136 Facts About Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Lee Waltrip was born on February 5,1947 and is an American motorsports analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver.

Darrell Waltrip raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series, most notably driving the No 17 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

Darrell Waltrip is ranked fifth for all-time pole positions with 59, including all-time modern era highs with 35 on short tracks and eight on road courses.

Darrell Waltrip has additionally won 13 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series races, seven American Speed Association races, three IROC races, two Automobile Racing Club of America races, two NASCAR All-American Challenge Series events, two All Pro Racing Association races, and a USAC race.

Darrell Waltrip holds the all-time track record 67 wins at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee, including NASCAR, USAC, ASA, and local Late Model Sportsman NASCAR sanctioned series races.

Darrell Waltrip still holds many NASCAR records, more than two decades after his retirement as an active driver.

Darrell Waltrip has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, including the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America for 2003 the International Motorsports Hall of Fame for 2005.

Darrell Waltrip served as a color analyst for Fox Sports alongside Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Jeff Gordon, a columnist at Foxsports.

Darrell Waltrip is the older brother of former NASCAR driver and the now defunct MWR team owner Michael Waltrip.

Darrell Waltrip retired from the commentary box at the conclusion of Fox's broadcast schedule for the 2019 NASCAR season in June 2019.

Darrell Waltrip was born on February 5,1947, in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Darrell Waltrip soon left the dirt and found his niche on asphalt where the smoothness he learned in the karts proved a valuable asset.

Darrell Waltrip was a 1965 graduate of Daviess County High School in Owensboro.

Darrell Waltrip became friends with WSM radio host Ralph Emery in his early years, forming a bond which would be influential throughout his career, as Waltrip would appear frequently on Emery's early morning television show on local Nashville television station, WSMV, and later substitute for Emery in the 1980s on Emery's television show, Nashville Now on the former TNN cable network.

Darrell Waltrip became a Christian in 1983 but it was years later before God came first in his life.

Darrell Waltrip finished 38th in his first Winston Cup race after retiring on lap 69 due to engine failure.

Darrell Waltrip paid $12,500 for the car, a spare engine and some spare parts and drove it in 5 cup series events until mid-1973.

Darrell Waltrip still owns the car today as part of a collection of cars he has raced and is one of his favorites.

The early years found Darrell Waltrip competing against legendary stock car racers such as Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison, among others.

Darrell Waltrip soon earned the respect of his more experienced peers.

Darrell Waltrip was given the No 95 as a number but Waltrip preferred car No 17 because his hero, David Pearson, had success with the number in earlier years.

Except for five races in 1973, driving for Bud Moore Engineering, Darrell Waltrip primarily drove his own cars from the beginning of his NASCAR career until the middle of the 1975 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, when he was signed to a multi-year contract and replaced driver Donnie Allison to drive the No 88 DiGard Chevrolet, Darrell Waltrip's long-awaited jump into the big leagues of United States stock car auto racing.

Darrell Waltrip would compete in ten more races in the 1975 season for DiGard, sponsored by Terminal Transport, and get his second career Winston Cup victory October 12,1975, in the Capital City 500, in Richmond, Virginia.

Darrell Waltrip holds the track record at Bristol International Speedway, for wins with 12 victories, and for pole positions at Martinsville Speedway, with 8 pole position awards.

Darrell Waltrip won only one Winston Cup race in 1976, the Virginia 500, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, but in 1977 and 1978, working with legendary NASCAR crew chief Buddy Parrott, he won six times each year, including his first of four career victories at the Talladega Superspeedway, in Talladega, AL, on May 1,1977, and his first of a five career victories in the series' longest race, a grueling 600 mile race, the Coca-Cola 600, May 28,1978.

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, Darrell Waltrip was a pre-race favorite to win the race.

Still, Darrell Waltrip finished runner-up in perhaps the most famous race in NASCAR history, and was an early turning point in Darrell Waltrip's career.

In that 1979 season, Darrell Waltrip won seven Winston Cup races and was a serious contender for what would have been his first championship despite numerous engine failures, mechanical problems, and differences with DiGard management.

On September 23,1979, after winning pole position and leading 184 laps at the Old Dominion 500, at Martinsville, Virginia, Darrell Waltrip again experienced engine failure.

Darrell Waltrip lost 29 laps in the pits but was able to finish 11th, as Petty finished 2nd.

At the start of the final race of the season, the Los Angeles Times 500, at Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, California, Darrell Waltrip led Richard Petty by a scant 2 points in the year-long championship battle after finishing the race 5th ahead of Petty's 6th-place finish in the previous race, the Dixie 500, Atlanta Motor Speedway, November 4,1979.

The final margin of Petty's championship victory over Darrell Waltrip was only 11 points, the third-closest points race in NASCAR Cup Series history.

Darrell Waltrip closed out the 1970s driving the No 88 DiGard Chevrolet, sponsored by Gatorade, ranked NASCAR's No 2 driver, having won 22 Winston Cup races in just 149 race starts.

Darrell Waltrip's aggressive driving style and outspoken demeanor earned him the nickname "Jaws", a reference to the 1975 film about a killer shark.

Darrell Waltrip attempted several times to be released from his driving contract with DiGard in 1980, a year in which Waltrip won five Winston Cup races.

Darrell Waltrip successfully negotiated his exit from DiGard, and would take over the No 11 for 1981.

Darrell Waltrip's success driving the Junior Johnson prepared cars came immediately and even surpassed the highly successful years he had with DiGard.

Darrell Waltrip later honored the Waltrip years with throwback paint schemes, once in 2006 and again in 2008.

Hammond was at first skeptical of Darrell Waltrip's driving style since it differed so much from the former driver for whom he worked, Cale Yarborough.

Yarborough made adjustments to his driving based on the handling of the car in a particular race whereas Darrell Waltrip wanted the car adjusted around his driving style.

Darrell Waltrip's first season with Junior Johnson was a huge success.

Darrell Waltrip won 12 races including big races such as the Rebel 500, the Food City 500, and the Riverside 400 event.

Darrell Waltrip almost swept Talladega for his 1981 season by nearly winning the Talladega 500.

Darrell Waltrip 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.

Darrell Waltrip ended 1981 with 11 poles, 12 wins, 21 top fives, and 25 top tens.

Darrell 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, Darrell Waltrip again won 12 races and basically repeated his 1981 season.

Darrell Waltrip locked his brakes but the car slid for several hundred feet, then struck an earthen embankment near the entrance to pit road.

The force of the impact was so violent that Darrell Waltrip's car was thrown back onto the track, in front of oncoming traffic.

Darrell Waltrip then made hard contact with the outside concrete retaining wall into oncoming traffic.

Darrell Waltrip suffered a concussion and was taken by ambulance to the Halifax Medical Center for observation and medical treatment.

Years later, Darrell Waltrip would be voted "Most Popular Driver", two years in a row,.

Darrell 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.

Darrell 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.

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, Darrell Waltrip approached Johnson about an increase in his contract salary.

Darrell Waltrip began to seek other opportunities after a conversation with his friend and pastor Cortez Cooper.

Years before, Darrell Waltrip had opened a Honda dealership in his home town of Franklin, Tennessee, with the help of his friend, Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports.

Darrell Waltrip was still under contract with Johnson for the 1986 season, but following the year he was able to break the contract in a unique way.

In 1987, his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, Darrell Waltrip had limited success, compared to his previous years with Johnson.

Darrell Waltrip won only one race and had six Top 5 finishes.

Darrell 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.

Darrell 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, Darrell Waltrip would have won the all-star event.

Darrell Waltrip made contact with the wall early in the 1989 Southern 500 and was never a contender for winning the race, and the million dollar bonus.

For many reasons, Darrell Waltrip was unable to carry his success of the previous year into 1990.

Darrell Waltrip failed to visit victory lane all season although he finished 2nd in a controversial finish in the season's 7th race, the First Union 400, at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Darrell Waltrip slipped into the pits and came out without losing the lead because the pace car was keeping the second-place car back.

Darrell Waltrip only visited victory lane five more times and never won again after 1992.

Darrell Waltrip suffered a broken arm, a broken leg, and a concussion.

Darrell Waltrip missed the Pepsi 400, but came back to run one lap at Pocono, before giving way to Jimmy Horton as a relief driver.

Darrell Waltrip would continue his relationship with Chevrolet and drive a Chevrolet Lumina with Western Auto as the primary team sponsor.

Darrell Waltrip purchased team assets, including the racing facilities, from his former owner Rick Hendrick in Charlotte, North Carolina, and hired long-time friend and crew chief, Jeff Hammond, to oversee the building of race cars and to continue as crew chief.

Darrell 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 Darrell 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.

Darrell 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.

Darrell 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.

Darrell Waltrip won the year's spring race at the track just 5 weeks before.

Darrell 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.

In 1993, Darrell Waltrip signed former Richard Childress Racing engine builder Lou LaRosa, to build engines, and Barry Dodson, a former championship-winning crew chief.

Darrell Waltrip posted four top-ten finishes but did not finish higher than third.

Darrell Waltrip had a then-unprecedented streak over two seasons, of 40 races, without a DNF, all with in-house engines.

Darrell Waltrip finished 19th in points in 1995 when he crashed at The Winston and was forced to let relief drivers take over for several weeks.

At the 1997 UAW-GM Quality 500, Darrell Waltrip failed to qualify for the first time in over 20 years as Terry Labonte failed to make the race.

Darrell Waltrip, who was 20th in owner points, was too low in the owner points position to make the race.

In 2008, Darrell Waltrip admitted the reason that he failed as a driver-owner team was because he thought like a driver, not as an owner.

Darrell Waltrip resigned at the end of the season, citing performance issues.

Darrell Waltrip failed to qualify seven times during that season with a new qualifying rule for the Past Champion's Provisional.

Darrell Waltrip finished 36th in points that season and failed to qualify six times.

In 1995, Darrell Waltrip built a Craftsman Truck Series team, and found success by 1997, when Rich Bickle finished second in overall season standings, winning three races, and made Darrell Waltrip one of the few car owners to have won races in NASCAR's three national series.

When Sears ceased sponsorship of the team in 1997, Darrell Waltrip suspended his truck team, not returning until 2004, when he re-entered the series as an owner and part of Toyota NASCAR development program.

In 2001, after his final 2000 season as a NASCAR driver, Darrell Waltrip signed with Fox, to be lead NASCAR Winston Cup Series analyst and race commentator on the network's NASCAR telecasts, teaming with Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds.

Darrell Waltrip began his career with Fox at the 2001 Daytona 500.

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.

At the following week's race, Darrell Waltrip interviewed NASCAR President Mike Helton for a pre-race segment during the broadcast.

Darrell 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 Darrell Waltrip, who was noted by one magazine for "acting a lot more like the next Mike Wallace than the next John Madden".

Darrell Waltrip delivered the pre-race invocation for the race in honor of Earnhardt.

Darrell Waltrip explained that the catchphrase arose because, as a driver, he grew tired of hearing his spotter or crew chief say "green, green, green" at the start of every race and wanted to hear something more original.

In 2011, Darrell Waltrip stated that his favorite race to have broadcast thus far was the 2010 Aaron's 499.

In early 2007, Darrell Waltrip was nominated for an Emmy in the category "Outstanding Event Analyst".

Since Darrell Waltrip had not hosted in Australia before, he counted on Australian NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose to help him learn about the country.

Darrell 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.

Darrell Waltrip fielded a Toyota sponsored by Japanese industrial giant NTN for his Craftsman Truck Series team in 2004.

Darrell Waltrip has made occasional starts in the Craftsman Truck Series and Busch Series since his "retirement" in 2000.

Darrell Waltrip was the honorary starter at the 2007 Food City 500 and was the honorary starter for the 2008 Gatorade Duel as Gatorade was one of Darrell Waltrip's former sponsors.

Darrell Waltrip appeared in Fox public service announcements for breast cancer awareness.

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

Darrell Waltrip retired as a race commentator for Fox at the end of the 2019 racing season.

In March 2011, FOX announced that Darrell Waltrip would continue as their lead NASCAR analyst and race commentator through 2014.

In 2017, Darrell Waltrip announced on his Twitter page that he had undergone a knee replacement from an injury that occurred during the 1991 Pepsi 400.

Darrell Waltrip is considered by most in the racing community as a true ambassador to the sport of motor racing.

Darrell Waltrip is a passionate promoter of all forms of racing, especially American stock car auto racing.

Darrell Waltrip is recognized by many who closely follow motorsports as NASCAR's first "total package" driver.

Darrell Waltrip was media savvy, articulate, attractive and possessed the driving skills that would take him to the pinnacle of the sport.

Darrell Waltrip's style attracted big-budget sponsors that are necessary to fund the multimillion-dollar NASCAR teams.

Today's NASCAR driver fits the mold that Darrell Waltrip first ushered into NASCAR in the 1970s.

Darrell Waltrip has never been shy about expressing his views, even if controversial.

Darrell Waltrip has been a design consultant on some of the newer tracks including the Kentucky Motor Speedway, and the Nashville Superspeedway.

Darrell Waltrip has a building which holds many of the race cars he drove throughout his career.

Darrell Waltrip was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003.

Darrell 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.

In that race, Darrell 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 Darrell Waltrip was asked to complete the race in Allison's car.

The irony was that Darrell 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 Darrell Waltrip" battle that lasted for more than 16 years.

Darrell Waltrip worked on Days of Thunder as Hendrick Motorsports was a major provider of cars and drivers, and one of his injury substitutes was lead stunt driver Greg Sacks.

Darrell Waltrip has twice been a presenter at the GMA Music Awards, partnering with Kathy Troccoli both times.

Darrell Waltrip provided the voice of Darrell Cartrip, an anthropomorphic car version of himself in all 3 movies of Pixar's Cars franchise.

Darrell Waltrip appeared in the broadcast booth in the films Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, where his phrase was "You know, Larry, there's good days in racing and there's bad days, Ricky Bobby just had himself a bad day".

On December 15,2006, Darrell Waltrip played the role of Mother Ginger in the Nashville Ballet's production of The Nutcracker.

Darrell Waltrip 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.

Darrell Waltrip has made a number of appearances in "comedic" segments appearing during his actual Fox broadcasts.

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

Darrell Waltrip was featured in a video testimonial on IamSecond.

Darrell Waltrip's autobiography, DW: A Lifetime Going Around in Circles, was a New York Times best-seller when it was released around the 2004 Daytona 500.

In May 2004, Darrell 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.