KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Jason Jarrett is a marked man.

Heading into last year’s inaugural ARCA RE/MAX Series BPU 200 at Kansas Speedway, Jarrett was just a hotshot rookie with a famous name.

Now he’s the reigning series Rookie of the Year and the defending BPU 200 champion and, lest anyone forget, a picture of his victory at Kansas Speedway  the first in Jarrett’s ARCA RE/MAX career and the first in Kansas Speedway history  is emblazoned on the tickets for this year’s BPU 200.

“That’s real cool,” said Jarrett, the 26-year-old son of 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett and grandson of two-time NASCAR Grand National champion Ned Jarrett. “I mean, that’s really cool. I can’t believe they did that. It obviously was the biggest win of my career. It may be my only chance to do something like that.”

He’ll get another chance at the BPU 200 on June 1.

First, though, Jarrett has to work the bugs out of his new backup car.

The car he drove to Victory Lane last June at Kansas Speedway blew a right-front tire last August in Nashville, Tenn. Jarrett ended up in the wall, and the car was wrecked.

Jarrett drove a replacement ride the rest of last season, and he ended up second in the series points chase.

He has driven the same car this season and sits in fourth place with 1,060 points. Frank Kimmel, the two-time defending champion and three-time champion in the past four years, leads with 1,300 points.

“We won here last year,” Jarrett said, gesturing out toward Kansas Speedway’s 11/2-mile tri-oval. “We expected to win all the races after that. Now we’re in a little slump, but hopefully we can get it started here again.

“We’re not setting the world on fire, but we haven’t had any major setbacks, either. It just makes you work a little bit harder.”

That work started Monday, when he brought his primary car and new backup to Kansas Speedway for testing.

In addition to solving some nagging problems with his backup ride, Jarrett said he wanted to get a better feel for the new Hoosier tires that will be used in this year’s BPU 200.

The former seemed to be the biggest hurdle.

“That car  every time we run it just doesn’t feel right,” Jarrett said. “Some cars you just need to make big adjustments to. We were making small adjustments to this one. We’re going to make some huge adjustments and hopefully we’ll get a little faster and be fast when we roll off the truck.”

The tire issue is another matter.

Some drivers complained last year that the tires mandated for the race were a bad match for Kansas Speedway’s virgin surface.

Several drivers suffered blowouts; others had to make inconvenient pit stops to change out their tires.

“I had about the same problems as everybody else,” Jarrett said. “This was a high-temperature track, and the tires weren’t wearing down. That led to the blistering, and some guys had tires blow. Hopefully, this tire will wear out and we’ll be able to stay out until the fuel stops.

“That gives me a more confidence. Hopefully we’ll take the tire problem out of the equation.”

The BPU 200 will be held on the same day as the NASCAR Winston West Kansas 150.