Everything 'Gentleman' Ned Jarrett touched turned to gold

There are few words that adequately describe Ned Jarrett — not because he was a bland personality or accomplished little in racing, but because the NASCAR Hall of Famer was great at everything he did. 

Jarrett, who died Thursday at age 93, was arguably the greatest driver of NASCAR's first quarter-century of competition. In only 352 NASCAR Cup Series starts from 1953-66, he won a staggering 50 races, giving him a win percentage of 14.2 percent. 

Those numbers are already Hall of Fame-worthy, but Jarrett could've done so much more as a driver had he elected to stick around. He retired from NASCAR during the 1966 season at age 33 after losing manufacturer support from Ford, which was sparring with NASCAR founder and CEO Bill France Sr. at the time over engine regulations. 

Jarrett won the Cup Series championship in 1961 and 1965. His retirement mid-way through the 1966 campaign makes him the only driver to this day to retire as the defending Cup Series champion. 

Jarrett's shining moment as a driver came in one of NASCAR's crown jewel races: the 1965 Southern 500 at Darlington, which was the 16th running of a race that today remains one of the most prestigious on the NASCAR calendar. 

Not only did Jarrett win the 1965 Southern 500, he did it by what is still the largest margin of victory in NASCAR history: 14 laps, or 19.1 miles around Darlington Raceway. 

The story behind the victory reveals there may have been some divine intervention mixed in with the methodic driving style Jarrett employed to survive the grueling 500-mile race.

"I was on pit road, and a gentleman walked up to me and introduced himself as a minister from Orangeburg, South Carolina," Jarrett said of the race, per Autoweek. "He told me that he had talked to Fireball Roberts before the [Southern 500] in 1958 and told him he felt like he was going to win, and he did. He said that he had the same feeling about me that day, and he wanted me to know that his prayers were with me."

Ned Jarrett's legacy

After he left the cockpit, Jarrett remained an influential individual in the NASCAR garage. What followed his driving career was an equally legendary resume in broadcasting. Jarrett called races for the Motor Racing Network (MRN), CBS and ESPN, becoming a voice ingrained the minds of generations of fans.

There may be no greater or humorous example of Jarrett's broadcasting acumen than when he called a unscheduled Richard Petty pit stop at Martinsville from a restroom during an MRN broadcast. 

"I was in the latrine. Richard was pitted in front of where I was and I heard the tires squeal and... started my stopwatch," Jarrett said, per the Virginian-Pilot. "I heard him take off and I called the pit stop blind from the restroom."

Jarrett's greatest moment in the booth was the finish of the 1993 Daytona 500, where lap-by-lap announcer Ken Squier let him call the race home as Jarrett's son, Dale Jarrett, tried to hold off Dale Earnhardt to win NASCAR's greatest race.

"It's the Dale and Dale Show as they come through turn four," an exuberant Jarrett said on the CBS telecast. "[Dale Jarrett's] gonna make it! He's gonna win the Daytona 500!"