#27 Kyle Jarrett - Driver profile from 2010 Racenight #7

Driver Profile – Kyle Jarrett
#27 Factory Stock
by Tom Stephenson

Twenty year old Kyle Jarrett was first seen driving out at Laird about halfway through the 2006 season in a Stock Four car, but had been seen at the track working for a few years before that.  Kyle started at 10 years old, selling popcorn and souvenirs in the stands for a while, then was in the kitchen for a bit, and then worked as a member of the track clean up crew too.  Kyle’s mom Terri works in the beer gardens area at the track.

Kyle’s cars in the Stock Four and Factory Stock divisions have maintained the same black and gold colour scheme.  In a 2007 interview Kyle said, “The colour scheme was picked when we were looking at some old NASCAR pictures.  It was modeled after the 1990 Rusty Wallace and Robert Presley cars.  The number 27 is my uncle, and my brother’s hockey number.”

Kyle is on the move as a competitive driver at Laird.  After starting in the Stock Four division in 2006, then getting a 6th place finish in that division in 2007, Kyle moved up into the Super Four division when it was put in place in 2008.  Kyle managed a 12th place finish in that division in its inaugural year.  Kyle started driving the Factory Stock car about half way through the season last year and this year he finds himself at the top of the points standings in the division.  Going into our 8th race night of 2010, Kyle holds a slim lead of just seven points ahead of Jamie Fox.  Kyle also grabbed the first place trophy during the Midseason Championships three weeks ago.

The young man mainly credits his dad, Bart Jarrett, for his ability to race.  Kyle said, “My dad loves to wrench on the car.  He got the car from around Elliot Lake somewhere.  It never raced here at Laird; it was raced at Sunset in Southern Ontario.  It was originally a Pure Stock; my dad put all the factory parts in it and got it ready for Factory Stock.” (Actually the car was purchased from Ed Bordeniuk in Elliot Lake, it was Ed's back up car.  Ed raced at Laird a couple of years ago and has been trying to get some sponsors to come back since then.  Ed's main car was the championship car owned by the Slingsby team.  It may be for sale still if anyone is interested.) 

Kyle said, “Besides my dad, my brother Ryan comes out sometimes, and my cousin Pat Jarrett too.”  Kyle is sponsored by Jarrett Construction, Traders Steel Warehouse, and Rezolution Digital Imaging.

In a division that sometimes sees some wild crashes, Kyle has so far been keeping out of them.  He said, “I’ve been lucky to stay out of the accidents.  The worst that’s happened is I’ve had a couple of bent axles.  I bent one during a race, and won that race, but when I got back to the stall, the rear end kind of fell out.  The control arms just drove up.”  Wheels, axles, and tires flying is common in the division.  Kyle said, “The tires stick to the track and if the car starts going, it just rips on the axles.  The dirt tracking (sliding around corners) hurts the rear end the most.” 

In the fall, Kyle is headed to Sault College to start in the Electrical Engineering program.  He said, “Eventually I’d like to do something related to eco friendly and green power.”