season on a high note as he drew pole position for the annual exhibition race, the Budweiser Shootout, at Daytona.

Jarrett was forced to use all six of his provisionals at the start of the season, starting at Daytona mainly because Michael Waltrip Racing was penalized by NASCAR for an illegal fuel additive during Speedweeks and the penalties knocked Jarrett, Waltrip and Reutimann out of the Top 35 in owner points-the safety net for qualifying regardless of rain and cancellations of qualifying.