Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Waltrip
Waltrip at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2019
BornDarrell Lee Waltrip
(1947-02-05) February 5, 1947 (age 77)
Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S.
Achievements1981, 1982, 1985 Winston Cup Series Champion
1989 Daytona 500 Winner
1992 Southern 500 Winner
1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989 Coca-Cola 600 Winner
1977, 1982 Winston 500 Winner
1985 The Winston Winner (inaugural race)
1981 Busch Clash Winner
1976 Snowball Derby Winner
1987 All American 400 Winner
1986, 1987 World Crown 300 Winner
1970, 1973 Fairgrounds Speedway Track Champion
Awards1989, 1990 Winston Cup Series Most Popular Driver
Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers (1998)
International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2005)
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2003)[1]
NASCAR Hall of Fame (2012)
Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame (2001)
Named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers (2023)
NASCAR Cup Series career
809 races run over 29 years
Best finish1st (1981, 1982, 1985)
First race1972 Winston 500 (Talladega)
Last race2000 NAPA 500 (Atlanta)
First win1975 Music City USA 420 (Nashville)
Last win1992 Southern 500 (Darlington)
Wins Top tens Poles
84 390 59
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
95 races run over 14 years
Best finish22nd (1986)
First race1982 Mello Yello 300 (Charlotte)
Last race2006 Goody's 250 (Martinsville)
First win1982 Miller Time 300 (Charlotte)
Last win1989 Goody's 300 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
13 53 4
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
17 races run over 6 years
Best finish37th (1996)
First race1995 Heartland Tailgate 175 (Heartland)
Last race2005 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 8 0
NASCAR Grand National East Series career
1 race run over 1 year
First race1973 Salem 100 (Salem)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0

Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author as well as a former national television broadcaster and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series during his time as a driver), most notably driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for Junior Johnson. Waltrip is a three-time Cup Series champion (1981, 1982, 1985).

Posting a modern NASCAR series record of 22 top five finishes in 1983 and 21 top five finishes both in 1981 and 1986, Waltrip won 84 NASCAR Cup Series races throughout his career, including the 1989 Daytona 500, a record five in the Coca-Cola 600 (formerly the World 600) (1978, 1979, 1985, 1988, 1989), and a track and Series record for any driver at Bristol Motor Speedway with 12 (seven consecutive from 1981 to 1984). Those victories tie him with Bobby Allison for fourth on the NASCAR's all-time wins list in the Cup Series and place him second to Jeff Gordon for the most wins in NASCAR's modern era. He 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. Competing in 809 Cup starts over four decades and 29 years (1972–2000), he has scored 271 Top 5s and 390 Top 10s. Winning nearly $19.9 million in posted earnings, he became the first NASCAR driver to be awarded over $10 million in career race winnings.

Waltrip has additionally won 13 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series races, seven American Speed Association (ASA) races, three IROC races, two Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) races, two NASCAR All-American Challenge Series events, two All Pro Racing Association races, and a USAC race. He competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also 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. He still holds many NASCAR records, more than two decades after his retirement as an active driver.

He has also won many awards in NASCAR. That includes two for NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award (1989, 1990), three for "American Driver of the Year" (1979, 1981, 1982), and "NASCAR's Driver of the Decade" for the 1980s, as well as three for "National Motorsports Press Association Driver of the Year" (1977, 1981, and 1982), two for "Auto Racing Digest Driver of the Year" (1981 and 1982), the first "Tennessee Professional Athlete of the Year" (1979), one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998, and the Bill France "Award of Excellence" in 2000. He 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. After being nominated for the inaugural 2010 and 2011 classes, he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame's 2012 class.

Waltrip served as a color analyst for Fox Sports alongside Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Jeff Gordon, a columnist at Foxsports.com, and an author. He is the older brother of former NASCAR driver and the now defunct MWR team owner Michael Waltrip. Waltrip retired from the commentary box at the conclusion of Fox's broadcast schedule for the 2019 NASCAR season in June 2019.[2]

  1. ^ Darrell Waltrip at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
  2. ^ "Darrell Waltrip retiring after 19 years in NASCAR TV booth with Fox".

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