Michael Waltrip
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| Born: | April 30, 1963 (age 43) | |
| Birthplace: |  Owensboro, Kentucky |
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| Awards: | 1981 Kentucky Motor Speedway Mini-Modified Division Champion
1983 NASCAR Dash Series champion 2001 Daytona 500 Winner 2003 Daytona 500 Winner |
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| NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Statistics | ||
| Car #, Team | #55 - Michael Waltrip Racing | |
| 2006 NEXTEL Cup Position: | 37th | |
| Best Cup Position: | 12th - 1994, 1995 (Winston Cup) | |
| First Race: | 1985 Coca-Cola World 600 (Charlotte) | |
| First Win: | 2001 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | |
| Last Win: | 2003 EA Sports 500 (Talladega) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 4 | 122 | 3 |
| NASCAR Busch Series Statistics | ||
| 270 races run over 19 years. | ||
| Best NBS Position: | 13th - 2004 | |
| First Race: | 1988 Kroger NASCAR 200 (IRP) | |
| Last Race: | 2007 Nicorette 300 (Atlanta) | |
| First Win: | 1988 Grand National 200 (Dover) | |
| Last Win: | 2004 Pepsi 300 (Nashville) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 11 | 104 | 13 |
| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics | ||
| First Race: | 1996 Carquest 420K (Las Vegas) | |
| Last Race: | 2006 Ford 200 (Homestead) | |
| Wins | Top Tens | Poles |
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All stats current as of February 15, 2007. | ||
Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963 in Owensboro, Kentucky) is a professional race car driver and owner of Michael Waltrip Racing. He is the younger brother of Darrell Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR champion (now retired). Waltrip drives a self-owned #55 NAPA Toyota Camry in the NEXTEL Cup Series. He is also a part-time commentator for SPEED TV's coverage of the Craftsman Truck Series and is a member of the "expert panel" on SPEED Channel's NASCAR Inside Nextel Cup program.
He currently lives in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina with his wife Buffy Waltrip. In the past, he has also raced in the Boston Marathon.
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[edit] Early racing career
Waltrip's stock-car career got off the ground in 1981, when he captured the Mini-Modified division track championship at Kentucky Motor Speedway. A year later, Waltrip entered the Goody's Dash Series, where he won the series championship in 1983 and was voted the circuit's most popular driver in 1983 and 1984.
Waltrip made his Cup debut in 1985 in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte driving for Dick Bahre. He finished 28th in that race and finished 57th in the series standings after just five starts.
[edit] 1990's
In 1986, driving the #23 Hawaiian Punch car for Bahari Racing, Waltrip finished second in the Cup rookie of the year race to Alan Kulwicki on the strength of a pair of 11th-place finishes at Martinsville and Pocono. The following season, he posted his first career top-ten finish when he ended up tenth in the spring race at Martinsville Speedway. In 1988, Waltrip began running Busch Series events, making five starts for his brother Darrell's fledgling team. He took the checkered flag for the first time at Dover in his fourth start. In 1989, he had his first top-five finish in the #30 Country Time Lemonade Pontiac.
In 1991, he gained new sponsorship from Pennzoil and won the Winston Open, as well as his first two career pole positions. He stayed with the Bahari team until the end of 1995, when he was replaced by rookie Johnny Benson. He joined Wood Brothers Racing to drive their #21 Citgo Ford. He won his second Winston Open, and later won The Winston main race that same night. After posting one top-five finish over a period of three years, and missing his first race since 1986 at the 1998 Dura Lube/Kmart 500, Waltrip departed the Woods at the end of 1998 to drive the #7 Philips Ford Taurus for Mattei Motorsports, posting three top-ten finishes and ending that season 29th in points. The next season, he moved up to twenty seventh in points but finished in the top-five once, causing him and the team to part ways at the end of the season.
[edit] Later career
Waltrip was hired by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to drive their new #15 NAPA Chevy entry. In his first race with the team, the 2001 Daytona 500, Waltrip broke a streak of 463 consecutive Cup races without a victory and won his first career points-paying Cup race. After the death of his boss Dale Earnhardt, he did not have another top-ten finish until the Pepsi 400, and finished 24th in the standings. The next season, he picked up his second career win at the Pepsi 400 and moved up to fourteenth in the standings. Throughout 2003, he won a career-high two races including his second career Daytona 500 win, and ran in the top-five for most of the season before falling back to 15th in points.
In 2004, Waltrip went winless and dropped five spots in the standings. Despite one pole and seven top-tens the next season, Waltrip announced he and sponsor NAPA would depart DEI to drive the #55 Dodge Charger for Bill Davis Racing. After the former #77 Jasper Motorsports team closed its doors at the end of 2005, Waltrip split unofficially from Davis and assumed the former Jasper team's owner's points in order to be guaranteed a spot in the first five races for the season. Running under the banner, Waltrip-Jasper Racing, the team would be used to set up Waltrip's new Toyota operation in 2007. Waltrip failed to qualify for the first since 1998 at the Coca-Cola 600, he bought a slot from the #74 McGlynn Racing Dodge from Derrike Cope to drive in the race and to keep his streak of 262 consecutive races.[1] Waltrip ended up missing three races total in 2006 and did not have a top-ten finish. After assuming whole control of his team for 2007, Waltrip has only qualified for one race so far.
[edit] Driving controversies
In a race in the early 90s, Waltrip punched driver Dave Marcis. Waltrip was fined $500 for his actions.
In 1996, Waltrip again lashed out at a fellow driver, this time Lake Speed. Waltrip struck Speed twice while Speed was still strapped in his car. Waltrip was fined $10,000 for his actions.
Waltrip had a much-publicized feud with Jeff Green, then driver of Petty Enterprises #43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Charger in the early part of the 2005 season, which came to a head during races at Martinsville and Darlington, where Green and Waltrip wrecked each other on several occasions.[2]
In the 2005 Sylvania 300, Waltrip was involved in a wreck with driver Robby Gordon the driver of the #7 Jim Beam Kentucky Bourbon Chevrolet. The angered Gordon got out of his totaled car and threw his helmet at the #15 car as it was passing by. When TNT interviewed him about the crash he stated "People think Michael is a good guy, but he's not a good guy. The caution came out and he wrecked me; he's just a piece of shit."[3] On the next caution lap around, some viewers claimed that Waltrip flipped Gordon the finger as he drove by, although subsequent video replays are inconclusive and Waltrip denies making the gesture. TNT apologized for the incident on both driver's behalf, and both Gordon and Waltrip were required to meet with NASCAR officials after the race. Gordon was fined $50,000 and docked 50 drivers' points. Gordon ultimately decided to auction the helmet for the benefit of the Harrah's Employee Relief Fund, a fund that provides aid to Harrah's employees displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Both drivers signed the helmet, which was purchased by GoldenPalace.com for $51,100.
After the first round of qualifying for the 2007 Daytona 500, NASCAR inspectors found evidence in the engine manifold that Waltrip's team had used an illegal fuel additive. NASCAR confiscated the manifold and sent it back to Concord, North Carolina for testing at its research and development center, and Waltrip was forced to change manifolds before he could qualify the car. On February 14, 2007 NASCAR officials announced at a press conference the penalties that would be levied: Bobby Kennedy (Waltrip's Director of Competition for Michael Waltrip Racing) and David Hyder (Waltrip's Crew Chief) were both ejected from Daytona International Speedway, and suspended indefinitely.[4] David Hyder was also fined $100,000 and was placed on a leave of absence. Michael Waltrip was docked 100 driver points and Buffy Waltrip (the team owner, also his wife) was docked 100 owner points. Waltrip's initial qualifying time was disallowed, but he was permitted to qualify by racing a backup car in his Gatorade Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500. [5] After a 30th place finish in the Daytona 500, Waltrip became the first driver in series history to go into the second race of the season with a negative number of points (-27). The Interim Crew Chief was announced as Scott Eggleston, who was Waltrip's former crew chief in 2001. [6]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Michael Waltrip Challenge
- Michael Waltrip official web site
- Michael Waltrip profile from Nascar.com
- Coca-Cola Racing Family's Michael Waltrip profile
- Stats at Racing-Reference.info
- Michael Waltrip at Daytona 500 Racing
| Preceded by Dale Jarrett |
Daytona 500 Winner 2001 |
Succeeded by Ward Burton |
| Preceded by Ward Burton |
Daytona 500 Winner 2003 |
Succeeded by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
[edit] References
- ^ Newton, David. Waltrip buys Cope's car; will take spot in 600. NASCAR.COM. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ Smith, Marty. Waltrip, Green feud all night at Darlington. NASCAR.COM. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ Blake, Ben. NASCAR Vows to "Do What It Takes" for Race Control. RACER Magazine. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ Bowles, Tom. His darkest hour: Can Waltrip rescue public image after cheating probe?. CNN/Sports Illustrated. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ Harris, Mike. Waltrip qualifies for Daytona 500. Associated Press. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ Spencer, Lee. Substance in question turned over. FOXSports.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
