Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Lee Waltripis an American motorsports analyst, author, national television broadcaster, and former racing driver. He is also a three-time NASCAR Cup Series championand a three-time NASCAR Cup Series runner-up. 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, including the 1989 Daytona 500, a record five in the Coca-Cola 600, and a track and Series record for any...
ProfessionRace Car Driver
Date of Birth5 February 1947
CityOwensboro, KY
Since I'm in Seattle, I'm pulling for Seattle!
The only option a driver has is to literally not do it. If he (crew chief) says, 'Pit,' you drive by and say, 'I didn't hear you, what'd you say, come back.' And that's happened, and sometimes you wish you hadn't done that. Other times it works out.
We usually couldn't do it on Sunday. We had to wait until Monday because were about ready to kill each other.
Physically, I have been working out since July -- really, really hard wanting to be sure that I was physically prepared for this race,
I think any older driver would find it different than it was five years ago.
Just being out here and hanging out and working has been good. I hate starting that far back, but if the tires don't fall off, we'll be OK.
There are so many young unmarried and talented drivers in the garage area that march to the beat of a different drummer.
When we get to the track, we're basically turned loose to the masses. And you'd better be willing to deal with that politely, slightly, lightly, all nightly whatever it takes.
We can't change the past. Those tracks have always been there and those races have always been there. What NASCAR has to look at is the future -- and this place is the future.
We could have had media day in a pup tent. You came down here to race and you went in the garage and worked on your car. They tried to hype it up and add TV. There wasn't the intensity that you have in the sport now. People are getting pulled in so many different directions; it's hard to have fun.
When you're that many points behind and they wipe the slate clean, that's what I don't like.
Understand that the sponsors are the people that are making this sport happen. It's not the purses; it's the sponsors. The sponsors want to be in Texas, they want to be in California, they want to be in Las Vegas.
I didn't know I was in the movie until last week when I was doing a cable show at home and somebody e-mailed the host with a picture of the guy playing me. Well, it doesn't look like me. Somebody who saw the movie says it doesn't sound like me. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't act like me.
I love racing at Martinsville - always have. I've won there 11 times in the past, but knowing this is definitely the last time racing there does make me sad. I love the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series because it's a great place for these young drivers to get their feet wet, and it gives old guys like me the chance to go out and have some fun. But we're definitely one and done this time at Martinsville.