The Profile: Darrell Waltrip
He has won more races in modern NASCAR history than any other driver – an amazing 84 victories in 809 starts. He won the Winston Cup Championship three times in the 1980s, and in 1989, he won the Super Bowl of NASCAR: the Daytona 500, on a track that has brought him great joy, sadness and a life-changing experience. He’s gone from being the most unpopular driver in racing to the most popular. He is the face of NASCAR on Fox Sports, and he is not shy about talking on any subject, especially his faith. Darrell Waltrip is, by any measure, an impressive man.
We meet at his auto dealership. As he greets me, he is on the phone and pacing – evidence of a man filled with energy, ready to take on anything and everybody. Just like when he was racing. A smile, a handshake, and we head off to a private room for a visit. Walking through the showroom, past the car he drove to Daytona victory and trophy-filled cases, it’s evident that his employees love and respect him.
Before we head upstairs, one particular "trophy" grabs my attention. It’s a titanium plate, with screws as long as your finger, used to put Darrell’s left leg back together after a crash at Daytona. The plate should still be in his leg, but a calcium buildup affecting the nerves in his leg caused pain with every step he took. He had the doctors remove it and now walks pain free. It’s another reminder of a career that sometimes renders Darrell in awe of his own success.
“I would have never have dreamed about the success I’ve had,” he says. “There just wasn’t any reason for it. I didn’t come from a racing family. I didn’t have a racing background. It’s just what I like to do, and God gave me ability to drive race cars.”
The Wild Child
Darrell’s earliest racing memories are from his childhood in Owensboro, Ky., where he attended races with his grandmother Oda.
“I was bitten by the carbon monoxide early on and was drawn to it,” he says. “And the noise. I’ve always loved the noise race cars make. I’ve always liked the sound of an engine and, of course, the competition and driving a car fast. Trying to be better than the other guy has been my motivation…something I’ve thrived on.”
Like many drivers, his first driving experiences were in go-carts. He would work on them in the garage of his Greebriar Street home in Owensboro before taking them out on the test track. That’s where 12-year old Darrell picked up his first nickname: “The Wild Child,” a name he put on his first race car. The Wild Child didn’t last long. The Number 6, ’32 Chevy made its debut on a dirt track at Ellis Speedway in Kentucky. You must first understand that to prepare dirt tracks for a race, they water them down. The track starts out really muddy, then, as it dries out, it becomes tacky.
“I had never been on a dirt track, I had never been in a race car,” he says. “So, I’m all excited, strap myself in and head out for a practice lap. I can’t get any traction on that muddy track. I’m sliding all over the place. I go into the third turn, and, before I could say checkered flag, I went right into the concrete wall. I bet I wasn’t going 30 miles per hour. Nobody was in the stands, and I was done before I had completed that first practice lap. It took about four more tries before I could drive like I was supposed to. But once I figured it out, I won every week!”
He would race at Ellis on Friday nights, take his car home, change the tires and set-up, then drive to Whitesville and race on a quarter- mile paved track. Darrell says from the time he started racing, he was king of the asphalt.
“Those guys could kick my butt for a while on that dirt track. But when we got on the asphalt track, I had the advantage because that’s when you had to drive smooth, smart and have some finesse. I had that!”
Good Timing
Darrell will tell you that good timing has been very important to his success. His Kentucky wins soon caught the attention of Franklin, Tenn’s P.B. Crowell. Crowell brought Darrell to town to drive for him at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, and the track became Darrell’s personal playground. There, he won 55 feature races, his first Winston Cup pole position and his first Winston Cup race. Bill Donoho, the track’s owner at the time, loved Darrell and knew he was bringing fans to the track. And Darrell loved the media. He was good at doing interviews when other drivers were not as comfortable in the spotlight. Ask Darrell today about his greatest race, and the first one he mentions is his first Nashville win, Mother’s Day weekend, 1975.
“I’ve got a picture of me and my whole family in victory lane,” he says. “My grandmother Oda, who had taken me to all those races, was there, and my grandfather Pappy. My mother and daddy and 12-year old (brother) Michael were there too. The feeling and satisfaction of that night stays with me to this day. I was able to share my joy with all the people who had sacrificed to help me get there.” Darrell went on to win seven races in a row at Bristol. He won five Coca-Cola 600s – an unmatched feat. And, of course, he won at Daytona and the Southern 500.
“The only big race I did not win, and it was because it came at the end of my career, I never won at Indy. And that would have been a dream of mine.”
Driver of the Decade
1980s NASCAR belonged to Darrell. He was named the driver of the decade, won the Winston Cup Championship three times (1981, ’82 and ’85) and won 57 races during that period. He was the focus of attention…the center of NASCAR. He was on a roll. But he was not the most popular driver.
“People hated me,” he says. “They called me ‘JAWS.’ They threw chicken bones and beer cans at me. People would wear "Anybody But Waltrip" shirts.”
But his ego was big enough that it didn’t bother him. He was a winner. He admits to being arrogant. The guy in the black hat. Mr. Win-At-All-Costs. But a series of mishaps and a crash in 1983 changed his thinking.
He credits his wife Stevie and Dr. Cortez Cooper, a pastor, for that change. He would think of every excuse possible not to go to church, but Cooper’s new church met on Wednesday nights. So, there was no excuse.
“I felt like he was talking directly to me,” Darrell says. “One night he preached on salvation, I invited Jesus into my heart, and my life has not been the same since. I am not anywhere near the same guy I was before 1983. It’s because of my relationship with my savior.”
He did continue to win, climaxing the decade with the 1989 Daytona 500 Championship and being named the Most Popular Driver in 1989 and 1990. Another crash in 1990 had a tremendous impact on Darrell, and drew him closer to Stevie and his baby daughter, Jessica.
“I thought, ‘What if I have a serious wreck with serious injuries or, worse yet, get killed?’ Who’s going to take care of my family? I started driving differently,” he says. In 1992, his daughter Sarah came along, and safety became even more important. “I did win races after that…but I was a different driver.”
NASCAR on Fox
Good timing made another appearance in Darrell’s life as he raced his final season in 2000. He had been invited to lunch with a Fox executive to discuss his coming to Fox Sports as lead race analyst.
After coming on board at Fox, Darrell’s first big race was the 2001 Daytona 500. It was a day that he calls Black Sunday.
“I’m nervous, the race was great. We get to the end, and my brother Michael is in the lead, Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. is running in second place and Dale Sr. is behind them, shepherding them to the checkered flag,” Darrell recalls. “Just as Michael crosses the finish line, there’s the crash. Dale hits the wall. I’m all excited about Michael winning the Daytona, but I notice nothing from Dale’s car. In the past, he’d get out of the car with that big ole grin and go about his business. Not that day. I knew it was bad. Shortly afterward, we learned that Dale Earnhardt was dead. Whenever I think about that day, I cry.”
Today
When he retired in 2000, he was presented with the Bill France Award of Excellence at the Champions Dinner in New York. He calls it the ultimate NASCAR award. On the 50th Anniversary of NASCAR, they named the 50 top drivers of all time, and Darrell was included.
“I don’t know if they think I’m number 49 or number 1,” he says, jokingly.
Darrell’s schedule on Fox keeps him busy, but he heads home after every race to be with Stevie, Jessica and Sarah. You can also find him at his dealerships, which now include Subaru, in addition to Honda and Volvo; and he has opened up the basement of his home for a Men’s Bible study/fellowship every Tuesday morning whether he’s in town or out.
Darrell is optimistic about the future of NASCAR.
“The crowds are great and so is the racing,” he says. “Like everybody, teams are having to do more with less and make that dollar last longer.” Best of all for Darrell and his fans, he hasn’t lost his identity with racing. He just gained a new one. In true Darrell style he says, “I get to be the show every week.”
To read more about Darrell Waltrip, check out his New York Times bestselling memoir, DW: A Lifetime Going Around in Circles.
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