Common bond

Spirit of volunteerism unites Jarrett's family

For the first time in all their years together, Kelley Jarrett has missed more of husband Dale's races this season than she's witnessed.

It's by choice, and it has nothing to do with any gossip column. The three reasons that cell-phone updates and television have replaced her track appearances are named Natalee, Karsyn and Zachary. And if you think their dad's public schedule seems excessive, try chaperoning a 14-, 12-, and 7-year-old, respectively, through a summer's activities.

"They just have a lot going on," said their mom. "Which is healthy, but it keeps me away from the race track a lot, and this year is the most I haven't been at a race."

Among the Jarrett clan's summer interests: a traveling gymnastics team and AAU basketball for Natalee and Karsyn. Baseball for Zachary. Throw in the ARCA commitments of eldest son Jason, 27, and you'll understand why day planners may be the most valuable household item.

"We didn't choose to hire a nanny to run with the kids," said Kelley of her and Dale's child-rearing objectives. "We wanted to do it ourselves and that brings more demands on us. And it's just for a short snippet. His career is a snippet of time out of his life and we just try to make the best of it."

She paused one recent Sunday morning in the family motor home, barefoot, in jeans, and totally comfortable with several visitors.

"And when we come," she added, laughing, "we come big."

That means the girls each bringing a friend. Teenagers bunking on the motor home floor and sofas; a partition for adult peace-and-quiet. Whenever he can, Dale pitches in by mentioning all the kids' athletic exploits in news conferences, lending interest and expertise to Jason's ARCA career. Giving Zachary a break from his sisters by taking him along for father-son race weekends.

"When he was 5, that's when everything started trickling off and we weren't able to come as much," Kelley said of her youngest child. "And he wasn't like Karsyn and Natalee, all up in the middle of it until they were about 10, 11. And so he's had to suffer, and he's really the one who appreciates it more than anything, being here."

The phrase "being here" likely holds another connotation for Kelley Jarrett.

During the past several seasons, she and Dale have worked with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation through a partnership with one of Dale's associate sponsors, Ford Credit. The latter donates $10,000 for each Jarrett victory, $7,500 for each second-place finish, $5,000 for third, and $5,000 for each pole position.

As of mid-June, Ford Credit had donated $15,000 this year, and $600,000 dating to 1998. But money isn't the Jarretts' only contribution. They also staff the Foundation's Race Fans for a Cure booth at certain tracks, working side-by-side with other volunteers to hand out brochures and interact with the inquisitive, and the only-too-knowledgeable.

"The turnout's amazing," said Kelley Jarrett. "Whenever I get there for my bit of time that I'm there, it's amazing the amount of people that come in. And they have stories to tell. They're curious to find out what it is, or they have a story that they want to share with you. Or they want to pick up the information."

Although the presence of the 1999 Winston Cup champion lures many people to the booths, it's his wife who ends up hearing their tales of tragedy and triumph.

"I think they feel more comfortable sharing that story, or talking to you about it, or opening up a little," Kelley Jarrett said. "You're just on the same plane, whereas Dale -- it's very important for him to be a part of it, too, because it affects men as well as women -- but I think women especially.

"But I find that interesting when I was there, at the booth, how many men come up by themselves, not with their spouse, not with their girlfriend. And they just feel the impetus to come and share a story."

Some of those stories, Kelley admits, break one's heart. Others, such as the woman who'd never taken any early-detection steps until she stopped by a Lowe's Motor Speedway booth -- and who was later diagnosed with survivable breast cancer -- inspire.

"I guess more than anything I'm impressed with the love that people have, for either a sibling or a spouse or mother," Kelley said. "And when they come up there to sign that little pink ribbon, just the love that you see emanating from them. Either they lost them, or had that experience, and they survived."

As a mother with two daughters, Kelley doesn't have to manufacture her volunteerism. She also had a grandmother who survived the disease and lived to be 93.

Kelley recalls running with Natalee and Karsyn in the Komen Foundation's Charlotte-area Race for the Cure several years ago, and spotting a placard pinned to another runner's shirt. "Our eyes sat on this one at the same time," Kelley said. "And it said, 'In memory of my mother, my grandmother, my sister, my aunt, and in celebration of me.'"

The inscription meant the woman -- herself a breast cancer survivor -- had lost all those relatives to the disease.

"They've never forgotten that, either," Kelley Jarrett said of its impact on her daughters. "Whenever we talk about it -- 'You remember that lady, Mom?' Cause they wonder, how is she? Has she still survived?"

Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.

 

Related information

Stories

Denise N. Maloof's Insider Archive

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video