Popular analyst to Join son Dale on Charlotte telecast source: ESPN Ned Jarrett, one of the most popular motorsports announcers in history and a mainstay of ESPN's NASCAR coverage for 15 years, will make a guest appearance alongside his son, Dale Jarrett, in the ESPN booth Saturday night during ESPN2's live, prime-time coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. The telecast will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET. Father and son will work together as television analysts for the first time. The elder Jarrett was an auto racing analyst for ESPN from 1986 until the network ended its previous period of NASCAR coverage in 2000, at which point the two-time NASCAR Cup champion retired from television. Dale, still an active NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver, is working as an analyst on 10 NASCAR Busch Series race telecasts this season. He made his ESPN debut in April. "Ned Jarrett has a tremendous role in the history of ESPN and NASCAR," said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, studio and remote production. "A legendary father joining his legendary son in the ESPN booth, having Ned back just for one race, is certainly special to all of us. This is Father's Day arriving early for Ned and Dale, and our viewers will be the lucky ones." The Jarretts will work the ESPN booth with lead announcer Dr. Jerry Punch and analyst Andy Petree. All four are from tiny Newton, N.C., and Punch and Petree were part of Dale Jarrett's first racing team in the late 1970s. Punch shared ownership with Ned. Dale was one of the founding drivers of the NASCAR Busch Series in 1982. "I'm looking forward to Saturday night and working with my dad," said Dale, who is filling in for ESPN's lead auto racing analyst Rusty Wallace. "It should be a blast having him there in the booth with Jerry, Andy and me. He was a big part of my success and getting started in racing." Ned Jarrett's last race as a driver was in 1966, and he became a radio broadcaster shortly after. He added TV work in the 1970s.
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