Darrell Waltrip

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Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American

Early years

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Waltrip was born on February 4, 1947, in Owensboro, Kentucky. Starting his driving career in Go-karts at age 12, Waltrip entered his first stock car race just four years later. Waltrip and his father built a 1936 Chevrolet coupe and headed to a local dirt track near their Owensboro home. The first night out was far from a success as the youngster, barely old enough to drive on the street, slammed the wall and heavily damaged the coupe. Waltrip soon left the dirt and found his niche on asphalt where the smoothness he learned in the karts proved a valuable asset. Waltrip was a 1965 graduate of Daviess County High School in Owensboro.

He was an early racer at the Kentucky Motor Speedway (an asphalt track in

Waltrip drove the No. 48 P. B. Crowell owned

He became a Christian in 1983 but it was years later before God came first in his life.[3] One of the charities he supports is the Motor Racing Outreach (MRO)^[4] providing spiritual support to racers and their families.

NASCAR career

Early years in NASCAR: 1972–1975

Waltrip started in

During the 1973 season, Waltrip drove 5 Winston Cup races for Bud Moore Engineering.

DiGard years: 1975–1980

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Except for five races in 1973, driving for

Waltrip's first race with

Capital City 500, in Richmond, Virginia. He would post three top-five and four top-ten finishes in the 11 races he ran for DiGard in 1975.

In perhaps the most famous and most well known NASCAR race, the 1979 Daytona 500, held February 18, 1979, a race that Richard Petty won, Waltrip was a pre-race favorite to win the race. As the first NASCAR race covered "flag to flag" on national television, Cale Yarborough, and Donnie Allison, while battling for the lead on the last lap, came together and crashed hard, taking each other out, in the third turn. While the Allison and Yarborough cars were spinning and coming to rest in the grassy infield, attention turned quickly to the new leaders, Richard Petty running third, and Waltrip, running closely behind in fourth, as a fist fight ensued between Yarborough, Donnie Allison, and his brother and racer, Bobby Allison, in the turn three grass. Earlier in the race, Waltrip's DiGard Gatorade Oldsmobile, dropped a cylinder and while able to hang onto the slipstream of the Petty car on the final lap, was not able to draft past the Petty car in the fourth turn on the final lap due to the reduction in horsepower. Still, Waltrip finished runner-up in perhaps the most famous race in NASCAR history, and was an early turning point in Waltrip's career.

The

At the height of his NASCAR Cup Series success in the early 1980s, fans often booed Waltrip, in large part because of his success on the track defeating more established drivers with large fan followings, but also because of his open criticism of NASCAR, his admitting to condoning cheating, and his aggressive "take no prisoners", "win at all costs" approach to driving. Doing him no favors was his widely publicized falling-out with DiGard leadership, where he publicly admitted that he would not have won a championship as long as he drove for them. He attempted several times to be released from his driving contract with DiGard in 1980, a year in which Waltrip won five Winston Cup races. Still, Waltrip had a huge and devoted fan following. It was often said by race commentators and sports columnists that "you either hate him or love him".

It was Waltrip's rival Cale Yarborough, driver for legendary owner Junior Johnson, that privately told Waltrip that he intended to cut back on his racing appearances and leave Junior Johnson & Associates team at the end of the 1980 season, opening the position for Waltrip, but only if Waltrip could successfully negotiate an early termination of his contract with DiGard. Waltrip successfully negotiated his exit from DiGard, and would take over the No. 11 for 1981.

Junior Johnson years: 1981–1986

Waltrip's success driving the

It was during the early 1980s, with Junior Johnson, that Waltrip first worked with

Waltrip's first season with Junior Johnson was a huge success. He won 12 races including big races such as the Rebel 500, the Food City 500, and the Riverside 400 event. He almost swept Talladega for his 1981 season by nearly winning the Talladega 500. On the final lap rookie Ron Bouchard dove under Waltrip and Terry Labonte to take the lead. Bouchard beat Waltrip by a foot in a 3-wide drag race in what has been called the biggest upset in NASCAR history. Waltrip reportedly said "Where the hell did he come from?" in an interview. Waltrip also stated in a post-race conference that part of the reason he lost the race was because he thought Bouchard was a lap down and therefore did not block Bouchard.

He ended 1981 with 11 poles, 12 wins, 21 top fives, and 25 top tens. Not only did Waltrip win 12 races, he also won the Winston Cup championship over nemesis Bobby Allison, rallying from a nearly 300-point deficit in midsummer and taking the points lead for keeps with a second-place finish at Dover in September. Waltrip then strung together four consecutive victories and ran well in the final two races of the season to win by 53 points.

In 1982, Waltrip again won 12 races and basically repeated his 1981 season. He claimed his second championship in a row that year, again scratching and clawing his way past Bobby Allison with a late-season charge, taking the lead at Martinsville in October, and winning the title by 72 points.

At the

Waltrip would continue his unprecedented success driving for Junior Johnson through the 1986 season, winning his third and final Winston Cup championship, in 1985, winning the inaugural All-Star race, The Winston, in 1985, and compiling 43 total wins with the team.

Waltrip was quick to recognize the new and rapid expansion of the sport's popularity among teens and young adults and others never before considered NASCAR fans. The growth was primarily due to increasing national network and cable subscription television which televised almost every NASCAR event live, and the growing interest of new family oriented sponsors never before associated with motorsports. NASCAR was becoming a multi-regional sport enjoyed by men, women and children alike. In addition to the huge influx of money from new sponsors and television, the more astute NASCAR team owners immediately embraced new resources such as computers, telemetry, research and development, multi-car teams for information sharing, wind-tunnel testing, and engineering. Waltrip, now one of two drivers for Johnson, was quick to envision the future of NASCAR and sought to take advantage of the coming changes something his car owner, Junior Johnson a pioneer of the sport, was somewhat reluctant to embrace. Johnson and his team had enjoyed success for decades and won numerous races and championships spanning decades using his own formulas for success.

Well aware of Junior Johnson's long-standing steadfast rule of never discussing an adjustment to a driver's contractual salary, and never really comfortable with the allocation of resources that Johnson's two car team required, Waltrip approached Johnson about an increase in his contract salary. Although the story as told by Waltrip is most likely folklore, Waltrip drove his final race for Junior Johnson on November 16, 1986, in a Chevrolet sponsored by Budweiser finishing 4th at that year's Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway, completing one of the most successful owner/driver partnerships in all of motorsports history. Waltrip and Johnson remained close friends and respected each other as pioneers and champions of the sport.

Hendrick Motorsports years: 1987–1990

Waltrip's partnership with car owner

In 1987, his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, Waltrip had limited success, compared to his previous years with Johnson. He won only one race (at the Goody's 500) and had six Top 5 finishes. In 1988, he won two races, including his fourth Coca-Cola 600 win.

In the first race of 1989, the Daytona 500, Waltrip won the race for the first time in his 17th attempt with a fuel conservation strategy along with his long-time crew-chief Jeff Hammond, making his final pit stop for fuel a distant 53 laps (132 miles) from the finish. Most of the other cars could run no more than 45 or 46 laps on a tank of fuel, so that meant Waltrip would need to feather the throttle and "draft" off other cars in order to save enough fuel to make it to the finish without an additional pit stop. Hammond, interviewed by television pit reporters during the final stint of the race, said that his strategy was for Waltrip to "draft off anybody, and everybody", to save fuel. Even though Waltrip's car ran much slower than other cars in the last 53 laps, he was able to avoid making the additional pit stop for fuel that the other cars had to make. The strategy provided Waltrip with the track position needed to win the race. His post-race interview with CBS pit reporter Mike Joy, became famous, with Waltrip shouting "I won the Daytona 500! I won the Daytona 500! Wait, this is the Daytona 500 ain't it? ...Thank God!", accompanied by the "Ickey Shuffle" dance in Victory Lane. Later, after the Daytona 500 win, Waltrip visited president George H. W. Bush at the white House in Washington, D.C.

Waltrip's popularity as a driver would come full circle on the evening of The Winston, an all-star racing event held May 21, 1989, (an event that did not award points toward the NASCAR national championship), at Charlotte Motor Speedway. With two laps to go, Waltrip was leading the race and poised to win when Rusty Wallace hit his car exiting the 4th turn, sending him into the infield and costing him the victory and the $200,000 purse. Not only was Waltrip and his crew upset at being knocked out of the victory, the 150,000 fans watching the race issued boos to Wallace, the winner. The two crews scuffled in the pits and harsh words were said after the race. Waltrip was quoted after the race as saying "I hope he chokes on it", referring to the $200,000 that Wallace collected for the victory. Waltrip's car was clearly superior to that of Wallace and, had it not been for the contact initiated by Wallace on the final lap, Waltrip would have won the all-star event. During the 1989, and 1990 seasons, Waltrip was voted NASCAR's Most Popular Driver by fans.

Waltrip would win six races in 1989, his best year with Hendrick Motorsports, and helped develop NASCAR's version of the new

For many reasons, Waltrip was unable to carry his success of the previous year into

"We messed up," said Chip Williams, NASCAR's public relations director. "By throwing the caution on the second-place car, it kept Bodine in the lead. He slipped into the pits and came out without losing the lead because the pace car was keeping the second-place car back. We messed up by picking up the wrong car. It was a judgment call."[9] Waltrip filed a protest post-race, only to be denied on the grounds that judgment calls were not subject to protest/appeal. 1990 was the first year since 1974, that Waltrip did not win a race and Waltrip still remains irked to this very day over the result.^[10] Waltrip only visited victory lane five more times and never won again after 1992.

While practicing for his 500th career NASCAR start in the Pepsi 400, at Daytona, Waltrip's car spun in oil laid down by another car experiencing engine failure, and was hit by an oncoming car driven by Dave Marcis. Waltrip suffered a broken arm, a broken leg, and a concussion. He missed the Pepsi 400, but came back to run one lap at Pocono, before giving way to Jimmy Horton as a relief driver. (A driver who starts, and completes one lap, is credited the NASCAR points regardless of who is driving the car at the finish). Despite missing the next five races due to his injuries, Waltrip finished 20th in driver points and the team finished 5th in owner points with substitute drivers taking turns in the car. 

Owner-driver years: 1991–mid-1998

After his fourth season as a driver for

In the 1991 season, Waltrip visited victory lane twice, his first win in his second stint as owner-driver coming in only the 7th race of the season on April 21, 1991, in the First Union 400, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His second win of the year came in the 13th race of the season on June 16, 1991, in the Champion Spark Plug 500, at Pocono Raceway, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Just two races after celebrating his second win of 1991, Waltrip would again be involved in another serious crash, again at the Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. It came after completing the 119th of 160 laps on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Waltrip and driver Alan Kulwicki were racing side by side, leading a large grouping of cars, battling for 5th position. The car drafting Alan Kulwicki bumped the Kulwicki car, causing his car to hit Waltrip's Western Auto Chevrolet at speeds approaching 200 mph on the long backstretch. Waltrip's car slowed and was collected by driver Joe Ruttman's car, both cars sliding sideways several hundred feet on the grassy infield. The tires of Waltrip's car clipped the edge of an access road causing it to become airborne and tumbling end over end several times before coming to a stop, upside-down, in a grassy area near turn 3. Waltrip was extricated and only suffered minor injuries but many feared that he could have re-injured his shattered leg from the crash at the same track the previous year. (Slow-motion video and still photography showed that Waltrip's left arm was outside the car as the car tumbled, and came to rest.) Waltrip still had a plate in his left leg from the compound fractures he suffered in the earlier crash at the Pepsi 400, at the Daytona International Speedway, (Waltrip commented on January 10, 2013, SPEED Television broadcast of the Daytona NASCAR winter testing, that he had spent more time in the hospital from injuries suffered at the Daytona Speedway, than at any other track he had raced). Waltrip would compete in the following race, the summer race at the Pocono Raceway, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, but was crashed again when driver Ernie Irvan spun driver Hut Stricklin, in front of almost the entire field. Waltrip won the year's spring race at the track just 5 weeks before.

Waltrip finished the first year of his second stint as owner-driver 8th in the overall Winston Cup points championship, after being as high as 3rd place after 14 races. His first year was generally viewed as a successful first year outing. However, Waltrip was now 44 years old, had children, and had many pressures as owner/driver that he did not concern himself with driving for multimillion-dollar, highly financed race teams, such as Hendrick Motorsports.

In 1992, Waltrip collected three more wins, including the

In 1996, Waltrip posted two top-ten finishes. Western Auto remained the sponsor as part of Waltrip's 25th-anniversary celebration. While the year was one of Waltrip's most profitable, his results continued to fall off.

At the 1997

Beverly chose not to race the team immediately, instead choosing to rebuild the team (now part of

At the

In 1995, Waltrip built a

Waltrip began his career with Fox at the 2001 Daytona 500. His younger brother, Michael Waltrip, won the race, but Michael's victory was overshadowed by the death of Dale Earnhardt. On the final scheduled lap, Earnhardt's car made contact with Sterling Marlin, as the black No. 3 drifted low on the track, probably attempting a blocking maneuver so that either Michael Waltrip or Dale Earnhardt Jr. – driving for Dale Sr.'s DEI, although he himself drove for RCR – would win the race. After contacting the Marlin car, Earnhardt's car suddenly veered right and slammed hard head-on into the retaining wall in turn four. Earnhardt's car came to rest in the infield as Michael Waltrip won the race, with Darrell Waltrip shouting for joy as he called the final run to the checkered flag. His joy at his brother's victory soon gave way to concern for Earnhardt as he watched replays of the crash.

Waltrip and Earnhardt had been bitter rivals on the track in the 1980s but as the years passed, the rivalry and bitterness had given way to a deep respect and close friendship. After the race, Waltrip was taken from the Fox Broadcast booth to the Halifax Medical Center to meet with the Earnhardt family and his brother Michael. Waltrip later gave the invocation at the Earnhardt funeral. and gave the invocation at the following week's race praying for Earnhardt and the promise of moving on from the tragedy.

At the following week's race, Waltrip interviewed NASCAR President Mike Helton for a pre-race segment during the broadcast. This was before NASCAR mandated the use of the HANS device to reduce the risk of catastrophic head and neck injuries, and the "SAFER" (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers used at all NASCAR tracks today. Waltrip believed that four deaths in the previous ten months, all caused by basilar skull fractures incurred in accidents, were too many, and was not shy about asking Helton for an explanation. Helton's responses irritated Waltrip, who was noted by one magazine for "acting a lot more like the next Mike Wallace (of 60 Minutes) than the next John Madden". Waltrip delivered the pre-race invocation for the race in honor of Earnhardt.

As a long-time advocate for motorsports safety, Waltrip then pushed for mandatory head-and-neck restraints, and two weeks later, demonstrated the device during the broadcast at

In 2011, Waltrip stated that his favorite race to have broadcast thus far was the 2010 Aaron's 499. The race lead was exchanged many times among many different drivers rather than the lead being dominated by a single driver. The race ended with driver Kevin Harvick beating driver Jamie McMurray for the win by only the length of a bumper.

Waltrip also lends his unique verbiage to his commentary, speaking of "coop-petetion" when racers work together, but keep each other under a watchful eye, "s'perince" when talking about driving skills of a veteran driver, and "using the chrome horn", when a driver somewhat purposefully bumps a car that's in the way (bumpers on cars used to be made of metal and coated in chrome). In early 2007, Waltrip was nominated for an Emmy in the category "Outstanding Event Analyst".

In March 2011, FOX awarded Waltrip a 2-year contract extension, taking him through 2014, the same year the network's NASCAR contract ends (although the broadcast contract has been extended to 2024).

In October 2011, Waltrip, Joy,

Waltrip announced his retirement from broadcasting on April 4, 2019, at Bristol Motor Speedway citing his desire to spend more time with his wife and grandchildren. His final race in the broadcast booth was the 2019 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.^[13]

Post-Cup Series retirement

Waltrip fielded a Toyota sponsored by Japanese industrial giant NTN for his

In 2009, he appeared in commercials for Rejuvenate Auto with his No. 11 Mountain Dew Chevrolet. Waltrip also appeared in Fox public service announcements for breast cancer awareness.

In 2010 and 2011, Waltrip voiced his support for saving the old Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, now known as simply the

Waltrip retired as a race commentator for Fox at the end of the 2019 racing season. In March 2011, FOX announced that Waltrip would continue as their lead NASCAR analyst and race commentator through 2014. In May 2015, FOX announced that Jeff Gordon would join him and Mike Joy starting in 2016, replacing their long-time broadcast partner Larry McReynolds.

In 2017, Waltrip announced on his Twitter page that he had undergone a knee replacement from an injury that occurred during the 1991 Pepsi 400. This was also mentioned in his Facebook account.

Waltrip currently owns Honda, Volvo, Subaru, and Buick/GMC automobile dealerships in Franklin, Tennessee, in partnership with his former team owner Rick Hendrick.^[14]

Legacy

Waltrip is considered by most in the racing community as a true ambassador to the sport of motor racing. He is a passionate promoter of all forms of racing, especially American stock car auto racing.

Waltrip is recognized by many who closely follow motorsports as NASCAR's first "total package" driver. He was media savvy, articulate, attractive and possessed the driving skills that would take him to the pinnacle of the sport. His style attracted big-budget sponsors that are necessary to fund the multimillion-dollar NASCAR teams. Today, it is customary for the team's sponsor to have considerable input into who the team's driver will be that represents their brand or product on the track. Today's NASCAR driver fits the mold that Waltrip first ushered into NASCAR in the 1970s.

As a

He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003.^[1]

On June 14, 2011, he was selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2012.

Waltrip officially won 84 NASCAR cup races, but yet another, additional, and uncounted "win" was as relief driver for Donnie Allison, at the 1977 Talladega 500. (Allison received credit for the win because he was driving the car when the race started). In that race, Waltrip retired after 106, of 188, laps. Allison sought a relief driver for his No. 1 Hawaiian Tropic sponsored Chevrolet, due to the excess heat of the day, and Waltrip was asked to complete the race in Allison's car. The irony was that Waltrip replaced Allison at the DiGard No. 88 race team just two years previously, which was part of the long lore of the "Allisons vs Waltrip" battle that lasted for more than 16 years.

His 84 wins in the Cup series are tied for fourth place in NASCAR history, with Bobby Allison. In 2011, Jeff Gordon scored his 85th career victory surpassing Waltrip for most wins in the "modern era" of NASCAR. (NASCAR's "modern era" takes into account current scheduling, and the elimination of dirt tracks from scoring statistics; several of Allison's wins came before the start of the "modern era").

Media appearances

Film and television

Waltrip's entertainment appearances were influenced by his early 1970s work with Ralph Emery in Nashville radio and television, and that led to his work as a fill-in for Emery.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he would substitute for Emery on

Waltrip worked on Days of Thunder as Hendrick Motorsports was a major provider of cars and drivers (he helped hire Bobby Hamilton for the project), and one of his injury substitutes was lead stunt driver Greg Sacks.

Waltrip has twice been a presenter at the

He appeared in advertisements for Toyota and Aaron's alongside his brother, Michael, where his gimmick was constantly asking Michael's permission to drive the Aaron's Dream Machine (a nickname for the No. 99 Nationwide Series car). Waltrip has also made a number of appearances in "comedic" segments appearing during his actual Fox broadcasts.

He was featured in two NASCAR Series videos Darrell Waltrip: Quicksilver which explained Waltrip's career and future and he appeared in the NASCAR Video series where he teaches helpful driving tips for driving on the freeway and long-distance drives.

In February, 2011, Waltrip appeared in The Day which was a one-hour documentary about the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt at the 2001 Daytona 500.

Waltrip initially believed accidents would happen to him. He was featured in a video testimonial on IamSecond.com talking about his Christian faith in Jesus Christ in which he discussed the meaninglessness of the rest of his career, compared to that relationship.

Waltrip, along with fellow commentators Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon, made a cameo appearance as themselves in the 2017 heist comedy film Logan Lucky.

Books and magazines

Waltrip has also been successful in the publishing field. In September 1994, he was featured as the cover story in

His autobiography, DW: A Lifetime Going Around in Circles, was a New York Times best-seller when it was released around the 2004 Daytona 500. The book was co-written with Jade Gurss.

In May 2004, Waltrip became the second sports figure to be featured in former NBA player and basketball coach Jay Carty's One-on-One series of devotional books. Darrell Waltrip One-on-One: The Faith that Took Him to the Finish Line is a sixty-day devotional book featuring Waltrip's stories and how they can relate to Christian faith, and Carty's devotionals.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

Daytona 500

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

See also

• Michael Waltrip
• Darrell Waltrip Motorsports

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Darrell Waltrip.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Darrell Waltrip.

• Darrell Waltrip driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Darrell Waltrip owner statistics at Racing-Reference
• Darrell Waltrip at
  IMDb
• Career Stats – NASCAR.com
• Darrell Waltrip Honda

Sporting positions
Preceded by Dale Earnhardt Terry Labonte	NASCAR Cup Series Champion 1981, 1982 1985	Succeeded by Bobby Allison Dale Earnhardt
Achievements
Preceded by Dale Earnhardt	Busch Clash Winner 1981	Succeeded by Bobby Allison
Preceded by Inaugural race	The Winston Winner 1985	Succeeded by Bill Elliott
Preceded by Bobby Allison	Daytona 500 Winner 1989	Succeeded by Derrike Cope
Preceded by Harry Gant	Southern 500 Winner 1992	Succeeded by Mark Martin
Preceded by Donnie Allison	Snowball Derby Winner 1976	Succeeded by Ronnie Sanders
Awards
Preceded by Bill Elliott	NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award 1989, 1990	Succeeded by Bill Elliott