Drivers pay tribute to departing champ.

With Dale Jarrett's final points paying start fast approaching, his fellow drivers have been quick to heap praise on the triple Daytona 500 winner and 1999 Cup Series champion.

"Dale Jarrett has been a huge part of our sport," was the view of Kevin Harvick. "I think it is going to be kind of strange not having Dale Jarrett in a race. He is going to be great for us and the sport in the TV booth. He has meant a lot to our sport as a competitor. I think it is important that those guys are remembered and don't ever disappear.

"He is one of those guys on the track that just picks and chooses his marks. He is respectful to race with. You race him clean because he races you clean. When it comes time, he will get up on the wheel and make something happen. He is one of those guys that when you get to lap 450, it seems like it is usually his style to kind of wait until that point and all of a sudden he just appears and wins races.

"He is a great person off the race track. He is just laid back, very cordial person. Very good with his sponsors and people, media and things like that. He is one of the good figures of sport that everybody can look up to."

"He has had a heck of a career and I have had a blast racing with him," added Jeff Gordon, who went head to head with Jarrett on numerous occasions during the late 1990's and early 2000's when ran a streak of six straight seasons inside the top five in the final points standings. "I feel fortunate to have raced him for some great wins, great battles for wins as well as for championships. He is just one of the highest quality individuals and racecar drivers that I have ever raced against.

"It is really odd to me when guys you have been racing with say they are retiring and are not going to be out there on the track with you any more. It definitely makes you think about where you are at in your career and those that you had racing with them. We have had our run-ins too. I remember one day looking up to him and we weren't real happy with one another. Dale has been a guy that I have always respected and admired for a very long time. Hate to see him go but you know what, he has had a heck of a career so he should be very proud of that."

Perhaps one of the most touching comments was paid by Dale Earnhardt Jr, who watches as another one of his late fathers main rivals calls it a day.

"I am sad that he is going to stop because he is just such a great guy," said Junior. "He has always been a good friend to me. My favourite story, I am sure you have heard it, but we had just won the 2001 400 at Daytona and it was the race at Daytona right after my Dad has been killed there.

"I had won and we were standing down in the motor home lot, it was one or two in the morning. We had a circle of us all drinking beer, about 20 of use. I looked around and I knew everybody, it was mostly team members and some friends of mine in town and I looked to my right and standing next to me was Dale Jarrett. I asked him what he was still doing there, why aren't you on your way home. He said, "I wouldn't miss this. That was the coolest thing I have ever seen you do.' That was just, I don't know, it showed me a lot about his character right there.

"At that time in my life, it meant a lot to me for somebody to care and want to experience that with you. Obviously there was a void there for me and it meant a lot to me that he understood that and that was just a great moment for me. He has just been there for not only me, but other drivers too for a while. He is always lending a hand."