Jarrett Crowned Top Driver

December 1, 1999 / 4:54 PM EST / CBS/AP

Dale Jarrett, who reached the pinnacle of stock car racing this season with his first NASCAR Winston Cup championship, has been chosen the 1999 Driver of the Year.

The formal presentation to the son of two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett will be made Saturday during a luncheon in New York.

"To say I'm excited about this honor would be an understatement," said Jarrett, driver of the No. 88 Robert Yates Racing Ford. "It's one thing to be considered in Winston Cup racing, but the Driver of the Year is for all forms of motorsports and I know there are a lot of other drivers who had a tremendous year.

"To think that we were thought of enough to be honored with this award throughout all of motorsports is just almost more than I can comprehend."

Jarrett was picked for the honor in a season-end vote by a national panel of motorsports journalists who gave the NASCAR star 12 of 15 first-place ballots. The other three went to CART FedEx Series champion Juan Montoya, a rookie from Colombia.

Jarrett won four races and led the series standings from May 15, following the 11th of 34 races, to the end. He clinched the championship at Homestead, Fla., in the penultimate race of the season.

During his championship year, Jarrett was consistent, finishing in the top-five 24 times and in the top-10 29 times.

The cup championship is the culmination of 23 years of hard work.

"My faith is what has gotten me to this point," said Jarrett, who will be honored Friday night at the annual Winston Cup Awards Banquet. "It's gotten me through not only some difficult times, but helped me make some very important decisions in my life.

"I think we can use 1995 as an example when I went to Robert Yates Racing. Things didn't go at the beginning exactly like we wanted them to and a lot of things were being said, but I think my faith helped me get through that time, to handle it in a professional manner and to realize that even if things didn't go great on the race track that year, that everything was going to be OK."