Jarrett's racing career was launched in the World Karting Association, where in 1993 he claimed the WKA's Sprint Division Championship of the Carolina's Cup at North Carolina Speedway located in Rockingham, North Carolina. 1994 saw Jarrett return to a track that had provided early success for both his father and grandfather Hickory Motor Speedway. While competing in the Limited Sportsman Division, he scored one victory and one pole, along with earning Rookie-of-the-Year honors. In 1995, Jarrett moved into the Winston Racing Series Late Model Stock Division, where he spent the next three seasons honing his skills at the famed oval. The 1997 season proved extremely busy for Jarrett, as he competed in a total of 46 late model events between Hickory Motor Speedway and Tri-County Speedway located in Hudson, North Carolina.
In 2001, Jarrett began his ARCA RE/MAX Series career, with second-place finish in the final ARCA RE/MAX Series point standingsand Rookie-of-the-Year honors. In 2002 he was 3rd in points, and in 2003 he was 2nd again in points as well as earning the Bill France Triple Crown Award. Jarrett won the penultimate race of the 2004 season but finished fifth in points while also competing in the Winston Cup Series. Switching to Venturini Motorsports for the 2005 season, Jarrett did not live up to expectations and was released mid-season, and promptly went on a streak of four DNF's in his first four races for new owner Wayne Hixson.
1996 saw Jarrett attempt to make his NASCAR debut driving in the Craftsman Truck Series event at North Wilksboro for Bob Crocker, but his lone attempt in the series resulted in a DNQ.
In 1997, Jarrett moved up to the Busch Grand National Series, driving three races for DAJ Racing and failing to qualify for two others. For 1998, Jarrett ran another partial schedule, piloting the No. 32 Carquest car for eleven races and failing to qualify for another. He recorded a best finish of 17th at Richmond International Raceway. Jarrett joined BACE Motorsports in 1999, attempting ten races and qualifying for eight of them. He also ran one race for Jarrett/Favre Motorsports, a collaboration between his father and National Football League star Brett Favre. However, he broke his foot at Memphis Motorsports Park in October and did not drive the rest of the season. He also suffered a concussion at Auto Club Speedway earlier in the season and had to be replaced by Johnny Benson Jr. Running full-time in 2000, Jarrett struggled, failing to qualify for eleven races and posting a best finish of 17th. He was also replaced by Hut Stricklin for a race at Pocono Raceway. Jarrett has not competed in the series since.
Winston Cup Series
After 3 years away from the sport competing in ARCA, Jarrett returned to NASCAR in 2003 and made his Winston Cup Series debut in the EA Sports 500 that October at Talladega, driving a third car for Robert Yates in the No. 98, alongside his father Dale and Elliott Sadler, who famously barrel rolled late in the race. He mainly stayed out of trouble and finished the race in 29th despite being 4 laps down. He made one other start in the series at Pocono in the summer of 2004 driving the No. 02 for Hermie Sadler's team, SCORE Motorsports, falling out after 40 laps due to a handling issue to a 40th-place result. His only other attempt in the series at Bristol in March driving for Morgan Shepherd resulted in a withdrawal.
